What They Should Occupy

The protest movement Occupy Wall Street ought to learn from its opponents, the tea party members. Revolutions take place at the polls and elections, not only in the streets.

The genuine battle of the Occupy Wall Street protest movement is only getting started now. That’s combat against the winter that showed up too early this year — combat to sustain the momentum that is to steadily fade away.

Anyway, the movement has already left a political imprint. It seems like the Obama administration is now convinced to align to the left and stick to the economic populism, at times aggressive, as the only political outlet that would enable the president to be reelected in a year.

Can this kind of populism work? It’s hard to know at this stage. The fact that a few thousand angry protesters are camping on the streets is not evidence of anything. In Israel, several hundreds of thousands thought as well that demonstrations will lead to a change in governmental priorities. Or so they thought. The budget and prioritizing — you fix at the polls. On the streets, you should begin a campaign that ends up in the Knesset or Congress.

There Is No Great Wisdom in Hating “Millionaires”

There has been much debate in recent weeks about the similarities and differences between the two protest movements that have arisen in America over the last three years. By the way, it’s interesting that these came into being exactly during the presidency of someone who was supposed to be, according to his promises, the “uniting” president.

There’s an ideological chasm gaping between the earlier tea party movement and the later one, Occupy Wall Street. The followers of the first stream want a smaller, less interventionist government and wish to be left alone. The adepts of the second movement want governmental intervention and guidance, and demand administrative barriers to cut the wings of the rich.

Both groups do not harbor affection for the bank managers, for stock market wizards, for “millionaires.” There’s nothing smart about hating “millionaires.” They are too few, they are too successful, they are often guys who will go to extremes for their goals. Both in Israel and America, the “millionaires” are easy political prey. Obama will wallop them on his way to elections, like Netanyahu did on his way to establishing a committee to boost competition in the economy and the Trachtenberg Commissions.*

The Economic Crisis Is Good for Those Wanting “Revolutions”

The “millionaires” allow distraction from the more meaningful questions regarding national priorities, the operating principles of the economic system and the nature of society. In any case, the public in America is offered two possible ways of action that grew from the street. The one is adapted to the American tradition and it adhers — perhaps, with over-devotion — to the literal interpretation of the U.S. constitution stemming from the American ethos. The second one — less so.

There is no wonder that Occupy Wall Street claims to be a “global” movement. Then it provides an illusion of a brotherhood of struggle causing Stav Shaffir** to share some “tips” with the American demonstrators (in an interview to Time).

The economic crisis is good for the protest, and also good for those desiring “revolutions,” it’s just that the American public has proven more than once that it is resistant to revolutions. The protest enjoys certain sympathy and brings back a little color to the cheeks of the American left wing, but ultimately, this is about politics, like any political issue, and routine hypocrisy accompanies it.

The Democratic minority leader of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi thought that the tea party people are “Astroturf,” but she praised Occupy Wall Street: “God bless them… It’s young, it’s spontaneous…” House Republican majority leader Eric Cantor turned to the opposite direction. He called the tea party an “organic movement”; however, he denounced the Wall Street occupiers as “mobs…pitting Americans against Americans.”

A Tip to Stav Shaffir

Still, here is the difference between the tea party and Occupy Wall Street. The first has already spoken at the polls — thanks to it, the Republicans managed, like a storm, to conquer the U.S. House of Representatives in November last year and open a new political page in the annals of the Obama administration.

Many Americans, according to recent surveys, do not particularly like the tea party and even shun it. But this is not very important. The movement has already been released into practice and changed the political agenda.

This is what you can’t say about Occupy Wall Street: The movement might have changed the agenda of endless talk shows on AM networks, but its effect has not gone much further than this. Exciting? Presumably, there are some whom that are excited by this. Sweeping? There are also some carried away. Significant? We’ll learn its significance in a year when the Americans go to the polls. Here’s a tip from America that could be useful for Stav Shaffir.

*Translator’s Note: A team of experts appointed by the Netanyahu government in the wake of the recent socio-economic protests in Israel to make recommendations for reform.

**Translator’s Note: Stav Shaffir is one of the first campers in the Tel Aviv protests, and was interviewed in a Time article.