Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Hope and fear

The Occupy Wall Street movement may or may not have important consequences in the real political world. I hope it does. However, locally, I am not impressed by the young "occupiers" I've seen on TV. They talk without any sense of history, as if no one has ever done what they are doing before. Naive, young. If this is going to work in the universe of Realpolitik, it has to be different. There has to be some awareness of the real power structure they are facing, of what is and is not worth fighting for.

Here in Portland, we may see this played out right on Main Street. It's a major city street that the protesters have blocked. The police want them to unblock it, staying in the parks on each side but letting traffic through. The protesters' arguments for not clearing the street, the ones getting play on TV, are idiotic: "we're not a parade, always moving." "We want to feel safe." (by alienating the police?) There is no practical reason whatever to block the street -- except to show off. They have to keep their eyes on the prize.

In practical terms, what needs to come out of this is a viable third party, a genuinely progressive party. But in reality, I confess to too much cynicism to believe this will happen. I fear the worst -- violent confrontations, splintering, the 60s dance. Backlash, a conservative sweep in 2012. And things become worse than ever.

Let me be wrong.

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