OCCUPY WALL STREET

[Cin]

Originally Posted by Toughy

I'm not too impressed with breaking into vacant buildings and running through the YMCA to avoid arrest. I am also not too impressed with just marching around in the street.

Civil disobedience has to have a purpose or it's just mayhem in the streets. I have not been involved in any protests the last couple of months and I'm just not sure what is going on now has any purpose. I said along time ago that phase 2 needs to begin. Movements need a purpose and a goal to actually effect change.

Well, unless I'm mistaken there was a purpose. I'm not in Oakland so I don't know. But Occupy Oakland seems to believe they had a purpose or at least their media is releasing this like it was their purpose to occupy just one vacant building and the purpose for the occupation seems logical and in keeping with the whole idea of occupying in general:


Occupy Oakland Media reacted to the use of force by Oakland police:

Yesterday, the Oakland Police deployed hundreds of officers in riot gear so as to prevent Occupy Oakland from putting a building, vacant for 6 years with no plans for use, from being occupied and “re-purposed” as a community center. The Occupy Oakland GA passed a proposal calling for the space to be turned into a social center, convergence center and headquarters of the Occupy Oakland movement.

The police actions tonight cost the city of Oakland hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they repeatedly violated their own crowd control guidelines and protesters civil rights.

With all the problems in our city, should preventing activists from putting a vacant building to better use be their highest priority? Was it worth the hundreds of thousands of dollars they spent?

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Toughy

I'm not too impressed with breaking into vacant buildings and running through the YMCA to avoid arrest. I am also not too impressed with just marching around in the street.

Civil disobedience has to have a purpose or it's just mayhem in the streets. I have not been involved in any protests the last couple of months and I'm just not sure what is going on now has any purpose. I said along time ago that phase 2 needs to begin. Movements need a purpose and a goal to actually effect change.

As to flag burning. I will never condemn anyone for burning any flag, however it is their right to do so. My take on flag burning is this: Burning a flag is symbolic and indicates wanting destruction of what the flag represents. Back in my HIV/AIDS protest days I always tried to point out a couple of things. Don't burn the US flag. Our anger was not at the country, but at the President (Reagan at first). We should have been burning the Presidential Flag and the flags of the Senate and House.

Thank you! I know I am having some trouble being from this area and experiencing very contrasting Occupy protests around us (SF, our northern CA UC campuses including Cal Berkeley & UC Davis) and what is going on in Oakland- and judgements from outside of our geographical area. I also think there is a core Occupy group in Oakland that does represent what is positive about the movement. But many have left to join other cities in the movement due to how destructive and yes, dangerous, Oakland has become.

This bothers me a lot because as an East Bay Area resident, I have always felt that Oakland itself always gets demonized no matter what is going on. And it has some of the strongest grass roots/community organizing history in CA and the nation when we look at the history of social movements.

Occupy Oakland has hurt important segments of the 98% in ways I just can't get behind. It is taking away the very resources that so many people in Oakland need. And there is a very vibrant African American (that is quite young) business community in Oakland that have struggled and fought to re-vitalize areas of the city in order to build stronger foundations for their youth that I see being victimized by the antics of OO. It hurts to see this and their pain.

I agree with what you say about flag burning, too.

[Toughy]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

Well, unless I'm mistaken there was a purpose. I'm not in Oakland so I don't know. But Occupy Oakland seems to believe they had a purpose or at least their media is releasing this like it was their purpose to occupy just one vacant building and the purpose for the occupation seems logical and in keeping with the whole idea of occupying in general:


Occupy Oakland Media reacted to the use of force by Oakland police:

Yesterday, the Oakland Police deployed hundreds of officers in riot gear so as to prevent Occupy Oakland from putting a building, vacant for 6 years with no plans for use, from being occupied and “re-purposed” as a community center. The Occupy Oakland GA passed a proposal calling for the space to be turned into a social center, convergence center and headquarters of the Occupy Oakland movement.

The police actions tonight cost the city of Oakland hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they repeatedly violated their own crowd control guidelines and protesters civil rights.

With all the problems in our city, should preventing activists from putting a vacant building to better use be their highest priority? Was it worth the hundreds of thousands of dollars they spent?

