Recently, I had the opportunity to observe my city's Occupy Wall Street protest. The cast of characters was a colorful if not somewhat predictable blend: a lot of average Joes, and a lot of iPhone wielding shaggy-haired, horn-rimmed glassed hippie types, sipping on free-trade coffee from local shops, seemingly decked out in Goodwill chic from head to toe. You know...hipsters.
I don't say this to trivialize the OWS' concerns. I do find them a lot more valid and veritable than their de facto right wing counterparts, the Tea Party. I'm just pointing out an obvious truth - OWS is full of hipsters. That Venn diagram has only one circle.
Anyway, for the most part, I do sympathize with the movement. I think corporate interests pretty much own the two major parties - albeit to different degrees. I think taxes should be raised on the much-maligned 1% instead of balancing the budget on the backs of the middle class and the poor. I'm also glad to see the left finally grow some balls and take it to the streets and get down and dirty with their concerns -- so long as they don't start matching the Tea Party in terms of idiocy.
But, there's a fundamental problem that I haven't seen these liberal progressives address. One that is is crucial to discuss in order to ensure the viability, legitimacy and future success of the movement, and here it is: by and large, liberal progressives during the 2010 mid-term elections, stayed the fuck home.
Yes, OWS, I'm looking at you. This is also your fault. If you'd bothered to take part in deciding who was going to have control of Congress, the shit you're protesting now maybe wouldn't be an issue to begin with. I cannot source anything because I am only finding discerning figures but the consensus is that the young vote - no small part in getting Obama elected so handily - dropped by roughly 60%.
Sixty. Fucking. Percent.
Yes, OWS, the Tea Party won 2010 and they did it fair and square because you let them. You got your guy in office then left him high-and-dry when he needed to maintain an amiable Congress to get shit done. It's fairly inalienable, and I don't see any of the OWS spokespeople (as they've wisely avoided appointing a leader) addressing it. Hell, I think it may even be a source of self-consciousness for its sympathizers. Here's a Twitter exchange I recently had with a OWSer via Twitter.
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| This is my tweet... |
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| ...and this is her reply. |
I have two issues with this: a.) this person is mocking my usage of Twitter when she in fact is using it more extensively (I was just tweeting, she was apparently looking for OWS-related posts, as she is not in my "Followers" list) and b.) it still does not address my argument - that liberal progressives did not vote in the mid-terms and allowed a Republican takeover of Congress, at a time when the party is more plutocratic than ever.
Listen, MisoSusanowaOWS - you can protest all you want, but you're not going to change shit in the end unless you vote. I did. I had to hold my nose and vote for Jack Conway, but only because Rand Paul was the alternative and writing in "Daffy Fucking Duck" wasn't pragmatic. It's called "practicality" and your movement could use some of it. A public display of rancor is absolutely irrelevant if you do not actually cast a ballot for your self-interests. In this, you could learn a lot from the Tea Party. They walk the walk.
So, OWS - liberal progressives, Democrats et al - just own up to it: you copped out. You stayed home and let the other guys take the driver's seat. Shit was so bad, you even lost some very symbolic seats to Republicans. Hell, the only reason they didn't take the Senate was because people like Christine "I am not a witch" O'Donnell and Sharon Angle were so crazy that in a party with its share of nuts, they were basically this guy. I'm glad you're speaking out but if you fail to address the root of the problem nothing is ever going to change. Midterms are not fashionable but they're just as important because they basically decide how much shit the guy up top is going to be able to do.
You must not forget, Obama inherited two wars, rising unemployment, an economic crisis second only to The Great Depression and an opposing party so rabid and visceral in its opposition they dedicated a sub-segment of its base to question the guy's legitimacy, all with an incredibly fickle liberal base to support him - and you're pissed because he hasn't passed a progressive agenda on top of that? It's disingenuous.
OK you've mobilized. You've inspired similar movements all over the world, and you definitely have Conservatives on the defensive. All you have to do is follow through. I know back in 2008 you were mostly trying to bag that cute bartender with the Neutral Milk Hotel tattoo by impressing her with your "progressive" values, but reactionary activism mostly has negative repercussions. We are seeing that now. So, get your shit in gear, get your ass out of bed and into your Volvo and fucking vote from now on. Otherwise, this is just another phase in your seemingly never-ending search for an identity. Like when you thought Architecture In Helsinki was tooooootally a better band than Sea Bear.
I believe that was last week.
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