OWS vs. The Tea Party
November 12, 2011 at 1:44 pm in News by Steve Davies 67 Comments
As a Tea Party Patriot, I have been asked by the media to explain the differences between the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protesters and modern-day Tea Partiers.
The first answer I give is: the Occupy Wall Street protesters have been around for about 50 days, compared to about 1,000 days for the Tea Party Patriots—and so far 2,500 “Occupy” protesters have been arrested (compared to zero Tea Party arrests), there have been 4 rapes at Occupy Wall Street protests (and no rapes at Tea Parties) and the OWS folks have caused about $2.4 million in property damage, whereas the Tea Party Patriots have actually been a source of revenue for the cities in which we protest because we pay permit fees for our protests and we leave the city spaces cleaner than when we arrived.
Oh, and no Tea Partier has been arrested for sniffing the feet of another man’s girlfriend, as happened recently at an “Occupy” protest, and Tea Partiers don’t steal things from each other, like in Zuccotti Park where an OWS organizer admitted that “stealing is our biggest problem.” Stealing and rape. And defecating on a police car. And defecating everywhere else.
The other difference can be found in the different ways that media and power elites treat OWS rapists, criminals and thieves, compared to the way the media and power elites have treated non-raping, non-criminal, and non-thieving patriotic Americans in the modern-day Tea Party movement.
The media, the White House, the administration and many members of Congress have joined together to parrot the phrases and champion the causes of the violent, criminal, anti-American Occupy Wall Street protesters, whereas the same media, White House, administration and members of Congress refer to Tea Partiers as an “angry mob” of “terrorists” who should “go to hell.”
Aside from the different ways that these two protest movements are treated by those on the outside, it is what’s on the inside that counts. I’m referring to the different core beliefs of these two vastly different groups.
The Tea Party Patriots have three core principles: fiscal responsibility, free markets, and Constitutionally limited government. By contrast, the Occupy Wall Street protesters are demanding less fiscal responsibility (they want more government spending), an end to free markets, and the overwhelming majority of OWS demands—from guaranteed wages to free tuition to universal health care and more government control over markets—all call for a radical expansion of the size and scope and power of government to control us, and to take care of us, from cradle to college to grave.
Occupy Wall Street is calling for a declaration of dependence on government; a call for more government control over our lives. It is the direct opposite of the Declaration of independence that sparked this nation into existence, and it is the direct opposite of the core principles of the modern-day Tea Party movement.
As James Madison wrote in 1817, “The people of the U.S. owe their independence & their liberty, to the wisdom of descrying in the minute tax of 3 pence on tea, the magnitude of the evil comprized in the precedent. Let them exert the same wisdom, in watching agst every evil lurking under plausible disguises, and growing up from small beginnings.”
Today, instead of exerting wisdom and eternal vigilance over threats to our independence, the heirs to Madison who now occupy the White House, and the media whose freedom was secured by our Founding Fathers, have joined together to champion the cause of those who loudly and proudly declare their dependence on government.
That is the main difference between the Tea Party movement and “Occupy” protesters. We, like America’s Founders, declare our independence from government. The Occupy Wall Street protesters declare their dependence on government.
Michael Prell
Tea Party Patriots
Very well said Steve. I hope others will come to this appraisal of the OWS, c.c.p. it into emails to those tv, radio and print journalist who continue to try and make claims of similarity between the OWS and our organization…especially!
Thank you Steve
The article on OWS vs. Tea Party was well done. Along this line perhaps the Tea Party could become more active. The last real media coverage for the Tea Party was when Glenn Beck spoke in D.C. whereas the OWS are covered daily. Let’s do something about that. Let’s take away their thunder. Get a “Tea Shirt” that says “We are the Tea Party. We clean up messes. It’s what we do” Then get a broom and a bucket and silenty begin to clean OWS sites. Don’t say a word. Just DO IT! If the authorities ask you to leave, then leave. The media will have a field day.
Unfortunately, our local “ows” (the lower case is intentional) couldn’t occupy more than a single picnic table, and then nobody could tell them from the usual riffraff who sit there every day (weather permitting). Nobody said much, either. That’s probably because most of the folks they would have spouted upon are armed (no Concealed Weapon Permit required)!
Makes a point of the statement, “An armed society is a polite society.” I wonder how many other generally armed societies were “occupied?”
So the proper response to a political opponent, someone you disagree with is to brandish a firearm? Is that how you conduct civil discourse?
