Occupy this!

It is always so hard to look at current events after working on my thesis concerning how democracy should and did work from a realist point of view during the 1940s, '50s, and '60s, especially how leaders elected to represent such a diverse electorate then act in the world. We have fallen very far as a people, but the enemies of freedom and justice have also advanced much further in their ability to manipulate us and the system.
I was invited to one of the "occupy" events starting up in my area, there were a pretty diverse group of comments already on the site, including a link to this story. I was pleasantly suprized that there are still people able to post opinions like this, but also dismayed. There is no need to go in detail about the fragmentation of grass-roots political movements, if you look into the Populist movement in the US of the late 19th Century or SDS in the '60s a genuine leftist can only see wasted opportunity in the infighting, backstabbing and general dissipation of energy in those organizations. As much as I hate the proto-fascist/corporatist right, there is a tendency on the left to spontaneously divide and sputter, along with a "holier than thou" attitude among wannabe leaders that turns a lot of potential sympathizers and supporters off. The point is, for any good points the socialist author made, his tone and conspiratorial projection onto the Democrats made me roll my eyes and say "forget it" I don't want to be on either side.

Don't get the wrong idea, I come here to praise the Occupy Wall Street movement, not trash it. For one thing it is simply too early to put it in any kind of context. For another, a coherent strategy hasn't emerged yet. But of course that doesn't stop demogogic propaganda-spewing apologists for class war on the poor from describing them as "parasites" and so on. Spitzer may be naively optimistic on Slate here by describing OWS's efforts as already effectively changing the conversation, but I largely agree. Optimism implies certainty however, and the only thing certain was that a movement of this kind was inevitable. As it was in the American past, injustice cultivates its own corrective but it takes work. Therefore I have hope that OWS can gain momentum, solidify, and make a real effort on our behalf. But success is not inevitable.

More interesting is the analysis by Djerejian from a more Burkean conservative point of view, the social and economic forces in a nation must find balance if there is to be harmony. Harmony is kind of a vague term in political definition as far as I can tell that may have more in common with stability than justice. Stability can be enforced through coercion, or by a feeling among the majority that they have dignity and an investment in the social structure. People take to the streets when they lose that feeling and decide they have little to lose by fighting for it compared with accepting an unjust situation. The people currently participating actively in OWS have reached this point, along with many others who sympathize and support them. People take part in demonstrations when their lives become intolerable because of the active intervention of more powerful forces then they can influence.

Justice, on the other hand, is the major point of departure from Burkean conservatism for Christian Realism as formulated by Reinhold Niebuhr. Harmony gained through the achievement of a tolerable justice, as the US had for many years after WWII, required the sacrifice of many in varying degrees. Direct action by working people combined with strong political leadership made it possible for so many to take a feeling of ownership in our society and feel it was worth defending. Decades of hard work by the children of darkness have now combined with complacency to take much of that away. The middle-class society of the postwar era may have been a first in western civilization, but the regression of the last three decades is also unprecedented.

So whether or not OWS is a step towards retaking our dignity is up in the air, but I have to counsel caution. Simply as a countervailing force to check the rise of parafascism in this country it is definitely progress. By giving people "out there" a different narrative and physical symbol of another way to feel about American politics is significant in itself. Thus the incredible lengths the noise machine is going to discredit OWS's character individually and as a movement. Of course the accusations resonate with small-minded authoritarian personalities who will defend the system to the death if need be. They will repeat them simply because they cannot bear to think for themselves. But this caution is not for or about them. What I have in mind is to say that there is no utopia, nor is there a silver-bullet that will bring justice in one fell swoop. And this movement has to be for the long haul, if it simply flashes into a fad and fades away not only will the conditions not improve, but the children of darkness will be emboldened to take even more from all of us.