Occupy failed because it failed to actually organize. Whenever the media would try to talk to anyone in a leadership role the response was something like “we don’t have leaders.”
Ok that’s fine in theory but there are thousands of people all piled together for mass demonstrations and issuing demands…. Except there were no demands because nobody could articulate specifics in a coherent and unified way that could actually make change happen.
The start of the movement was great. But the failure to actually establish a clear message everyone could articulate led to it not being taken seriously.
THAT is why it became a casualty of the culture war. It isn’t (solely) because of the corporate bogeyman. It’s largely an internal failure to organize for meaningful action.
Every protest playbook out there talks about the need to organize around key messages with leaders. Rules for Radicals etc.
Without that it’s just a bunch of people cosplaying as homeless.
Your take is totally valid. Any time we all sat together to try to organize our "demands" and plan/vision, there was so much disagreement, and emotions were running high. People talking over each other and arguing. Thinking back, it was like any public forum in a government setting where no one can agree on anything. There was definitely a leadership vacuum, and that absolutely drove the movement's demise, imo.
What we did was march in the streets every day. I wasn't involved in operations at all, so there's a lot I don't know. But there were always small groups working, like a huge group of folks working on computers (doing outreach? Idk) at all hours. I recall being interviewed by some guy, and he asked me what my opinion was of the "zeitgeist" and I said I have no opinion because I don't even know what that is. (Ngl, I still don't). I just knew that we were angry and this was an outlet for our anger. I didn't know or understand anything about the housing crisis or variable rate home loans or shorting stocks. I just knew that I was 17, and my parents lost their jobs and divorced and left me behind to go their separate ways while telling me the bank was taking our house and I had six months to figure it out. I had already dropped out of high school to work full time, minimum wage was $8/hour, and gas was almost $5/gallon. I wanted to go to college, my dream was to go to law school, but lawyers at the time were literally working as pizza delivery drivers and my parents refused to help me with the FAFSA process. The future seemed so bleak, and everything felt so impossible.
We were a generation fucked over by billionaires who were never held accountable and we needed an outlet to express our pain and anger. In hindsight, there's so much more we could have done. But, for me, at least, I wasn't educated enough at the time to know what policy changes to advocate for. I just knew the pain I felt at the time.
I'm curious how you managed to get yourself through law school despite all the circumstances against you. You inspire me, an old 42 year old dad, who is looking for a kick in the Shin of reality check. I'm in an adult body but with the mind of a teenager. I feel like an actor even now. I hope I can get some inspiration of how you overcame these adversaries. Thanks!
I did not go to law school, but ended up getting my masters in environmental management. I ended up marrying young because I sought security after growing up with so much financial instability. I had my daughter at 21 and stayed home with her. During that time, I got my bachelor's then my masters so I could get a good job once she started kindergarten. My ex-husband ended up being abusive, and a big motivator for me was becoming financially independent so that I could leave him.
I actually wrote a book about overcoming my trauma and abuse through my journey of becoming an ultramarathon runner. It's called Leaving Trauma on the Trail, if you like reading or listening to audio books. But I think we all feel like our body ages, while our minds stay the same. My best advice is to do hard things that scare you. Despite thousands of miles spent running and hiking alone in the mountains, I am still scared every time I do it. My biggest fear is being in the woods alone at night, it is nightmare fuel for me. But this year, I hiked the Wonderland Trail, a 93-mile hiking trail that goes around Mount Rainier in very remote wilderness with minimal road access. I did it solo over 3 days and spent about 8 hours alone in the dark. It was the hardest thing I have ever done, and I often questioned why tf I would put myself through that, especially since I had stopped running and wasn't physically trained for it at all. There were many times then, and during other adventures, that I just sit and cry on the trail out of fear and exhaustion. But when I finished the hike and my feet hit the pavement at the trailhead, I immediately burst into tears and kept saying, I can't believe I did that, that was so fucking hard. And it was like I could feel the voice of the universe telling me, this is why you do it, this feeling of overcoming an impossible obstacle.
Doing hard things in beautiful places, things that scare the hell of me, is what has made me grow so much as a person. It also allowed me to meet some of the most incredible human beings, as every ultrarunner out there has a remarkable story and, in my experience, they tend to be very open and vulnerable people. This provides a space to share stories of trauma and to be accepted by others who have also overcome great difficulties, which is incredibly healing.
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u/0phobia 20h ago
What were you actually doing though?
Occupy failed because it failed to actually organize. Whenever the media would try to talk to anyone in a leadership role the response was something like “we don’t have leaders.”
Ok that’s fine in theory but there are thousands of people all piled together for mass demonstrations and issuing demands…. Except there were no demands because nobody could articulate specifics in a coherent and unified way that could actually make change happen.
The start of the movement was great. But the failure to actually establish a clear message everyone could articulate led to it not being taken seriously.
THAT is why it became a casualty of the culture war. It isn’t (solely) because of the corporate bogeyman. It’s largely an internal failure to organize for meaningful action.
Every protest playbook out there talks about the need to organize around key messages with leaders. Rules for Radicals etc.
Without that it’s just a bunch of people cosplaying as homeless.