We lived in a small town in Kentucky. Everyone in town owned a gun (according to the second amendment, we have that right) and everyone KNEW that everyone owned a gun. There was virtually no crime there, unlike towns that outlaw guns, i.e., Wash. DC, New York, LA, to name just a few.
So you want a better America by excluding Americans? You need to reach out to them and foster a relationship to improve, not throw stones of insults. This is not the mid 1800′s when you needed to carry a firearm to get respect.
Very well said indeed; but credit for this goes to Michael Prell. I only posted this article on his behalf, as we are still working out the posting permissions on the new site.
Nailed it!!! One hundred percent truth. Thank you for the excellent read.
Thank you for the article. I have heard the reports of rape, vandalism and other lude behavior from OWS. I cannot comment on how widespread this behavior has become (although clearly enough to make news headlines), but I do know there are many people at OWS protests who are also well-behaved and well-meaning.
The core beliefs and stance of the Tea Party are undeniably more applicable to the economic situation in which the U.S. finds itself and has found itself for the last 30 or 40 years (possibly more). After watching plenty of OWS protest footage, it appears that most of them need a lesson in Economics 101.
The OWS protestors are angry, and I think their anger is misdirected. As American businessman Peter Schiff has pointed out, they should be occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and Congress (and the Fed) instead of Wall Street. I couldn’t agree more. But a lot of these OWS protestors don’t know exactly what they are protesting (as do some Tea Partiers. I’ve seen video footage. Not everyone is “on their game”, so to speak). When it’s been suggested that what they are protesting is crony capitalism and that many of the honest, hard-working top 1% don’t deserve their indignation, some of them seem to realize that maybe they should be re-focusing their efforts somewhere else. Just like with the Tea Party, not everyone grasps the group’s core message (as a group, however, the TP certainly does), but there are some within the OWS movement that I believe are capitalists and not socialists at their core (even if they aren’t willing to admit it or perhaps don’t even fully realize it themselves yet).
The Tea Party took the initiative, got the ball rolling and have the better message, and now the disgruntled, more economically ignorant masses have come to join the fray. It will take them some time to “find their way” (how long, I don’t know), but when it happens, look out! Things will be getting a lot worse in the next year or two, and I hope the Tea Party and OWS movement at that point will come together to carry out a revolution and take this country back from our government.
We will achieve more as Americans if we work together than if we are divided.
Thank you for your time.
How true but why wait? We need to be united now before the socialists get another 4 years to damage our great nation. There is great potential in OWS, we have the vision but they have the numbers. We need to get them on board today! I think it’s time to hold a tea party! We should do it right along side OWS so that they can see us and learn. Let’s show them the way!
im not a memeber of the tea party or ows, i have seen the actions, and videos of ows, and listened to their members often… i anger many who hate the tea party, just because i ask for proof of the claims against the tea party, such as a couple of videos, which should be easy to provide, acc to the allegations, many claim to have proof, but wont show me it, and just attack me for asking…..thats why i am sympathetic towards tea party americans…. the left is one of the biggest promoters of the tea party, but are too clueless to realize it….. i actually started paying attn to them because of all the negative stuff ive heard, but have yet to see…. i find it scary that so many of my fellow americans will convict without evidence, but always tell me “innocent ill proven guilt” if im talking about a terrorist or a cop killer………….. keep up the peaceful respectful movement tea partiers… help put obama on the pro golfers tour asap!…. remember the more the left demonizes you, the more some of us ex-dems look for ourselves at you….tb…….ps, ows have bad hygeine habits in many cases….
When we start bashing those who express their rights, then should not expect anyone to stand by us when we exercize ours.
Wow, beautifully put. Very humbling.
The writer failed to describe the commitment & extent of the Occupy Wall Street movement while castigating those citizens recognizing the need for change in the current order of civilization both here and abroad.The system is broke and both movements are seeking redress. Good. Let’s fix it by finding the most favorable way for all. Simply decrying a few abberations by infiltrators or hangers on serves no usefull purpose.
Well said Michael. You can go to utu.be/fVchag7fqH8 to see an eyewittness account of the Attack by Occupy DC youtube video.
The system isn’t broken. The #OWS whiners are either lazy or too stupid to figure it out
Expressing rights does NOT include vandalism, RAPE, using drugs, TERRORIZING businesses who have customers in there just trying to do business, THREATENING owners of stores for not giving them free food and cigarettes, defecating on the streets, and being PIGS. AMERICANS are suppose to have PRIDE and DIGNITY. The WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING and thinking most Americans feel the same way. They aren’t just protesting, or speaking out. It’s WAY BEYOND THAT. AND THAT IS NOT THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT. Sorry to burst anyone’s bubble but if you don’t like what I’m saying allz I can tell you is: “Life’s hard…wear a helmet.” because it’s about to get even HARDER very soon. Ya’ll have a blessed day.
