Are OWS and Other 99% Protests Worth The Effort? Is the 1% Too Strong For a Non-Cohesive Message?

Albeit, I am not the type that gets inspired to pay much attention to protests, whether they are in my country the United States let alone some other foreign land where one is much more likely to be beheaded on the streets than their attention be paid, let alone partake in one. I generally feel regardless of what political persuasion the protesting groups are from, that they (protesters) are generally the vocal kooks in our largely quiet relatively sane majority. Maybe my protest is not protesting at all? Honestly and unfortunately the “kooks” get the headlines and the rest of us are forced to listen to their gripes whether or not there is any cohesion in message, forethought in strategy, or plan for exit.

First things first, when putting together a protest be sure your group has at least some semblance of a consistent message and focus where your point can be driven home, again and again and again. An example where this was seen being done successfully was at the beginning stages of the Tea Party Movement. Now, I am no fan of these peoples political persuasion, what they care about, or what they want our country to be, but that doesn’t matter. They had and have a cohesive message and focal point. Namely, they hate Barack Obama and will do whatever they can to keep any of his policies from taking hold. It wasn’t perfect though; there were some kooks that out kooked the regular kooks by interjecting their racial prejudices into protests that were primarily intended to rally against increased taxes and against any kind of socially mandated healthcare. Either case however seems to be fueled by lack of perspective, experience, information, and general fear about the unknown. The Tea Party movement has also been successfully because their strategy was well thought out and executed well. They held gatherings, had a catchy name and symbols from American history like the Boston Tea Party and re-enactments thereof. People waving tea bags around were pretty lame in my opinion however and led to a very unfortunate nickname given to them in the form of “tea baggers”. I still chuckle a little about that one! The Tea Party’s exit strategy is yet to be seen however lately it seems it may be nominating the least electable presidential candidate the world has ever seen. If that happens, they will have executed their strategy well but failed in their efforts ultimately.

The Occupy Wall Street protesters, whose political leanings I am more likely to share compared to the Tea Party is, in my opinion, the perfect example of a protest that fails all three of my measures for success in protest. First, they have absolutely no cohesion in message. They seem to have relatively good organization and “Occupy” groups have sprung up in various sizes to protest in cities across the United States. The problem is that most of us witnessing their activity have no clue for what they are asking. “We Hate Corporations”…Yeah! Wait, now what? We demand….stuff! “I will sit in this city park until I smell worse than that homeless guy over there!” Granted, they get a lot of attention but do their protests have any traction whatsoever? Step one of successful negotiation; know what you are asking for! We all get that the unemployment level is way too high and the underemployment rate is even worse. Yes corporations have too many tax loopholes. Will closing them make more money available to hire…you? And where is the Occupy movement’s forethought in strategy? Yes, they have gathered in masses and have made local government and police agency's lives a living hell but have the protesters become no more than a public nuisance? The way they are being thrown out of parks in NYC makes it appear that way. That strategy isn’t working. The only thing that they can do with their masses is what the Tea Party did; they ultimately expressed their opinions in the ballot box. Young people need to go out and vote to make a difference instead of protesting as an excuse for something to do. Needless to say, the “Occupiers” have no exit plan because that would involve having a strategy to begin with. Well played!

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