So like the sixties anti-war movement, will TPTB co opt OWS?

[Taverner]

And define TPTB any way you like.

Now that unions have joined the movement, I'm sure those who hold office are scared. They tried so hard lately to crush unions after all.

My guess is their MO will be co-opt, and dilute. Just like they did with the anti- war movement. Just like they did with the social reform movements of the 30s. Just like they did to Earth Day.

[PETRUS]

1. Maybe

Crushed? Appeased? Triumphant?

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

FORWARD!!!

[Luminous Animal]

2. OWS is only as strong as you make it.

[WheelWalker]

3. Assumes facts not in evidence. nt

[bengalherder]

4. As long as it remains something

that is relatively elusive, run by consensus, and based in the kalidoscopic medium of the internet, I think it has a good chance of staying ahead of the co-opters, who frankly have proven time and again thay they couldn't culturally create their way out of a paper bag.

[global1]

5. What Does TPTB Mean?......nt

[Demoiselle]

11. I second this question....(?)

[TexasProgresive]

13. The Powers That Be. n/t

[Demoiselle]

14. Thank You!!!! My acronym reader is disfunctional.

[KharmaTrain]

6. And How Was The Anti-War Movement Co-Opted?

It sure wasn't at Lincoln Park in August, 1968 when people got their heads busted...or the Days of Rage several years later.

What co-opted the Anti-War movement? I dunno...maybe the end of American direct involvement in the war could have done the trick? That the anti-war movement made the war so unpopular it became political poison and bad for business...that's what pushed Nixon to finally get a peace accord.

There is plenty of reason to be cautious about the enthusiasm now that can turn to frustration later, but it wasn't cause whatever "TPTB" coopting anything...it was the malaise of a generation that turned to making money and many who bought into the "trickle down" bullshit. And it wasn't the generation out getting their heads busted in the 60s...

[pintobean]

7. The big fear is

Rainy Day Women.

[KharmaTrain]

9. #12 & 34???

That's a lot of fear. :fear:

:rofl:

[ixion]

8. They're sure as hell going to try...

you can count on it.

[LiberalEsto]

10. K-Mart blue light special

99% t-shirts at half price.

[sofa king]

12. They'll do it the way A.W. Dulles taught them.

Dulles compiled a book (a very, very delicate book, in light of more recently disclosed information) called Great True Spy Stories, about the history of espionage in the first half of the 20th Century.

Dulles devoted a disproportionate amount of the book, and a lot of admiration, to the counterespionage tactics of the secret police under Czar Nicholas II. In particular, the articles he selects show his interest not only in the infiltration of revolutionary and protest groups, but in the infiltration of those groups' leadership, and eventually total operational control of the anti-government organizations themselves. One of the more frightening aspects of those stories is that at an early stage, the Russians decided that the occasional successful terrorist act by those revolutionary groups, and the entirely preventable deaths they caused, were beneficial to the Russian cause (they definitely were not, but Dulles skips that part).

One can safely assume that Dulles passed that interest on to the CIA and the rest of the alphabet soup out there today. You would be wise to keep in the back of your mind that the violent instigators among your peaceful protesters may well all be infiltrators of one stripe or another. Whatever the case, they have all your tweets, facebook chats, and phone records which they can use to manipulate all of us, collectively and individually. You should assume they're doing it already.