Have you seen this firsthand ? And if so why do you stand back and watch only..
Michael Prell has done my work for me. Thanks, Michael. You have shown, very clearly,
the difference between The Tea Party and OWS.
We are two elements in exact opposition to each other. We want to be free while they want Depends.
Vive la difference! We win. They lose.
They should stop harrasing these occupied people and leave them alone. Jim
I would like to have more activity in our local group but who do I contact…in Boise, Idaho
“Occupy Wall Street”, that sounds about as dumb as these rich kid loser’s are!
From the numerous interviews I’ve seen they, none of them even know why they
are out there.
If you want to know what ocarter2 did before he became our sorry president. Take
a look, take a real good look. He organized this kind of crap, yep, that’s all that qualified him for “our” White House.
I hope everyone of these unfit for living here get the great idea to move to
the UK, or Spain. Maybe even Greece. Thats where they need to be right now. The organizers there at least look like they know what they are doing. This bunch
cant find their butts are their so called leaders.
Well, so much for “hope and crap” and a bunch of dumb rich kid losers!
And do yourself a big flavor. Don’t come on here calling me names and knocking
my spelling and grammar. If that temps you then answer this “who pulled you out
of bed this morning and kick you in the butt to get you going today”?
And I’m relatively confident that the “interviews” you’ve seen were on Fox News, right. What a joke. And I will state catagorically that if you get your daily news from Fox, well you have no idea of what reality is.
The true crime in this country is that ignorant, low information people are allowed to vote.
Must be really tough for you to see, day after day, a democratic president who also happens to be a man of color, right?
Get used to it my friend, cause with the current crop of republican candidates your party has put together (and of course the requirement that whoever is the republican nominee is having to be absent of any moral aptitude), President Obama will be in the White House for a while.
First, it is hypocritical to post comments about how dumb OWS members are, if you yourself cannot spell or use proper grammar when trying to express your opinion.
But more importantly, when ANYONE is hungry, struggling, or dying, it is time for all of us to unite. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you believe. I promise you, if Jesus were here today he would continue to preach, “love your brother.” It is no more complicated than that.
Love your brother. Do not condemn him, do not judge him. G-d is the only one worthy of that.
I have stood by the Tea party movement. I have stood by the OWS movement. I have participated in both. Just as congress has defaced the name of the tea party patriots, the media has defaced the name of the OWS movement. Looking closely at the movements there are alignments between the two groups. Although they may not align %100 both sides need to realize that there are power in numbers and we need to ban together.
How come the Tea Party Patriots do not initiate an “Occupy White House” protest? We should all be camping outside the White House.
Thank you for the clarity of Tea Party vs OWS. Being involved with the Tea Party movement is a necessary journey we need to be taking as Americans right now!
Linda,
Fresno, California
WARNING: generalizations ahead (also, i was pissed off when i wrote this)
we have the tea party, which hates big government (especially when it messes with free market staples – like medicare). we have occupy wall street, which hates big business (i’m sure you’ve seen their tweets, the ones that they post with china made iphones). these two seemingly disparate groups need to join arms and march on K Street, the unholy marriage of business and government that serves only to fuck the american taxpayer. on their own strong, honest, and fair businesses and governments can build prosperous societies. when they meld together on K Street, honesty and fairness are cannibalized to feed strength. (liberal intellectuals whine about how the conservatives have all the good bumper sticker slogans, that liberal principles are too complex for that. well, here’s one for ya: SEPARATION OF COMPANY AND STATE.)
let’s face it: the tea party is made up of a bunch of useful morons. they say government gets in the way, regulation kills jobs, taxes steal liberty.
1 government gets out of the way: repeal of glass steagall act
2 weak regulation: BP oil spill
3 less taxes: less police (you know, those guys whose collective bargaining rights you want taken away, but whom you cheer on every time some occupy wall street protester gets a face full of tear gas).
4 if you need something more visceral, look at the mexican drug trade. talk about a free market paradise.
i’ll say it again, the tea party is made up of mainly god fearing, individually upstanding people who are sick of the status quo. but they think in terms of algebra and live in a calculus world. wake up. grow up. i understand your anger, but get educated (off of fox news) and redirect you rage to fighting for something that helps actual americans (not the likes of the koch brothers, who are american in birth only).
