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By GLENN HARLAN REYNOLDS
Schools from New York's Columbia to Chicago's Roosevelt University are offering courses on the "Occupy" movement. This has inspired some derision from the right, but I think that derision is misplaced. There is much that a course on the Occupy movement might profitably cover. Here are some possible lessons:
1) The Higher Education Bubble and Debt Slavery Throughout History. Since ancient times, debt has been a tool used by rulers to enslave the ruled, which is why the Bible explains that the borrower is the slave to the lender. One complaint of many Occupy protesters involves their pursuit of expensive degrees that has left them burdened by student loans but unable to find suitable employment. This unit would compare the marketing of higher education and student debt to today's students with the techniques used to lure sharecroppers and coal miners into irredeemable indebtedness. Music to be provided by Tennessee Ernie Ford.
2) Bourgeois vs. Non-Bourgeois Revolutions: A Comparison and Contrast. The Occupy movement left its major sites—McPherson Square in D.C., Zuccotti Park in Manhattan, Dewey Square in Boston—filthy and disheveled. By contrast, the tea party protests famously left the Washington Mall and other locations cleaner than they found them, with members proudly performing cleanup duties.
This unit would note that social-protest movements are sometimes orderly and sometimes disorderly as a matter of approach, and it would compare the effectiveness and ultimate success of such relentlessly bourgeois movements as the tea party, the pre-1964 Civil Rights movement, Women's Suffrage activists, and the American Revolution, against such anti-Bourgeois movements as the post-1968 Black Power and New Left movements, and the French Revolution.
Which accomplished more lasting good? Is Max Weber's Protestant work ethic applicable to social movements?
3) Class struggles and the New Class. Professor Kenneth Anderson of American University has suggested that the Occupy movement is best understood as a struggle between the upper and lower tiers of the elite. In recent years, the upper tier, composed of bankers, financiers, etc., has become decoupled from the lower-tier sub-elite of "Virtue Industry" workers in fields like education, nonprofit activism, social work and the like—with the latter feeling betrayed and abandoned.
The Occupy Wall Street Movement in Union Square on Nov. 17, in New York City.
Mr. Anderson writes: "It was, after all, the upper tier New Class, the private-public finance consortium, that created the student loan business and inflated the bubble in which these lower tier would-be professionals borrowed the money. It's a securitization machine, not so very different from the subprime mortgage machine. The asset bubble pops, but the upper tier New Class, having insulated itself and, as with subprime, having taken its cut upfront and passed the risk along, is still doing pretty well. It's not populism versus the bankers so much as internecine warfare between two tiers of elites. The downward mobility is real, however."
This unit would begin with Milovan Djilas's analysis of the managerial "New Class" that ran the late-stage Soviet Union, and would then consider that analysis's application to American society today. Similar thoughts by Friedrich Hayek and Christopher Lasch would provide insight on the nature of the intra-class, intra-elite struggle that marks the Occupy movement.
4) Scapegoating and anti-Semitism in mass economic-protest movements. The Occupy movement began as an assault on "the 1%," a shadowy elite of bankers and financiers charged with running the world for their own benefit. Within a few months, the Anti-Defamation League was noting that anti-Semitic statements and sympathies seemed surprisingly widespread within the Occupy encampments. Compare with other such movements that led to similar results. Are such developments inevitable? If so, what strands in Western (and perhaps non-Western) culture account for this?
5) The Fragility of Public Health. Young and healthy upper-middle-class Americans, when huddled into encampments without modern sanitary facilities, developed a number of diseases, ranging from scabies to lice to tuberculosis, with surprising rapidity. In addition, populations of rats and other vermin exploded. What lessons can be learned about the fragility of public health, and the complacency bred by modern sanitation? Are we similarly complacent in other areas?
6) Class Differences Within Economic Protest Movements. While the Occupy movement's proletariat were sleeping under canvas, many of its leaders were staying in five-star hotels. Six-figure sums of money were collected, but their disbursement was cloudy. Does every movement, however egalitarian in doctrine, inevitably produce its own overclass? Are "egalitarian" movements more prone to such outcomes? Readings: George Orwell's "Animal Farm," Li Zhi-Sui's "The Private Life of Chairman Mao."
It is likely, of course, that the Occupy courses offered will partake of none of the above, and will instead be tedious, dated mashups of Fanon, Marcuse and Frances Fox Piven. But if students are offered no better than that, it will be the fault of their instructors, not of the subject matter.
