Beyond Occupy

[groovedaddy]

Since I was passing through India on a reporting project, I decided to drop in on Anna Hazare, the anticorruption campaigner whose admirers speak of him as the reincarnation of Gandhi. Kisan Baburao Hazare (“Anna” is a Marathi honorific meaning “older brother”) has been a figure in provincial Indian affairs for decades, but he galvanized attention this year when his threat to fast to the death shamed the government into endorsing reforms. I wondered what Hazare, as an exemplar of a venerable style of civil pressure, made of Occupy Wall Street.

Back home, the Occupiers have been pandered to (“Love your energy!”); patronized (“Here, I’ve drafted you a list of demands ...”); co-opted by unions, celebrities and activists for various causes; demonized by the right; arrested and tear-gassed in some cities; and taken lightly by the likes of me. They have been a combination national mood ring and political Rorschach test. Perhaps by consulting someone who is a serious candidate for the pantheon of protest, I thought, I could sharpen my own understanding of what the Occupy project means.

About the time I put in my request for an interview, Hazare, exhausted by his latest hunger strike and weary of the media melodramas that have bedeviled his team, announced that he had taken an indefinite “vow of silence.” This raised questions in my mind — Was he planning to continue his protest as a mime? — but of course I had little hope of getting answers from him because ... well, you see the problem.

So I went to visit his associate, Kiran Bedi, who battled for reforms as India’s first policewoman before joining Hazare. Bedi speaks with the intense energy of a high-voltage circuit. No vow of silence for her. And it turned out the subject of Occupy Wall Street has been very much on the minds of Team Anna.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/opinion/keller-beyond-occupy.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212

[Bluenorthwest]

1. OWS is 7 weeks old

The article says Hazare was a vigilante flogging drunks in his youth. One assumes he spent more than 7 weeks prior to becoming a sage political force, especially considering the word 'flogging' is used as if it were a political action not a criminal one. Just saying. 7 freaking weeks.

[zalinda]

2. Unfortunately, he is comparing apples to oranges.

India and the US does not operate the same way. Nor are Indians and Americans of the same mind set. What works in one country, does not guarantee that it will work in another country.

If he really wants to be a good reporter, he should go down to OWS and talk to them.

zalinda

[texshelters]

4. Yes, he should go and spend the day with them

but like all armchair opinion writers, he's too important for that.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[texshelters]

3. This is false on many counts

No one has been co-opted by unions. Occupy Wall Street (and others) sees unions (and other social movements) as a natural ally and working with them is not "co-option". And some celebrities showed up on Wall Street to give the movement much needed attention. Did you make a big deal out of Chuck Norris, Sarah Palin or other celebrities showing up to the Tea Party rallies to show support?

The dismissive tone of the author shows that he too bought into the mainstream media analysis of the movement without looking at the context, the obstacles, the police state against them. Mainstream writers like him are too lazy to get the complete picture. Get out of your car and spend the day with the Occupy movement and talk to the participants before writing more fish wrap.

We wouldn't listen to a movie reviewer writing about a movie he never saw, why should we listen to him?

Peace,
Tex "Occupy Tuson" Shelters

[groovedaddy]

5. If you haven't yet, make it a point to check out the comments section after his piece.

I'm finding that, on the occupy movement, this is where the best exchanges are taking place.

[texshelters]

6. Thanks.

Peace,
Tex Shelters