The Occupy movement is a new, exciting thing for a lot of people.
There are certainly those who have profoundly negative things to say about the movement. However, this hasn't stopped a large number of people across the United States from siding with the protesters.
To me it looks like a fresh coat of paint for a house that people have, time and time again, refused to live in. This is the big American sale for socialism and state power cloaked in a cheerful populist message. We're on the people's side, they say. We're the 99 percent, they say. We want to bail out people not banks, they say.
These are all very nice messages. They give the people prepared to commit to the cause the ammunition they need to carry out the big sell to you undecided.
The problem is that these are also vague messages, and probably untrue messages. To say that there aren't radical influences floating about the tent city of Zuccati Park would be untrue. To say that there aren't entities ready to supply this movement with serious cash would be untrue.
What I'm suggesting to those of you that are undecided about the group, just wait and watch. Read about these people. Keep an eye on the protests, the arrests, the groups taking part, the shifting message, the overarching goals. I don't want you to come to my side, I want you to think for yourself before you grab some paper and write your own "I am the 99 percent" sob story.
All I ask is that you give this movement, which has now spread globally, the thoughtful scrutiny worthy of any force capable of drastic, fast-paced global change.
Ask yourself, "Who is responsible for success and my failure? Does someone else hold me back? Is the American way unfair? Is capitalism unfair? Is there a better way?"
Just, for a little while, wait and watch.
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