The clarion call for the media brotherhood is “DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER” just because you don’t like the message. But that old axiom got turned around this fall when the Occupy movement sprung up in New York City. The message wasn’t the problem. It was the messengers.
The eviction of Occupy Toronto from St. James Park is certainly good for the downtown residents and retailers who live and work in that core patch of the city. But the measured police response supporting the eviction is probably better news for the Occupy movement.
The circus atmosphere around the squat camp has actually distracted from the bigger issues that spawned Occupy. If you remember, the original sit-in protest on Wall Street wasn’t intended to be politicized or unionized. It was meant to draw attention to the growing gap between the wealthy and the poor, and, more to the point, the disappearance of the middle class in the U.S.
I the usual talk show suspects and newspaper columnists are already doing their “I told you so” dance. But what they don’t seem to know is that they are the same kind of white noise distraction we got from the Occupiers in the park. The “real 99 percent” has been fairly quiet as this has progressed. But it doesn’t mean they haven’t been paying attention.
Here’s my prediction: the ideas and concerns that prompted the Occupy movement will inform THE BALLOT QUESTION when Americans cast their Presidential votes twelve months from now. The U.S. economy has never really recovered from the 2008 Recession. Chronic unemployment; insidious rates of illiteracy; and a growing class of working poor characterize this new millennium malaise.
It will be all about the harsh reality of how people live, how they work, how they manage their health and their retirements. There is, of course, the likelihood that partisanship and GAWTCHA politics will distort that reality. But it can’t be ignored.
The Occupiers can be evicted from the park but underlying question and concerns will hit you right where you live, whether you like it or not
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