OWS, i have just a few messages for you: stop fighting cops. this ain’t the sixties. if you have any ambitions of growing in influence and having your message not only heard, but also acted upon, you must cooperate with the cops and mayors in your cities. this may not be obvious to you, but the officials in your cities are bending over backwards to protect your right to free speech and free assembly (they just want a bit more order, a bit less lice). and you’re trying your hardest to make it hard for them. how is this fixing big business? this is only straining an already bruised and beaten government. corporations are still shipping jobs overseas, not paying their taxes, flouting regulations, buying congressmen, treating america like the whore it’s become. you aren’t the only ones who are down trodden, we all are. instead of drum circles, tell stories and take actions that resonate with the rest of us. We are the 99% is a good example.
and seriously, this is not the american version of the arab spring (sorry). our protesters are combated with tear gas, not sniper rifles. their problem is strong-armed, repressive government verses a meek, brainwashed people. our problem is strong ,shysty business versus weak, overstretched government (while an apathetic people play spectator – well, when jersey shore’s not on, anyway). we are not near their problems. in the middle east it took an act of self-immolation for people to stand up and take notice. comparing OWS to that feels a little hyperbolic.
sorry for the long wind, but my main point is that the tea party and OWS, on their own, are only partially on to something. and they both seem to miss a bigger picture. it might be stated in different ways, but both groups seem to have the feeling that everyday americans no longer have a say in their own lives. the two groups need to ally under that banner. you won’t fix american government or business unless you fix both american government and business.
Andy speaks a great truth. The differences between TP and OWS are manufactured for us by the same people who try to tell us that all Repubs are required to hate all Dems, and vice versa. We keep letting ourselves be manipulated into taking sides – Red vs Blue; Conservative vs Liberal; Big Business vs Big Government – when the real problem is that “the two sides” are actually in collusion with one another, and working against all of us.
Re-establishing separation between Business (which doesn’t, and shouldn’t operate like a government) and Government (which doesn’t, and shouldn’t operate like a business) is the key.
Mike has spoken – so let it be written; so let it be done.
I agree that there is common ground between TP and OWS, check out a sub group of the OWS called “Make Banks Pay” at http://www.MakeBanksPayCalifornia.org. Can the President fine financial instutions by makiing them take a loss on student loans, the government guarantees? If you cost me money by being irresponsible or deceitful, and you borrow from me to keep from going broke, and I don’t prosper; who is the idiot? We have all been taken, and it is time for it to stop.
To be clear, when have the protesters ‘fought’ the cops, viz. initiated aggression against them that they were not provoked into by self-defense?
In what part of the 60s counter-culture protests was fighting cops so prevalent for you to suggest that we shouldn’t ‘fight’ cops as we did then? Further, for what reason must conflicts with police be compatible with only capitalism in its earlier 1960s manifestation, but not today?
Do you really think the media favors OWS over you? There has been so little coverage of them compared to you, and everything I have heard has been negative towards them. Stop trying to gain sympathy, you don’t need it or deserve it.
Are you serious? There are copious articles showing their support for OWS which you would read unless you are looking in publications that have a political bent against them. The Village Voice, Dissent Magazine, Jacobin Magazine, and even some NYTimes articles have bathed OWS in a positive light.
Thank you Andy,
As an OWS participant, I can proudly say that my friends and I were elated when Fedupusa.org came out in support of the OWS movement. We as those on the ends of the political spectrum need to come together. The problems of our nation and our world are not left vs right. If you talk to Occupiers, they hate big government just as much as they hate big corporations.
Obama came out in support of the movement, but that was merely a political attempt appropriation of a movement that doesn’t care about him. The point of occupying parks was to create a safe space that was free of social and political stigma so that individuals could openly criticize the system in its entirety (greedy business and greedy government). The fact is that these two powers support each other in the status quo and we need to figure out a way to change that system. Glass-Steagall was a government decision that allowed banks to become too big to fail. The Citizens United now allows for those with the most capital to directly decide who enters politics. I know many of you may like capitalism, but competition cannot thrive when certain competitors can influence policy more than others.
You may have your own views. Please comment. I want to hear them. Zuccotti park may be evicted, but we can use the internet as our safe space to speak. Let us speak across the proverbial aisle that has separated the left and right of this nation for far too long
My response can be found here: …the “OWS folks” just don’t “get it”.
http://www.imovedon.org/?p=211
Right-on Michael Prell! Your writing above needs to be widely-circulated among our older students in school. [Even though our _beloved_ Liberal teachers would scoff loudly.]
