Occupy Irrelevance: Is Movement Already Fizzling Out? - Investors.com
On Oct. 5, just 18 days after the Occupy Wall Street movement got started, NBC news anchor Brian Williams declared that it had "spread steadily and far beyond Wall Street, and it could well turn out to be the protest of this current era."
About a month later, Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs wrote in the New York Times that the Occupy movement was "most likely the start of a new era in America," adding that "those who think that the cold weather will end the protests should think again."
Countless other pundits and advocates claimed more or less the same — that Occupy Wall Street was a grass-roots movement equal to if not potentially more influential than the Tea Party.
But two months after it began, the movement is giving every sign of running out of steam. Recent protests have been resounding flops, public support is slipping, and even Democrats are reluctant to embrace the movement.
Some recent Occupy failures:
Black Friday Protest. Occupy Black Friday planned to dampen sales at publicly traded retailers on the biggest shopping day of the year to "hit corporations that corrupt and control American politics where it hurts." It was a bust. Just four showed up that morning at a New York City Macy's, for example, and only two dozen protested at downtown San Francisco stores. Meanwhile, Black Friday sales climbed 7% to a record high and the S&P Retail Index on Monday had its best one-day percentage gain since August.
UC Davis Strike. Occupiers promised a general strike at the University of California-Davis Monday to protest tuition hikes, with the goal of shutting down the campus. The strike never happened, and classes went on as scheduled.
Shutting Wall Street. Movement organizers planned a massive "street carnival" on its two-month anniversary Nov. 17, promising at least 10,000 would attend and "shut down Wall Street." Only about 1,000 showed up and Wall Street business went on as usual. Other "day of action" events around the country attracted only a small number of protesters.
Student Debt Campaign. The Occupy Student Debt campaign is trying to enlist one million people to default on their student loans to protest the rising cost of colleges. So far, just over 1,700 have signed the online pledge, according to its website.
With city governments clearing out many Occupy camps, including Occupy LA early Wednesday morning, it's now unclear if the movement will have any meaningful presence at all in the near future.
In contrast, two months after the first Tea Party rallies, the movement managed to organize hundreds of protests across the country in April 2009 that attracted some 300,000 people.
Other signs the Occupy movement is failing to catch fire:
Occupy Wall Street's Facebook page has just 345,000 "likes," less than half the 853,000 who've "liked" the Tea Party Patriots page.
Occupy Wall Street also been unable to attract the support of minority groups hurt most by the economic downturn. Blacks comprise a mere 1.6% of the movement, according to a Fast Company survey.
And public support for the Occupy movement has started to fade. A recent survey by the liberal-leaning Public Policy Polling found just 33% now support the movement, dropping below the share who say they support the Tea Party. (Polls also show support for the Tea Party ebbing.) The latest Gallup survey found just over a third of Democrats back the Occupiers.
Occupy supporters argue that, despite such setbacks, the movement has been effective in changing the terms of the public debate. " Income inequality is now a top-tier issue," according to Washington Post liberal blogger Ezra Klein. But the evidence of this rests mainly with the recent rise in news stories mentioning income inequality. That could simply be a reflection of media bias in favor of the Occupy cause, something the conservative Media Research Center has been documenting.
In any case, income inequality is hardly a new issue, particularly among Democrats, who've campaigned on it for for decades. President Obama, for example, promised in 2008 to reverse Republican "trickle down" policies with those that would produce "bottom up" prosperity.
But the biggest roadblock for the Occupy movement may be the public's views on the matter. In a Pew Research survey, 58% say it's more important for people to "have freedom to pursue life's goals without state interference," while with just 35% prioritizing the government's guaranteeing "nobody is in need."
A survey by the Economic Mobility Project found that 71% say the country should focus on making sure everyone has a fair chance to succeed. Just 21% think the focus should be on reducing income inequality.
http://news.investors.com/Article/593203/201111300805/occupy-wall-street-protests-support-declines.htm
Sanitation workers clean up Wednesday after police cleared a large Occupy L.A. encampment outside Los Angeles City Hall. About 290 protesters were... View Enlarged Image
On Oct. 5, just 18 days after the Occupy Wall Street movement got started, NBC news anchor Brian Williams declared that it had "spread steadily and far beyond Wall Street, and it could well turn out to be the protest of this current era."