How about a conversation with City Hall about 're-purposing' the Convention Center? Mayor Quan (not my favorite mayor ever) was on the side of the Occupy folks in the beginning as were several members of the City Council. There was political capital that could have been used in negotiations to do something useful with the Convention Center. But then they just thought up this Convention Center Occupy. Why not talk when you have an advantage. The government IS the people and the people need to talk to our elected officials in order to effect change in the government.

This re-purposing the Convention Center is a brand new idea that has sprung up because folks have lost interest in the closing of the port (it's not a good idea to continue that action) as well as playing chase in the streets with the cops. Do you think it makes sense to break in and occupy a basically windowless building vacant for 6 years with no lights, no heat, no running water, no sanitation and make it a library for kids and feed folks? Please.........that makes as much sense as pissing into the wind......

The teachers and the unions and the everyday folks have grown very tired of property damage done by anarchists and idiots who are not being loudly denounced by the apparent general assemblies. The cops are not spray painting buildings, they are not breaking windows and other kinds of damage to small business all over downtown Oakland. There is NO reason to throw things at cops, break windows, make signs that say 'kill all pigs' and 'fuck the pigs' and general bullshit like that. Childish pointless bullshit. And please..........how chickenshit can you be to run into a YMCA to avoid arrest. When I was an activist the whole point was to get arrested peacefully and the more arrested the better the press. IF they would knock off all that bullshit, then the police would not behave the way they do. This IS a two way street with fault on both sides.

Occupy Oakland needs to get it's act together. They are failing and failing miserably at helping the 98-99% in Oakland. Unfortunately they are actually damaging the 98-99% because of property damage and clean up costs. Services WILL be cut and the public library is already under duress, as well as the teachers being laid off and small business having to pay their own clean up costs from spray paint and broken windows.

Way to go guys......big help to your fellow 98-99 percenters......and what have you done to effect change in money in politics and the influence of multi-national corporations and their continuing destruction of our democracy?

[Slowpurr]

[QUOTE=Toughy;516720]

This re-purposing the Convention Center is a brand new idea that has sprung up because folks have lost interest in the closing of the port (it's not a good idea to continue that action) as well as playing chase in the streets with the cops. Do you think it makes sense to break in and occupy a basically windowless building vacant for 6 years with no lights, no heat, no running water, no sanitation and make it a library for kids and feed folks? Please.........that makes as much sense as pissing into the wind......
Do you think it makes sense to respond to the occupation of "a basically windowless building vacant for 6 years with no lights, no heat, no running water, no sanitation" with teargas, stun grenades, and less-lethal shotgun projectiles?

excerpt from NY Times January 29, 2012
Fleeing teargas but still trapped, people pulled down chainlink fences and scurried out through underground parking garages in order to make an escape back to the streets. I waited as long as I could in the stinging air before crossing the previously fenced-in property; police held their lines, preventing people from leaving any other way. From kettle to boil was only seven minutes. This does not sound like anyone was "playing chase" to me.

I empathize with what it must be like to be living it like you are. I think you hit on something with your two way street comment too. Although, having watched footage of the Occupy New York conflict as well as a few others I would have to disagree with your assertion that the police would act mercifully given certain behavior on the part of the protesters.

[QUOTE=Toughy;516720]
When I was an activist the whole point was to get arrested peacefully and the more arrested the better the press.
I think the movement is working the press angle.

[SoNotHer]

Thank you for the other news version of this and your comments. I appreciate both.

Of some other comments, while I don't condone hurting the American worker or American small business, I define "violence" as something a little larger and more grave than what comes out of a protest like this weekend's.

Let's not forget that a greater violence in the form of a hierarchy at full tilt with more than two-thirds of us under water or barely treading water is being perpetrated. And this violence and lawlessness is clandestine, codified, sanctioned, glorified and as insidious as a cancer.

I assure you the chosen few circling the upright bow of the boat care little for those drowning at the ship's submerged stern. And in fact, their grasp of the air depends on the weight that anchors beneath them that which, given a different thrust and notion, would capsize them.

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

Well, unless I'm mistaken there was a purpose. I'm not in Oakland so I don't know. But Occupy Oakland seems to believe they had a purpose or at least their media is releasing this like it was their purpose to occupy just one vacant building and the purpose for the occupation seems logical and in keeping with the whole idea of occupying in general:


Occupy Oakland Media reacted to the use of force by Oakland police:

Yesterday, the Oakland Police deployed hundreds of officers in riot gear so as to prevent Occupy Oakland from putting a building, vacant for 6 years with no plans for use, from being occupied and “re-purposed” as a community center. The Occupy Oakland GA passed a proposal calling for the space to be turned into a social center, convergence center and headquarters of the Occupy Oakland movement.

