Certainly some of the issues raises by the ongoing protests at Wall Street and various cities across America are worthy of serious discussion and debate: the disparity between economic classes, the government bailouts to the financial industry and cushy severance packages to failed CEO’s vs the majority of those who can barely scrape by month-to-month, or might have lost their jobs (and homes, and savings) with no such financial safety net (a discussion of such here with Rod Dreher).
If you want serious analysis of the events, I recommend this excellent coverage by Robert David Graham (Errata Security), providing the quality coverage lacking in the mainstream media.
At the same time, it’s hard not to see the whole gamut of political-ideological factions — anarchist, marxist, libertarian, “tea party” (although the latter are branded as infiltrators wishing to “co-opt” the demonstration) — assemble to voice to their righteous indignation, and observe the moments of unintentional comedy and occasional irony that result . . . if not for which we might take their message just a little more seriously:
- The amusing phenomenon of the “human microphone” to circumvent New York City’s requirement for an “amplified sound permit.”
- The transformation in the space of a week to a tourist hotspot, receiving a string of celebrities and academics including union-busting millionaire filmmaker Michael Moore — whose anti-establishment documentaries are themselves funded by the very corporations he protests (but he’s a man of the people, right?).
- John Lewis, a veteran of the 1960’s civil rights movement, follower of Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, a participant in local sit-in’s and a supporter of the Montgomery bus boycott — denied his right to address an “Occupy Atlanta” crowd by their inability to establish a “consensus” as to whether he was worth listening to.
- The local retailers (and neighborhood residents) quickly tiring of the “occupation” of their businesses, proclaiming themselves entitled to the use of their facilities regardless of whether they make a purchase. Stacey Tzortzatos of Panini & Co. Cafe quickly became an “enemy of the people” by installing a lock on her bathroom door, after finding the sink ripped off ( New York Times October 7, 2011).
- From Reason – Remy’s Occupy Wall Street Protest Song and Occupy Wall Street: A Manifesto.
- Lastly, Tom Beaudoin (of the Jesuit weekly America) has been thus inspired:
While participating in the “Occupy Wall Street” protests in lower Manhattan, I have begun to wonder what would happen if Catholics took this model and applied it to their passion for and grievances with their own church.
Imagine a group of Catholics whose deep care for the future of their church is matched by their sense of responsibility to name, protest and change what is intolerable about that church today: in the form of nonviolent physical occupation of spaces, in the form — necessarily imperfect and unruly — of democratic organization, in the form of continued open-ended articulations of visions of a different Catholic Church, without prematurely forcing the movement to take on a specific agenda. And yes, in the form of consciousness-raising and of direct action. This would be the Catholic version of the Arab Spring, to combat the long Catholic Winter.
(Spare us, Oh Lord).
That citation from America is priceless Chris. It is hard to be a parody of a parody but Mr. Beaudoin manages that considerable feat. The first comment to his post however is a masterpiece!
“I completely agree; to the barricades!!
However, why stop at the the Church? Why aim so low when we can “Occupy Heaven”! Who is God to lord over us – the 99%! Who does he think he – the 1% – is up there above it all just lording over us!
Rebels unite! I know this has been tried before but I am sure that we have a good shot!”
That anyone** takes seriously these imbeciles . . .
Anyway, add up all (in every city on which they descended) of them and they could not fill 99% of the seats the new Yankee Stadium.
In other words, there are about 310,000,000 Americans occupied with surviving until November 2012 when we stop Obama, Holder, Bill Ayres, et al from wrecking the most peaceful and prosperous nation in God’s Creation.
I saw a bumper sticker: “Anarchists Unite!” The bumper sticker is a joke. And, especially unwashed , trust fund hippies are farce.
Some of the right-wing (** left-wing radio is extinct but the obama-worshiping, lap dog main street BS-artists carry on!) talk radio hosts have extensively interviewed selected maroons: infallible ignorance . . . “We are the hope we have been waiting for!” BARF
Yes! Some genius with a PhD in Pre-Colombian, Meso-American Indigenous Lesbian Literature is equipped to reform the (once) greatest economy on Earth!
the government bailouts to the financial industry and cushy severance packages to failed CEO’s
The ‘bailouts’ for most parties consisted of bridge loans (now mostly repaid), guarantees of commercial paper issue (arguably unavoidable) and bond issues (arguably unnecessary and imprudent). Making bridge loans (though not in the form of purchasing preferred stock) is integral to the Federal Reserve’s foundational raison d’etre. The companies truly ‘bailed out’ were the mortgage maws (and that would be K Street, not Wall Street) and one insurance company (whose headquarters are on Pine Street in lower Manhattan and whose business is largely in the Far East). Also getting a sweet deal was the United Auto Workers (headquartered in Detroit).
The principal-agent problem which leads to Brobdignagian executive compensation may be most extreme in the financial sector but is found just about everywhere and is far more severe in its manifestations than it was 30 years ago.
Darn it! America Mag stole my parody idea! And they were serious.
“necessarily imperfect and unruly … continued open-ended articulations of visions of a different Catholic Church”
That phrase in particular gave me chills — and visions of a perpetual committee meeting of progressive Catholics attempting to establish “consensus”. Fortunately, judging by the comments on the post, few readers apart from The Catholic Anarchist seemed particularly enthused about the idea.
” … without prematurely forcing the movement to take on a specific agenda. And yes, in the form of consciousness-raising and of direct action.”
Right. Geniuses getting the me’s to babble about what the me’s want and to see what direct action happens. God pleasing? Understand the heart and mind of God through God’s Word? Oh, boy.
Chaos inspiring Truth? Babble away morals, virtues, beauty, education, art, economies, self-evident truths, America the beautiful, the rest of the world. Temper tantrums adult-style. Make a mess. Point fingers. Pout. Pass laws.
Then, what will you do when you have nothing good, are miserable, hungry spiritually and physically, and looking for someone to listen to the babble about direct action to clean up the mess? Or, if you see St. Michael, Archangel and Protector of the Church? Or not see?
I was in downtown Chicago today for an important meeting. Afterward I happened to pass by the “Occupy” protest outside the Federal Reserve Bank. Looked like noisy but harmless street theater to me, nobody was being particularly disruptive, didn’t see any obvious police presence, and most people not taking part in the protest seemed to regard it as more a curiosity than anything else. Turnout was respectable but not huge, and they could have done without the constant drumming. Some people had signs saying “Honk if you are one of the 99 percent” or something similar; it appeared that most of the vehicles honking were taxis 🙂 Not quite as exciting as the nightly news would have one believe, but… your mileage may vary, depending on where you are.