Mr. Reynolds is a law professor at the University of Tennessee. He hosts "InstaVision" on PJTV.com.
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
It's that Point #6 that just hammers it all home for me (not agreeing or disagreeing with the claims by the author). The reason is the day I opened up the OWS site and saw that the cooks were striking for a day because they were being "taken advantage of" by homeless vagrants who preferred OWS' relatively elaborate fare to that served by the the local soup kitchens.
The cooks felt put-upon, overworked, and unappreciated.
Basically a microcosm for the entire OWS movement and it's inevitable demise.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/02/17 19:29:39
article wrote:
Schools from New York's Columbia to Chicago's Roosevelt University are offering courses on the "Occupy" movement. This has inspired some derision from the right, but I think that derision is misplaced. There is much that a course on the Occupy movement might profitably cover. Here are some possible lessons:
There is merit in studying the OWS movement, if only in terms of its being an interesting contemporary protest.
article wrote:
1) The Higher Education Bubble and Debt Slavery Throughout History. Since ancient times, debt has been a tool used by rulers to enslave the ruled, which is why the Bible explains that the borrower is the slave to the lender. One complaint of many Occupy protesters involves their pursuit of expensive degrees that has left them burdened by student loans but unable to find suitable employment. This unit would compare the marketing of higher education and student debt to today's students with the techniques used to lure sharecroppers and coal miners into irredeemable indebtedness. Music to be provided by Tennessee Ernie Ford.
I suspect that there is more truth in this than the author realizes, though the comparison to coal towns and sharecropping is hyperbolic. Kids going to major universities aren't trying to survive.
article wrote:
This unit would note that social-protest movements are sometimes orderly and sometimes disorderly as a matter of approach, and it would compare the effectiveness and ultimate success of such relentlessly bourgeois movements as the tea party, the pre-1964 Civil Rights movement, Women's Suffrage activists, and the American Revolution, against such anti-Bourgeois movements as the post-1968 Black Power and New Left movements, and the French Revolution.
The idea that the OWS movement wasn't primarily based in the petite bourgeois is something people really need to stop believing. I'm also not sure how the Black Power Movement was anti-bourgeoisie if the pre-1964 Civil Rights Movement was not. I also don't know why he switched from "non-" to "anti-".
It seems like he's trying to conflate violent protests based on class origin; which is incredibly dicey, given how few protests originate outside the middle class.
article wrote:
Which accomplished more lasting good? Is Max Weber's Protestant work ethic applicable to social movements?
Its not really applicable to anything, its been repeatedly shown to lack support when subjected to study.
article wrote:
3) Class struggles and the New Class. Professor Kenneth Anderson of American University has suggested that the Occupy movement is best understood as a struggle between the upper and lower tiers of the elite. In recent years, the upper tier, composed of bankers, financiers, etc., has become decoupled from the lower-tier sub-elite of "Virtue Industry" workers in fields like education, nonprofit activism, social work and the like—with the latter feeling betrayed and abandoned.
Makes sense, that's how most protests and revolutions start, assuming the lower tiers of the elite are meant to be the middle class. Though its rather amusing how he sees the sub-elite as equivalent to the "virtue industry".
article wrote:
Does every movement, however egalitarian in doctrine, inevitably produce its own overclass?
Yes.
article wrote:
It is likely, of course, that the Occupy courses offered will partake of none of the above, and will instead be tedious, dated mashups of Fanon, Marcuse and Frances Fox Piven.
I doubt very much that someone with such a glaringly obvious inability to understand the concept of bourgeoisie has ever read anything by Marcuse, certainly not to completion.
Either way, much of what he outlined, barring the student loan thing, and the ridiculous bourgeoisie point, will likely be covered.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/02/18 09:26:23
Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.
It is interesting to see ridicule slung at the OWS movement by the right wing. The volume suggests that OWS is successful enough to be alarming to them.
How much do people in the US recognise the international reach of OWS?
Oh another thread on Dakka throwing poop at the OWS movement.
It has been a long long time since America has had nation wide protest movements like this. Ignoring it is dumb because it represents the how people feel at the massive wealth gap in America.
"The Imperium is nothing if not willing to go to any lengths necessary. So the Trekkies are zipping around at warp speed taking small chucks out of an nigh-on infinite amount of ships, with the Imperium being unable to strike back. feth it, says central command, and detonates every vortex warhead in the fleet, plunging the entire sector into the Warp. Enjoy tentacle-rape, Kirk, we know Sulu will." -Terminus
"This great fortress was a gift to the Blood Ravens from the legendary Imperial Fists. When asked about it Chapter Master Pugh was reported to say: "THEY TOOK WHAT!?""