About a month later, Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs wrote in the New York Times that the Occupy movement was "most likely the start of a new era in America," adding that "those who think that the cold weather will end the protests should think again."
Countless other pundits and advocates claimed more or less the same — that Occupy Wall Street was a grass-roots movement equal to if not potentially more influential than the Tea Party.
But two months after it began, the movement is giving every sign of running out of steam. Recent protests have been resounding flops, public support is slipping, and even Democrats are reluctant to embrace the movement.
Some recent Occupy failures:
Black Friday Protest. Occupy Black Friday planned to dampen sales at publicly traded retailers on the biggest shopping day of the year to "hit corporations that corrupt and control American politics where it hurts." It was a bust. Just four showed up that morning at a New York City Macy's, for example, and only two dozen protested at downtown San Francisco stores. Meanwhile, Black Friday sales climbed 7% to a record high and the S&P Retail Index on Monday had its best one-day percentage gain since August.
UC Davis Strike. Occupiers promised a general strike at the University of California-Davis Monday to protest tuition hikes, with the goal of shutting down the campus. The strike never happened, and classes went on as scheduled.
Shutting Wall Street. Movement organizers planned a massive "street carnival" on its two-month anniversary Nov. 17, promising at least 10,000 would attend and "shut down Wall Street." Only about 1,000 showed up and Wall Street business went on as usual. Other "day of action" events around the country attracted only a small number of protesters.
Student Debt Campaign. The Occupy Student Debt campaign is trying to enlist one million people to default on their student loans to protest the rising cost of colleges. So far, just over 1,700 have signed the online pledge, according to its website.
With city governments clearing out many Occupy camps, including Occupy LA early Wednesday morning, it's now unclear if the movement will have any meaningful presence at all in the near future.
Occupy Los Angeles protestors chant during a morning gathering at the demonstration's encampment in front of Los Angeles City Hall on Monday. Los... View Enlarged Image
In contrast, two months after the first Tea Party rallies, the movement managed to organize hundreds of protests across the country in April 2009 that attracted some 300,000 people.
Other signs the Occupy movement is failing to catch fire:
Occupy Wall Street's Facebook page has just 345,000 "likes," less than half the 853,000 who've "liked" the Tea Party Patriots page.
Occupy Wall Street also been unable to attract the support of minority groups hurt most by the economic downturn. Blacks comprise a mere 1.6% of the movement, according to a Fast Company survey.
And public support for the Occupy movement has started to fade. A recent survey by the liberal-leaning Public Policy Polling found just 33% now support the movement, dropping below the share who say they support the Tea Party. (Polls also show support for the Tea Party ebbing.) The latest Gallup survey found just over a third of Democrats back the Occupiers.
Occupy supporters argue that, despite such setbacks, the movement has been effective in changing the terms of the public debate. " Income inequality is now a top-tier issue," according to Washington Post liberal blogger Ezra Klein. But the evidence of this rests mainly with the recent rise in news stories mentioning income inequality. That could simply be a reflection of media bias in favor of the Occupy cause, something the conservative Media Research Center has been documenting.
In any case, income inequality is hardly a new issue, particularly among Democrats, who've campaigned on it for for decades. President Obama, for example, promised in 2008 to reverse Republican "trickle down" policies with those that would produce "bottom up" prosperity.
But the biggest roadblock for the Occupy movement may be the public's views on the matter. In a Pew Research survey, 58% say it's more important for people to "have freedom to pursue life's goals without state interference," while with just 35% prioritizing the government's guaranteeing "nobody is in need."
A survey by the Economic Mobility Project found that 71% say the country should focus on making sure everyone has a fair chance to succeed. Just 21% think the focus should be on reducing income inequality.
http://news.investors.com/Article/593203/201111300805/occupy-wall-street-protests-support-declines.htm
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