The police actions tonight cost the city of Oakland hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they repeatedly violated their own crowd control guidelines and protesters civil rights.

With all the problems in our city, should preventing activists from putting a vacant building to better use be their highest priority? Was it worth the hundreds of thousands of dollars they spent?

[Toughy]

The Oakland Police Department is completely fucked up, has been for YEARS and Occupy Oakland and everyone else in Oakland knows that. Most of what they did was not necessary and a complete over-reaction. However that IS NOT the point and begs the bigger question of how OO moves forward.

I still say it is a two way street and communication between police/city officials and OO, has been completely lacking from the beginning. OO looks more and more like street thugs and less like a social justice movement every protest directly because of property damage to small business. Are folks condoning breaking windows and spray painting small businesses?

OO is NOT (in my opinion) working the local mainstream press angle or any other angle in any effective way. They are rapidily loosing the support of the 98-99%. I heard it today in 2 different local coffee shops/cafes known to be places you would find sympathetic folks.....ya know internet cafes with latte liberals and college kids and unemployed folks... The tactics they are using are not working.

It is the pinnacle of insanity to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result.

By the way...........I promise my social justice politics are far far to the left of most people on this website. I have been a staunch defender of the Occupy Movement from the beginning, however they are losing my support because of their own stupidity.

[Toughy]

One more thing about ALL of the protests in Oakland. The large majority of those arrested for vandalism and other charges do NOT live in Oakland. This situation was truly apparent in this last protest.

As a long time resident of Oakland, I do not want idiots who do not live in or contribute to my town to be reeking havoc in our streets and/or public buildings. Enough. I am glad Mayor Quan is requesting an injunction to stop those who do not live in Oakland and have repeated protest connected arrests from coming to Oakland. Go play in your own town's streets and public buildings.

Heard in my living room tonite from a person in their 20s who lives in the City (SF) and works at the Peets Coffee shop a door or two from the big Wells Fargo bank and offices: I work at Peets and the protesters came in and bought coffee before their last Occupy protest at the bank. Guess where Peet's banks....where my paycheck comes from? Wells Fargo............

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Toughy

The Oakland Police Department is completely fucked up, has been for YEARS and Occupy Oakland and everyone else in Oakland knows that. Most of what they did was not necessary and a complete over-reaction. However that IS NOT the point and begs the bigger question of how OO moves forward.

I still say it is a two way street and communication between police/city officials and OO, has been completely lacking from the beginning. OO looks more and more like street thugs and less like a social justice movement every protest directly because of property damage to small business. Are folks condoning breaking windows and spray painting small businesses?

OO is NOT (in my opinion) working the local mainstream press angle or any other angle in any effective way. They are rapidily loosing the support of the 98-99%. I heard it today in 2 different local coffee shops/cafes known to be places you would find sympathetic folks.....ya know internet cafes with latte liberals and college kids and unemployed folks... The tactics they are using are not working.

It is the pinnacle of insanity to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result.

By the way...........I promise my social justice politics are far far to the left of most people on this website. I have been a staunch defender of the Occupy Movement from the beginning, however they are losing my support because of their own stupidity.

Toughy- anyone that knows you could not view as anything other than far left and a defender of the core ideas of the Occupy movement.

I personally find this a difficult situation because the Occupy movement has and is making a difference nationally across cultures, economic class, gender, etc. In fact, there are now some agreeing from Wall Street about key factors the movement is calling out.

Yes, the OO people that do not live and work or struggle in Oakland have been at the seat of OO problems and are turning off many of us here in the East Bay Area.

[SoNotHer]

[Toughy]

.....said in my most gentle tone..........

.....video/audio/talk of only police violence (or peaceful protest) serves neither side and does not one single thing to help change the inherent violence of unfettered capitalism as both an economic and political paradigm.....

capitalism is an economic system that values money/individual profit/the free market over democracy

Democracy is a political system that protects the people from the carpetbaggers and industrialists............democracy does it's best to create a socially and economically just society....

economic systems are egotistical and political systems are altruistic..

democracy is a political system with capitalism being the economic system......the political systems job is to protect and serve the people, not the corporations with a profit motive.


uhhhhh..........exactly what has the Occupy Oakland group done to dispel the violence of poverty? I have a friend who teaches in an elementary school in downtown Oakland. She has spent HOURS of her limited classroom time calming the fears of the kids just trying to go to school and learn to read and write................why are the protesters in downtown Oakland and not out in the affluent neighborhood terrorizing those children who are mostly white? Why are the OO protests scaring the shit out of mostly kids of color in downtown schools?