Powder Burns wrote:what they need to make is a fullsize leatherman, like 14" long folded, with a bone saw, notches for bowstring, signaling flare, electrical hand crank generator, bolt cutters..
What sort of anti-Semitic statements have been made by OWS protesters? Merely curious because I hadn't heard anything reported about that being an issue with the OWS movement.
Kilkrazy wrote:It is interesting to see ridicule slung at the OWS movement by the right wing. The volume suggests that OWS is successful enough to be alarming to them.
Interesting question. Just as a thought exercise...
Kilkrazy wrote:It is interesting to see ridicule slung at the Tea Party movement by the left wing. The volume suggests that Tea Party is successful enough to be alarming to them.
Discuss.
Drink deeply and lustily from the foamy draught of evil.
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Haters gon' hate.
I like the part about the "former Europe." Which part did you find full of win? The part where he tells us that newscasters like the taste of feet? The part where he reduces the entire OWS movement down to a strawman? The part where he points out that people use items from large corporations (which isn't really a relevant point)? The repeated ad hominems? That strange, strange "Europe" line?
Kilkrazy wrote:It is interesting to see ridicule slung at the OWS movement by the right wing. The volume suggests that OWS is successful enough to be alarming to them.
How much do people in the US recognise the international reach of OWS?
Not alarm. Disdain, complete and utter disdain.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Alexzandvar wrote:Oh another thread on Dakka throwing poop at the OWS movement.
It has been a long long time since America has had nation wide protest movements like this. Ignoring it is dumb because it represents the how people feel at the massive wealth gap in America.
They happen all the time. The MSM just doesn't report it. Besides...camping [u] is not a protest.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/02/19 02:21:17
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
I like the part about the "former Europe." Which part did you find full of win? The part where he tells us that newscasters like the taste of feet? The part where he reduces the entire OWS movement down to a strawman? The part where he points out that people use items from large corporations (which isn't really a relevant point)? The repeated ad hominems? That strange, strange "Europe" line?
He must have been just as serious about the reporters barely eking by on 7 figure salaries. It's a satire, and it's hilarious. Hilariously full of win.
Avatar 720 wrote: You see, to Auston, everyone is a Death Star; there's only one way you can take it and that's through a small gap at the back.
Powder Burns wrote:what they need to make is a fullsize leatherman, like 14" long folded, with a bone saw, notches for bowstring, signaling flare, electrical hand crank generator, bolt cutters..
About the anti-semetic bit, there were some protestors with signs blaming the Jews for hoarding all of the money in America. That and there were some rather deplorable signs they had.
Oh and the Nazi Party of America supported them so there was that.
I do find them to be a good source of humor though.
"So let's have a flat tax rate.".
"No because it would make conditions worse for the poor."
"But everyone would pay the same share."
"But the poor need."
"So you want a 'fair' share to be taken from everybody except for the poor?"
"Yes."
"We already have that."
"No we don't because the rich don't pay as much."
"Mitt Romney paid enough for well over several families in terms of taxes.".
Kilkrazy wrote:The dangers of the Tea Party are obvious to the liberal mind.
Likewise, the dangers of the OWS movement are obvious to the reactionary mind.
Lol.
Troll harder, seriously.
Aside from seemingly equating right-wing with reactionary (Which isn't necessarily a problem considering how vague "right-wing" is, and the common political definition of "reactionary".), I don't see how there is much trolling going on here.
The Tea Party was a massive protest movement, with obvious, and proven, political significance. That left-leaning, or even right-leaning (or traditionally Republican) people who don't agree with their positions, would be concerned about their existence is self-evident.
OWS is some people sitting in parks who can't even produce a message with the basic consistency of the various Tea Party protests. The idea that someone who is concerned about their existence is reactionary is far from beyond the pale as arguments go.
Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.
The OWS were pretty much not better than animals, according to family members that had to endure their presence.
They were literaly gaking on the sidewalks and leaving it, strewing garbage everywhere, and getting into people's faces.
All this, while talking about their moral superiority to the Teaparty.
Edited for spelling.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/02/19 07:03:44
Frazzled wrote: Besides...camping [u] is not a protest.
I have never been to a camp ground that tear gases the campers...
Well, less camping, more high school party gone..GOOD!
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
>Raptors Lead the Way <