Could OWS stop being a temporary "protest" and become a more permanent "way of life"?

This is a little "out there"...purely speculative...but I think its a question that's worth pondering.

It's been a long time since OWS started. I thought it would be a week at most...and yet it's going on two months now and the movement doesn't seem to be slowing down.

This makes me question what will happen when the movement gets even more age on it.

What if: a) they never achieve their goals of engendering society-wide change, but, at the same time, b) they never really go away and metamorphisize into a semi-permanet network of camps for the poor, homeless, disenfranchised, and ideologically motivated?

I think its at least a possibility. Imagine you are a drifter, you know you can go from city to city and get food and some kind of shelter there...could it become like a "nation within a nation," of people who are locked out of the system seeking to build a kind of support network? Think about it. Instead of having seperate homeless camps all across America, imagine a kind of unified network of camps and tent cities. Some people like there full time, some come and go as they please. In time, it could even develop its own peculiar institutions...elected officals, perhaps even an alternate OWS currency? Perhaps it could become a fixture on the American scene, a kind of power in its own right -- never fully overcoming the opposition, but not fading away either.

I see this metamorphosis as a definite possibility.

reply to post by Partygirl


Nope.......

Winter is almost here.

Protesting in sub zero cold stinks.

So does living in a tent............

My 2 cents

reply to post by sonnny1


Maybe seasonal migration could become part of the picture?

Or they could start breaking into empty, foreclosed homes and business buildings? Oh wait, that's already happening.

Sonnny1 is sort of right, theres a good chance the occupy movement won't last the winter. Although if it somehow does then maybe the occupy movement will become more permanent.

The other hurdle is that sooner or later these camps will be kicked out of the public areas. no government wants them as a permanent fixture. So they will need to find somewhere else to reside.

If they overcome those hurdles then a long term occupy movement is a real possibility though

wepartypatriots.com...

www.news-record.com...

It is not about living outdoors, lol. I am surprised at this thread so far. Please educate yourselves about civic duties we all share. Occupy is about living your life more meaningfully, which the recession has graciously allowed many of us to do, and about being involved in public life so corruption cannot have a free hand any longer. Will it be a perfect world? A ridiculous question.

Will Occupy ever be over? NEVER again. We occupy our jobs, our schools and our lives. Where are we going to go?

www.washingtonsblog.com...

reply to post by sonnny1


You forget that some people are used to the frigid temperatures.

This isn't simply going to go away as many of you on here wish.

Seriously ATS, grow a pair and support the right side for once.

reply to post by The Sword

"There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing."

Roald Amundsen

reply to post by Partygirl


I saw a video clip somewhere, I think it was by the same guy who does the Zeitgeist movements, where he was talking about how all the occupy groups around the world need to work together. The idea is that each occupy group around the world forms it's own government and build up relationships with one another. I need to find the clip because I cant explain exactly how it was all meant to work, but the idea was to provide some form of alternative government for when things go all a bit titsup with our current system.

reply to post by woodwardjnr


Well, with all the twittertubes and fazzlebooks out there, it would certainly seem to me that if they wanted to communicate and organize it would be no big deal.

Taking it to that level...wow, hadn't even thought of that. Interesting.

reply to post by Partygirl

You've described a system that issues scrip ("OWS currency"), presumably for use in camp stores. It's been done, and the purpose of such schemes is not to help people who have been locked out of society at large, but to keep them out of society at large and make them dependent on the entity that issues and accepts the scrip.

reply to post by Partygirl


OK found that video, I guess it depends on how you view the Zeitgeist movement. Some see it as being a bit commie. But it's an alternative. One worth thinking about. He starts talking about the global representation at 5.42 in the video. But the whole video is worth a watch. His solution could be seen as a form of the NWO or a logical alternative depending on your world view.

reply to post by Partygirl
OWS can't sustain itself. They are, when you get right down to it, just another group that wants bailouts.
ie; student loan bailouts, environmental bailouts, housing bailouts.
Their message is a chorus of dissatisfaction with no real solution.