[Cin]

Originally Posted by Toughy

IF they would knock off all that bullshit, then the police would not behave the way they do.

I can barely fathom that people who witnessed the vicious and unprovoked attacks by para-military police forces across the country perpetrated on non-violent groups of citizens exercising their right to protest would have those kind of expectations of the police. But even those who can still manage that kind of faith could certainly understand that others, especially those others on the front lines of this protest movement, might have a different expectation.

Way to go guys......big help to your fellow 98-99 percenters......and what have you done to effect change in money in politics and the influence of multi-national corporations and their continuing destruction of our democracy?

It seems to me that the Occupy movement has made a major difference in how many people, those directly involved, those on the periphery, and even those who only had limited and slanted exposure through the corporate owned media, understand many issues that affect the poor, the working class and the middle class. People understand things much differently than they did before Occupy Wall Street. You can’t change something until you first understand what needs changing. The movement has given people the words to articulate what they knew in their hearts. They knew something is radically wrong. There is a much better understanding of what exactly that is thanks to the movement.

I have a friend who teaches in an elementary school in downtown Oakland. She has spent HOURS of her limited classroom time calming the fears of the kids just trying to go to school and learn to read and write

It would seem to me that this would be a perfect opportunity to open dialogue with students about the Occupy movement and the reasons why so many people feel the need to protest policies perpetrated on them by a corporate controlled government. It would be a great time to begin to educate them regarding some truly frightening things that are happening. Things that will affect their chances to have the life they might wish for themselves. Conversations about the cost of public university education for residents as well as the chances for enrollment might be beneficial. Perhaps a look at interesting educational choices that are being made in places such as Tucson Az and the long term effects of this type of censorship. Maybe even examining the very real possibility of public education going the way of the prison and foster care systems and becoming privatized and what that will mean for students and their futures. All valid and useful conversations for kids to engage in and infinitely more frightening than any Occupy protest I would imagine.

uhhhhh..........exactly what has the Occupy Oakland group done to dispel the violence of poverty? why are the protesters in downtown Oakland and not out in the affluent neighborhood terrorizing those children who are mostly white? Why are the OO protests scaring the shit out of mostly kids of color in downtown schools?

I don’t think the idea of the Occupy Movement is to terrorize children of any color. I think they are in downtown Oakland rather than affluent neighborhoods terrorizing white kids because terrorizing kids is not the focus of the movement. I don’t think I’m even capable of having this conversation…

While I was trying to respond to this last paragraph about the Occupy movement terrorizing children it came to me that I am really wasting my time here. I had missed something quite important. I had failed to realize that this thread had morphed into a place for people who do not support the Occupy movement, or who have issues with the direction the movement is taking or not taking as the case may be. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and should be able to have a place to discuss them with like-minded people. Since I am not like-minded I will now bow out of this thread.

[SoNotHer]

I agree with so much written here. Inasmuch as I think it's important for the queer community to examine its own internalized homophobia and isms on a regular basis, it's important for this any movement to analyze the ways in which we've stopped challenging and believing and have gone back to accepting the status quo because it is, after all, what we know so why not learn to love the bomb.

The protests will continue, whether we protest the protests, or not, and as long as inequality continues and in fact thrives. And whether or not we deflect and redirect the fight internally or we actually direct our energies toward change - well that's all up to us.

This is the threat to our lives. We all face it. We all operate in our society in relation to a system. Now is the system going to eat you up and relieve you of your humanity or are you going to be able to use the system to human purposes?

Joseph Campbell

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

I can barely fathom that people who witnessed the vicious and unprovoked attacks by para-military police forces across the country perpetrated on non-violent groups of citizens exercising their right to protest would have those kind of expectations of the police. But even those who can still manage that kind of faith could certainly understand that others, especially those others on the front lines of this protest movement, might have a different expectation.


