OWS isn't a Relevant Movement to Change Society and May Hurt Us More then It Helps Us [View all]

[BrentWil]

Mic Check....

OWS gets a lot of love on DU. However, it isn't a relevant movement. For a movement to be relevant, it has to capture the hearts and minds of the society. A protest movement is an insurgency, in a way. It has to figure out a way to shape its message in a way that the society adopts the protesters values and political views.

Protest movements are most effective when they use civil disobedience to highlight state polices that are not just. Two key examples of this are Martin Luther King and Gandhi. Gandhi with his Satyagrah and Martin Luther King with his nonviolence, practiced one thing that OWS will never have: Discipline and leadership.

OWS claims it is a leaderless organization by own admission. And it does not have a clear set of goals. As such, it does not have the ability to enforce behavior standards on its members, as both Gandhi and King did. The recent flag burning is evidence of this. While certainly their right, it marginalizes the movement in the minds of the society. Moreover, movements need clear demands. It is not good enough to simply state that “we are the 99%” One must present a consent message to the population and that message has to have cultural relevance. OWS has neither the discipline or organization to be a relevant force in changing how our society fundamentally works.

Leadership, even flawed leadership, is the path towards change. Both King and Gandhi had flaws. However, what the did provide was someone that people perceived as having the moral authority to speak and organize their respective movements. While the OWS movement may be filled with many smart capable people with good intention, without organization and focus it will fail. Without someone coming out and condemning “flag burning”, the movement will look like “a bunch of America haters” to the very people OWS should focus their message on.

The simple message that “this level of wealth inequality is unhealthy” and educating the population on the actual level of inequality would be a start. However, to do this effectively, one has to be focused and disciplined. Moreover, one needs to find means to speak to a larger segment of American society. In sum, OWS needs leadership and discipline to do this. Without it, OWS runs the risk of hurting more then it helps. Moreover, whatever message they do have, they will be taken apart by their enemies which do have both leadership and discipline.

I hope to be proved wrong.