Friday, June 01, 2012
Keeping on Track
One percent of the global population might reap most of the proceeds from most of the theft in the world, but that doesn't mean the other ninety-nine percent oppose them. In fact, the one percent have many supporters among the ninety-nine, so much so that they in essence comprise a formidable impediment to democracy--even without the oligarchs.
For Occupy organizers, an estimate of the situation might turn up numbers more in the 9.9% range rather than 99% when it comes to a committed opposition to the values of the 1%. Given something along those lines, a pro-democracy strategy might want to consider such things as right-wing populism hijacking the momentum of Occupy, and discuss ways to avoid that.
Some would say that the only thing worse than socioeconomic panic is religious hysteria. Seeing how we are experiencing both at the same time, there are likely to be diminishing returns on an agenda based on outrage alone; as we've seen before, mobilizing resentment is relatively easy compared to building a movement. Keeping a movement on track depends largely on how we understand its composition.
For Occupy organizers, an estimate of the situation might turn up numbers more in the 9.9% range rather than 99% when it comes to a committed opposition to the values of the 1%. Given something along those lines, a pro-democracy strategy might want to consider such things as right-wing populism hijacking the momentum of Occupy, and discuss ways to avoid that.
Some would say that the only thing worse than socioeconomic panic is religious hysteria. Seeing how we are experiencing both at the same time, there are likely to be diminishing returns on an agenda based on outrage alone; as we've seen before, mobilizing resentment is relatively easy compared to building a movement. Keeping a movement on track depends largely on how we understand its composition.