It seems to me that the Occupy movement has made a major difference in how many people, those directly involved, those on the periphery, and even those who only had limited and slanted exposure through the corporate owned media, understand many issues that affect the poor, the working class and the middle class. People understand things much differently than they did before Occupy Wall Street. You can’t change something until you first understand what needs changing. The movement has given people the words to articulate what they knew in their hearts. They knew something is radically wrong. There is a much better understanding of what exactly that is thanks to the movement.


It would seem to me that this would be a perfect opportunity to open dialogue with students about the Occupy movement and the reasons why so many people feel the need to protest policies perpetrated on them by a corporate controlled government. It would be a great time to begin to educate them regarding some truly frightening things that are happening. Things that will affect their chances to have the life they might wish for themselves. Conversations about the cost of public university education for residents as well as the chances for enrollment might be beneficial. Perhaps a look at interesting educational choices that are being made in places such as Tucson Az and the long term effects of this type of censorship. Maybe even examining the very real possibility of public education going the way of the prison and foster care systems and becoming privatized and what that will mean for students and their futures. All valid and useful conversations for kids to engage in and infinitely more frightening than any Occupy protest I would imagine.


I don’t think the idea of the Occupy Movement is to terrorize children of any color. I think they are in downtown Oakland rather than affluent neighborhoods terrorizing white kids because terrorizing kids is not the focus of the movement. I don’t think I’m even capable of having this conversation…

While I was trying to respond to this last paragraph about the Occupy movement terrorizing children it came to me that I am really wasting my time here. I had missed something quite important. I had failed to realize that this thread had morphed into a place for people who do not support the Occupy movement, or who have issues with the direction the movement is taking or not taking as the case may be. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and should be able to have a place to discuss them with like-minded people. Since I am not like-minded I will now bow out of this thread.

[SoNotHer]

http://sumofus.org/campaigns/bofa/

"Dear Mr. Moynihan - I was disappointed to learn about Bank of America's sudden recall of credit lines for many of its small business customers. These small businesses are vital to our economy, and are particularly vulnerable at a time when our country is still coming out of the recession. Please take a stand for entrepreneurs and don't force these businesses into refinancing at punishing rates. Thank you."

Bank of America is squeezing the most vulnerable businesses in our economy, our small businesses that employ millions of Americans, by recalling, with no prior notice, the long-term loans they need to survive. The alternatives Bank of America offers are stark: if these mom and pop operations cannot repay their loans immediately, they face either bankruptcy or refinancing at punishingly high interest rates. This money grab by BoA is guaranteed to have two results: line Bank of America’s pockets with more cash, and force the surviving small businesses into even thinner profit margins and even more layoffs.

This is utterly unacceptable from a company that would not even exist today if it hadn’t been bailed out itself with our tax dollars. More than ever, we need our small businesses, and this is the wrong action at the wrong time. Tell Bank of America President Brian Moynihan to stop putting the squeeze on small business.

[Toughy]

Miss Tick please don't take your toys and go home. Why not look at ALL aspects of a social justice movement?

The Oakland PD will never change. It has a history going back to the 60s with federal consent decrees and legal monitors and it does not matter who is mayor or who is the police chief. They have not been able to change their culture. It does not make me happy, but I am a realist.

The best chance we have is to remember and adopt some old civil disobedience tactics and rules. AtLast pointed out the different tactics used by different Occupy folks in the greater Bay Area.

The college kids garnered HUGE support because of one asshole cop with a military grade can of pepper spray. The students were actually engaged in civil disobedience. They peacefully demonstrated, risked and were arrested, with their faces fully visible and the entire world saw that stupid cop spraying them. There is no better single picture of kids sitting down with locked arms being sprayed in the face. Peaceful protest with a message the world will hear.

Contrast that with pictures of folks with covered faces throwing rocks, bottles, ______ at police. Those same folks are also throwing rocks and breaking store windows, spray painting 'fuck the pigs' and 'occupy oakland' on businesses across downtown. They have their faces covered and tear down fences and run into buildings full of folks at the Y to avoid being arrested. All that, will be on the news and violence will be the topic and nothing will be said about the social justice movement.

I dunno..........which tactic makes more sense?

