Yes, the usual advocates of change and mostly shenanigans, Anonymous, is back at it (and apparently Scream is out before Halloween to protest too). Gladwell a year ago provided a harsh criticism about social media's influence on creating systematic change by stating:
"...by lauding Internet organizing, we wannabe revolutionaries “have forgotten what activism is.”(Gladwell and Social Media)
By essentially deflating the balloon on the party, Gladwell believes that the revolutionary mindset is just not there, and, at this point in time, I will have to agree with that sentiment. I do admit that I am quite surprised that this has grown internationally this quickly. The sentiment is there, but the protestors are not taking matters into their hands more. If they just let business go on and just sleep outside Goldman Sachs, I highly doubt Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of the investment bank, is going to give a hoot about it. People in the 60s were passionate to the point where rules would be broken and protestors would get into others' faces. People today still have the subtle belief that they are powerless and are hoping some group will change it all for them. So, they like the Occupy pages on Facebook and sit on benches outside buildings. Steps must be taken to walk the walk as well such as creating a vision and a plan of action for this vision.
This Occupy movement can be seen as a flattener of sorts where the layman will get back at that mean ole' 1% and get some better slices of the cake. Morozov is pretty much a yes man for Gladwell by believing that change and equality cannot come just through the Internet, but, rather, people need to be unified and coordinate in person instead of relying on an Internet connection. He might even go as far to say that the corporations will engineer Internet propaganda to make the protestors look incompetent and lazy. Thus, the dark side of the Internet can reveal its ugly head. They do it with TV after all.
Overall though, it cannot be argued that this is a step in the right direction. For years, people would complain to friends and family, and that was about it. With the advent of social media though, the statuses' and Twitter updates create an echo chamber for people to hear others and catalyze a movement. In a flow-like manner, technology like computers enable the social media which creates world-wide groups to correlate occupy locations and times. The ensuing globalization is created through this web of Internet groups, which is proven by the fact that 1,500 cities all over the world have been occupied. So, for now, the lax approach to this has been underscoring its potential. There has not been even 200 arrests during this whole event on Wall Street. So, while Occupy as it stands is futile in potency, I can feel the vibe of possible change over the horizon if a unified voice emerges.
I would agree to a certain extent that the Occupy Movement on Wall Street is the western civilization movement such as Iran’s is to the Arab world. At the same time the Occupy on Wall Street is very different. This is a more diverse movement where every race, gender, religion are all involved and want to see change. About 50 years ago here in the United State you would not be able to even imagine something of this diverse happening. This movement is another indication that our country has come a long way as far as sticking with each other towards problems that affect us all. It makes me happy to see us all coming together. Technology and social networking has become our export of information to the rest of the world on a more personal level. Like in Iran twitter was used to tell the rest of the world about daily events minute by minute. Of course this movement has used networks such as Facebook and Twitter on a more major scale of people. I like the picture you have of Scream in the protest not exactly sure what the EXACT meaning of his message could be. Maybe he is trying to say that the US Government is the scary one here this Halloween. I would agree that we are some lazy protesters that are trying to seek change, while the CEO’s of these corporations still laugh at us. We have to take this more to their face. By boycotting their services and products, we got to hurt their income. We are the reason why these people are so rich, and it time to take that from them. Facebook pages and tweets get the message across, but we are still not affecting these corporations at the end of the day.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I do not really see the "Occupy Wall Street" movement as the Western Arab Spring. While the general sentiment between the two movements may be similar, the circumstances are completely different. Those who decided to protest in Egypt and Libya ran the risk of losing their lives if they were not successful. If those in New York fail, they will go back to their 1000 sq. ft homes with a 42" flat screen TV and Apple Mac Book. That said, I do agree with some of the goals of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement; I just do not think you can compare the risks that the two movements face if they are unsuccessful.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with your sentiments concerning the revolutionary mindset of this movement. Despite what some may, I really do not see any revolutionary activism from those protesting. From the perspective of someone not involved in the movement, it simply looks like an avenue for the middle-class Liberal Arts major kid to vent his frustrations with the "man." Those protesting are simply camping out in New York not really doing much of anything. The most revolutionary act that they have committed so far is when they marched across the Brooklyn Bridge using the road and not the sidewalk. While over 700 people were "arrested", most of those were for a simple disorderly conduct. In the overall judicial system, disorderly conduct is an insignificant punishment. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela were willing to spend time in jail in order to accomplish the change they desired.
Social media has played an important role in the promotion of this movement but has also harmed the movement. Social Media has allowed protestors to organize protests all across the globe. However, it has also caused the movement to lack a unitary common goal for all those "occupying." It is unlikely that a unitary common goal will arise until central leadership emerges which will not happen using social media.