Sunday, September 25, 2011

The 60s protests redux?

Today's NY Times has a fairly negative article on Occupy Wall Street. Ginia Bellafante does not think that the protesters know what they are talking about and her quotes from some of the protesters support her argument. In any movement, especially in the early days, you'll find participants who are in it for fun. I think she could write the same article about the early anti-war protesters of the 1960s. There were a lot of kids on the streets; many of them had little idea of what they were doing other than expressing a gut feeling that the Vietnam War was wrong. Eventually, the protesters became more organized and knowledgeable and they won.

The protesters - however weak and ignorant they may be today - have been able to keep it up for over a week. And they may be building support. There was a small sympathy protest in LA today. People are coming to NYC from other parts of the country. And the arrest of 80 of them yesterday will likely help this movement. As will the following interview with Chris Hedges.



I wonder what Bellafante would say about that.

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