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Susan Marie

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What would have made the Occupied Movement successful as an attempt by our young adults to make things change for the better?

My son is a follower of the Occupied Movement as a recent college graduate who found it very difficult to find a job in his field of study. I first learned of his passion for the Occupied when viewing his FB entry of a utube video of the Newsies scene when the boys first become organized and decide to strike. His comment "this says it all". So, for his 23rd birthday, I took him to see Newsies on Broadway. It now has a cult following based on what the Occupied stands for. But what does the Occupied stand for? Where are they now? Why aren't they organized enough to drive change in our society? Where is the energy and passion of our youth to rebel against what is wrong in society? And why did it end up to be just a group of homeless people that had no direction?

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    Fritzie Reisner 100+

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    Jul 20 2012: The Occupy Movement has, I believe, been successful as a manifestation of frustration. Not only those participating actively but also every person who has been unemployed or is underemployed, shares this frustration. Homeless people are often frustrated as well.

    Policymakers and those with influence are well aware of this, which is why turning the economy around is high on every politician's wish list and talking points.

    Change-making, however, requires more than understanding and communicating that there is a problem, a pain-causing problem. It requires also a rigorous analysis of solutions, which includes both the potential benefits and the potential costs.

    Those who raise awareness that people are hurting often are not the same people who are best equipped to undertake the rigorous policy analysis that is required to solve the problems to which they bring attention.

    Problems can be much harder to solve than they appear superficially.

    • Susan Marie

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      Jul 20 2012: Absolutely agree with your position that problems are much harder to solve than to express frustration over. This is why I want to hear from folks who actually participated as to what their objective is/was. If it was just to express frustration, then you are right, they accomplished what they set out to do. My question, really, is why weren't they more organized to analyze and promote change within the system?
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        Fritzie Reisner 100+

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        Jul 20 2012: Here are some hypotheses. 1)Most people who have the time and energy to participate in Occupy Wall Street do not have the analytical background and information about the problem in all its complexity that would be required to generate solutions that would survive rigorous analysis. This situation does not have to do with a lack of organization. Highly organized, well and appropriately educated people are also having trouble figuring out the best policies to implement.
        We tend not to recognize how complex some problems are and to ascribe the lack of ready solutions to people's counter-incentives, to character flaws, and to ignorance. In fact some problems are difficult even for those in the best position to analyze the options.
        2)Working within the system has always taken a lot of courage. Disowning a struggling system and smuggly blaming it are easier.

        • Susan Marie

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          Jul 22 2012: But what about dedication to a cause,feeling and believing? I mean intuition tells me its wrong. Why not fight for what you believe? I Isn't that what America is based on? Why politics, why Obama...reverence no I don't think so. Its time for change for our youth. After all, wasn't that the premise of America... every generation gets more than the last ?? We work, we send our children to college...and now its for what? I t affects me too. I have written letters to both my senators.. Why oh why, because I make over 80K a year as single am I not able to take the college deduction? So not fair. I worked to make more money for my kids as a single mom from ages 4 and 5. And yet. I get no tax deduction..so I am paying college bills that I shouldn't be.

        • Susan Marie

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          Jul 22 2012: You have to work within the system to change the system. I had done it!

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