From Bloomberg.com: “Occupy Sets Wall Street Tie-Up As Protesters Face Burnout”
Here are excerpts from the article that I wish to highlight.
Organizers said there has been more fatigue than fresh thinking this year. Occupy’s New York City General Assembly, which oversaw planning by consensus, ceased functioning in April because of infighting, ineffectiveness and low turnout, according to organizers and minutes of meetings. The group’s funds were frozen to preserve money for bail, ending most cash distributions, they said.
“Movements calcify, and it’s difficult to maintain the vigor and camaraderie,” said Travis Mushett, 26, a novelist who helped organize an Occupy reading group. He was one of six who used the word “burnout” to describe the recent mood.
And
“We are just going to cause chaos, period,” said Drew Hornbein, 25, who helped develop the website for Occupy’s New York General Assembly. “Have you ever been in poverty in this country? Talk about inconvenience. I don’t have any sympathy for anyone who has any semblance of middle-class life in this country — no sympathy.”
And
Hornbein said that online forums became venomous as “systems broke down.” A separate oversight body, the Spokes Council, also dissolved, he and other participants said.
That means there’s no nucleus to a movement that had already rejected leaders, a central website, unified fundraising drives, administrative headquarters or a national advertising initiative. A working group that tried to come up with a list of essential demands wasn’t able to, organizers said.
And
Anarchists are at the heart of Occupy, organizers said.
“In a way, the fringe is the core,” said Mushett, the novelist. “That’s where you find a huge anarchist presence.”
And
Occupy organizers met with representatives from unions and community groups for more than two hours on Aug. 16 to muster support for the anniversary protest. Sitting around desks pushed into a makeshift conference table at the United Federation of Teachers headquarters around the corner from the New York Stock Exchange, attendees asked about tactics, timing and a longer- term vision. Amy Muldoon, a Verizon Communications Inc. field technician and a Communication Workers of America liaison to Occupy, was ambivalent about union attendance.
I wonder what members of the real 99% would think if they were aware of what is in the minds of the Occupy protesters.
This is what I think:
