I don’t subscribe to the view that this is a “flash in the pan” demonstration. On the contrary.
It looks organized, although in a flexible and open-ended style. My thought is that it might have had its origin in some spontaneous brain-wave, but that it was quickly hooked into a previous network.
The only previous network that fits that description and draws Hollywood celebrities as well as the tolerance, if not blessing, of Nancy Pelosi and Warren Buffett, Reason Magazine, Mother Jones, The Guardian, the New York Times, Mayor Bloomberg, Anonymous, and Julian Assange is a government-related network that is not radical anarchist.
The only one that fits is the civil society network that is closely allied to the left-liberal end of the US government and intelligence services in terms of ideology (pro-choice, pro-gay, anti-war, anti-capitalist), but tolerated by the left-liberal wing of capitalism. Yes, there’s a left-radical wing of capitalists. Most of the hedge-fund crowd is liberal. Like George Soros. Finance capital acts in a manner that undermines capitalism, as Marx himself recognized.
Think about it. OWS’s advocates emphasize the “rule of law” (Naomi Klein); use rad chic language and theory (“cultural spaces”, Zizek, subject-object dissolution, post-structural types of notions); is driven by university intellectuals (David Graeber) and alternative journalists (Matt Taibbi and David De Graw).
The same guys who voted in Obama. So no, the commies aren’t coming, nor the jihadis, at least, not so far. [Added on Oct 21: So far, it’s just the van guard. And they’re making noises. Show of force]
But a few misguided would-be radicals, colored or colorless, who jump into the fray, might find themselves the target of a government entrapment operation. And then things could really spin out of control. Would that be good? Isn’t that a libertarian outcome? Maybe. But it could also provoke an authoritarian reaction. Or be used to justify one. Betting on the rationality and good will of a mob of people is not what I’d call a smart bet.
So buyer beware.
#OWS is being sold as a product. Treat it like one.
What’s it for? Who’s selling it? Do you need it? What’s it going to cost? Can you afford it? Can you get what you want somewhere else, cheaper? Can you do without?
On all counts, yes is my answer.
Now those radical anti-authoritarians (chomsky, naomi klein, etc.) with OWS are demanding a one world government:
http://en.unpacampaign.org/news/580.php?PHPSESSID=a75377e8c0e831548ab6bc4f6374ed59
I didn’t know Reason was pro-OWS. They don’t like Ron Paul, but OWS is good?
Ron Paul’s own intentions and integrity are not being called into question.
We are calling into question slogans like “End the Fed” (with which we agree). We think equating the slogan with the end of money creation/manipulation is false, because there are other centers of manipulation, like the BIS.
Thus the underlying message of honest money (commodity backed) is subverted.
The masses will ask for “end the Fed” and get a nationalized bank just like any other central bank.
But the money manipulation can still go on, elsewhere, right?
Just my thoughts.
Let’s see.
I think you hit it dead on. When the OWS began I discounted it. When asked I reckoned it was “astroturf” and was a contrived set up of some sort. Looks like that is and was the case when one considers the Adbuster link, Soros, the incoherent “manifestos” demands and statements, etc. I’m waiting for the South Park parody for sure.
Regarding the “End The Fed” comment I agree that the scenario laid out by mb4 is possible if not likely. That is why such an event must be accompanied by a few other changes namely legal tender laws and taxation.
@Keith S
Thanks for commenting.
You commented before about my RP post and I confess I deleted it in a snit because I didn’t want to spend time explaining myself and didn’t want your comment to stand without rebuttal either.
So I apologize for that.
Yes, I came back from my hiding to warn about OWS which immediately gave me that “funny feeling” I get when I feel something is fake or someone is manipulating me.
There are scores of links to Soros.
Check them out.
Think why the whole blogosphere was so silent about Patrick Byrne’s blog? If they cared about media, and democracy, they would have said something about such corruption of the 4th estate. But they all kept quiet.
Why, because the media is the most unaccountable power of all. It gets to indict, but never to explain…
And while they love for people to out politicians, they never forgive anyone who outs them