If I had to describe it, OWS is the epitome of ennui.

There are probably frustrated folks who have solutions they wish to implement. But their voices have been drowned out by the violence, criminal activity, and anti-capitalism that permeate OWS.

My 2 cents.

This movement reminds me of the Hippies from the 1960s and early 1970s... they will be around for a while yet. But as "the flavor of the month" passes, they will too...slowly losing monetary support or getting lost in the newest headlines and controversies...then disappears many of the free handouts...which is already happening...

Then some will have the babies they have conceived and reality hits and they want a better life for the little one... some will become disillusioned and dissatisfied with the movement. Some will drop out...there will be a hardcore cadre that always hangs on..

Then there will be elections...and new political powers in place... and through the demands of the voters...these people will be cleared out of the parks and public areas. There will be some ruckus over Civil Rights and freedom to gather, but the cities will fight back with " we allowed you to gather and voice your opinion...we heard you.. now go home." Even in state and federal parks...a camper is allowed to stay only a few consecutive days before they have to move along.

Look at the news...the message has already exited the front pages and topped the TV news...now we only hear of OWS in terms of what crimes they were associated with today. Most Americans at some level were sympathetic at best and even supportive at the gut level..."yeah, take it to The Man!"... But then the images and stories of pissing on people's home steps, rapes, drugs, pandering, and whinning...the all kind of just turned people off... now they are an acceptable nuisance.. but for how much longer?

reply to post by Partygirl


So... in this scenario, they would turn into roving bands of nomads? Sounds a lot like the nomads from the old rpg, Cyberpunk 2020. Even the description sounds the same (this game was created a loooong time ago, too)

Nomads

A permanent Shanty Town? In downtown public places? How is this good? The businesses would all leave as soon as they possibly could arrange it.

Protests are a means to an end, of which demonstrations are only a part. You're trying to get a seat at the bargaining table.

None of it should be, or should be designed, to be permanent if they also wish to be successful.

Originally posted by The Sword
reply to post by sonnny1

 

You forget that some people are used to the frigid temperatures.

This isn't simply going to go away as many of you on here wish.

Seriously ATS, grow a pair and support the right side for once.

I agree, if nothing else they will rotate but their presence will continue as long as the hammer doesn't come down.

If they do hold out, I wouldn't doubt that they are offered one way tickets to somewhere else...who knows where? Similar to the Parkie Exodus before Vancouver's Olympics...sending a majority of the "undesirables" to Victoria.....free of charge. And the cycle continues?

Originally posted by beezzer
reply to post by Partygirl

 

OWS can't sustain itself. They are, when you get right down to it, just another group that wants bailouts.
ie; student loan bailouts, environmental bailouts, housing bailouts.
Their message is a chorus of dissatisfaction with no real solution.

If I had to describe it, OWS is the epitome of ennui.

There are probably frustrated folks who have solutions they wish to implement. But their voices have been drowned out by the violence, criminal activity, and anti-capitalism that permeate OWS.

My 2 cents.

edit on 14-11-2011 by beezzer because: (no reason given)

Well said, and star for you.
What I can't understand is that David Koresh was only "occupying" his own house, not demanding handouts from anyone, not obstructing traffic or the daily business of his fellows yet our government decided he was worthy of death. The fact that these criminal-minded, obstreperous, recalictrant malcontents are still going about their disruptive escapades leads me to believe that they are the antithesis to the thesis of the tea party and that the "synthesis" will be to clamp down on everybody.

OMFG!! That is an awesome thought, the way I see it is as long as occupy retains its visibility, it forces non political people to form opinions about them. This is a bad thing for the rats at the top because it risks catching on when people begin to lose their homes in larger numbers over the coming years.

Occupy may be modest now but it is the only visible political resistance we've seen so far, the fall-out of our struggling economies will really hit most of us next year, I for one hope the movement can hold on until then. If this happens then we really will have the seeds of a revolution

Will OWS become permanent? Not likely.

History teaches us that long term civil unrest only lasts as long as the civilisation does. Which, unfortunately, is not long after long term civil unrest starts.