I don't believe anyone outside of Oakland actually understands what the children of the 'hood experience as part of their daily lives. I don't believe anyone has the right to suggest a 'teaching moment' should occur unless they are teaching in the schools that have the helicopters over head. Today the job of teachers is to spoon feed facts that will be on the tests the children have to take. Critical thinking is not part of any (inner) city public school system and under current policy that will not change. Let none of us who are not in the classrooms of inner city schools pretend we have any idea of what a 'teaching moment' should be.

[atomiczombie]

I think there might be some confusion about whether Toughy is criticizing just Occupy Oakland or the Occupy movement as a whole. I hear her talking specifically about Occupy Oakland and it's choice of tactics and not about the movement as a whole and the merits of it's existence/tactics. Toughy, am I correct?

[Toughy]

Drew you are correct......laughin...............but

If folks think the middle of the country is supportive of the occupy movement...........well maybe you should get out in the middle of the US. I simply said Occupy and my intelligent thoughtful brother-in-law went off like a frigging rocket and actually had to leave the house. Middle america see Oakland with masked folks breaking windows, tearing down fences, breaking into City Hall and basically destroying the first floor and the police trying to control the situation.

And that scene is repeated across the US.

We lost the national political capital (and Obama) when the cop with the pepper spray and the cause of the Occupy movement disappeared and was replaced by masked mostly men reeking havoc on a city somewhere in the US.

[Cin]

Originally Posted by Toughy

Miss Tick please don't take your toys and go home.

I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so dramatic. And in hindsight I should have shut up about shutting up. This really isn’t about taking my toys and going home. I have participated in this thread pretty much since its inception and it feels bad to discover how it has changed. And that’s about ME, meaning it feels bad for ME, not necessarily for anyone else. I am not saying there is anything bad in differing opinions. It's just this thread had never been, for me, about a place to debate differing ideology. There are lots of threads to do that. It felt more like a convergence. A place to bear witness; to share something quite magical. But that time has past. It just isn’t going to work for me any longer. I don’t believe I have anything constructive to offer. I can’t even figure out how to engage in the conversation. I realized this while trying to address how Occupy Oakland is terrorizing school children. But I hope the thread continues to be a productive outlet for others.

[Slowpurr]

I am sorry that anyone has personally been affected by the situation in Chicago.

I have reason to believe that people have felt personally obligated and were brought to action because they have been affected by the political machine that is eating them and their families alive. I am compelled to urge thinking folk to remain alert to why the OWS movement began in the first place and to why it has taken on such momentum. There is an underlying problem with the current trends of the government. It is apparent in how we view our world. Money, power and control are not the answers and they become less attractive when they affect the way we treat our environment and disregard the basic needs of even our own citizens. The OWS movement has attracted and mobilized many people and these participants are not just students, ner'er- do-wells or anarchists. One only needs to read or watch information about the movement to illuminate this. Take the time to meet some of the people that have put themselves out there.

I do not judge a police force by the actions of one or two officers and I will extend the same courtesy to other groups of individuals. The consideration may not truly be worthy of the one or two officers but it is certainly worthy of the ideal behind the service and to those that respect it. I extend the same respect to those folk taking their time and energy in a cause that they believe in. The cause has merit, deserves my respect and has it.

Miss Tick, prepare for blatant manipulation. I would be extremely shocked and disappointed if you gave up sharing the insight and information that I know is held dear by you, I also know that you thrive on and deeply cherish the exchange of ideas. I would feel the same if anyone that posts here felt like they were no longer being heard. If the unpopular ideas and information that you have grown fat on and that sustain you today were no longer available how would you survive? It is a service to share. It is a duty. Will it be met with falsehoods, aggressive assaults or just plain indifference? You tell me. Isn't that what the fight is about? Make a difference. I, for one, greatly appreciate your input. xo

"Truth is not determined by majority vote." ~Doug Gwyn

[AtLast]

One of the most important aspects of the entire Occupy movement is having a forum to both agree and disagree and be heard. Also, every city that is participating with protests has it's unique regional flavor. To me, this has been helpful to better understand things outside of my own region and what others are experiencing. This is part of the beauty of the entire movement.

Although it was hard to take criticism back in the 60's about social movements and our discourse as activists, it was an important aspect of growth in order to effect change. No way will all of us agree with tactics utilized. Being able to discuss these things is important and for me, at the core of how Occupy will continue to bring awareness about inequity in the US.

[Slowpurr]

Thank you to those who pointed out my typo. Oakland. I stand corrected. Proof reading at 5am is just out of the question. Sorry.