Further, I believe that the Occupy Wall Street protesters are a segment in society that is un-happy with Everything — Everything normal, that-is. Throughout time, there have Always been persons on the Outside Looking-in.
THEY feel Miserable & feel that they need to Spread the Misery. Count me Out!
Dependence is the anti-thesis of Freedom. Now getting personal, neither of my two older brothers nor I have a child. We three all agree that introducing new life to this nation is not worth the trouble. Instead, _we_ would rather be Happy & Are!
AND… add to the Occupy totals, 1 shooting at the White House. (AP) Oscar Ortega-Hernandez was captured for the shooting. Shooter left behind his car near the crime scene, investigators were able to trace him to Occupy DC where he had been protesting and where he was recognized by other protestors, then finally to PA where he was captured.
Do not give OWS any credit. They want to fool others with their claims of issues with Wall Street and its bailout. Their demonizing of the Rich and the Federal Reserve. Well the Federal Reserve is lame, but attacking the Rich is actually nothing but class envy. The OWS demands are only about wanting an increase in taxes and an increase in size of government, which leads to socialism and then Communism. When I yelled this at a group of OWS protesters as they walked by, the two women in front of a small group of women turned to me and yelled “That’s because we are Communists.” Then the rest of the women behind them got this confused look on their faces and said, “Are you really Communist? Is this what this is all about?” and then they left them and joined us.
Sorry, the TPP has stated its position about the OWS and what they (the OWS) are is exactly opposite of what we and the nation are and hope to be.
We accurately predicted what the OWS would degrade into and they have. How could they not? We know what they are really about and I see a lot of postings here by those who do not understand. That is unfortunate and bordering dangerous.
Very well written article Steve, and occupod told me that 70% of them have jobs, but I responded by saying this :
‘If all of these people have jobs, why protest, wouldn’t it be more sensible for them to get more competitive?”
He did not respond…plain and simple once u catch a liberal on one thing their argument vanished or changes as we’ve seen so many times during this whole ‘movement’ of OWS.
This article could not be more inaccurate. Michael Prell hasn’t listened to one word from the Occupy protesters, nor looked at the news for that matter…. Nor has he researched any of these claims, nor his “facts,” nor has he thought about what the ‘Tea Party’ actually did. The “Tea Party” that you so proudly identify with in fact practiced an act of economic sabotage– that is what they are famous for. It is a powerful tool for silenced people, and your name-sake used it very effectively. Why would modern-day economic sabotage be any different?
Furthermore, OWS does not demand MORE government. OWS was started initiated by anarchists, and is governed in anarchist principles, and they know that our government is corrupt (as should you, right? you were pissed a little while ago). OWS will not ask our government for this or that– it is not that simple. OWS is a movement back with a diversity of tactics, solutions, and people that the Tea Party simply does not have.
“Whiners” don’t voluntarily spend sixty straight days facing rain, snow, wind and frost. “Whiners” don’t voluntarily spend sixty straight days risking being beaten, pepper sprayed, tear gassed and arrested, knowing full well that all their initial efforts will come to nothing.
Hello. I live in Great Falls, Montana and am retired. The only things I know about the Tea Party are what I have either seen or read in the media. I am a registered democrat, but am interested in perhaps meeting some local Tea Party members to get a better picture of who you are and what you actually stand for. We may even have some common ground.
Today while the riot was happening on Wall Street, I was getting a political call as to whether I approved of Obama’s new tax bill, whether I approved of the Occupying Wall Street movement, whether I was a Republican, whether I supported the Tea Party Movement and so on. This OWS movement appears to be a smoke screen showing that people want socialist government. Could it be that these are the FEMA hirees staging this whole thing? Under Obama’s Homeland Security, he has hired already over 200,000 employees. It says so right on the job hiring sight I looked at. It says these are to protect our highways and borders and airports in little podunk towns that don’t have a real airport so what are they really for? Obama admires Hitler and this is definitely one of the ploys used by Germany- to stage a riot and blame it on someone of course that had nothing to do with it. Do not be bamboozled by the smoke screen. Look for what is going on in the White House while all of us are focusing on Wall Street.
Interesting article… no matter what your belief is regarding the difference between OWS and TEA, you should at least be in favor of their first amendment right to peaceful assembly. My dad used to say that “I may not agree with what he is saying, but I’ll fight to the death to defend his right to say it.” Where is the outrage over the Un-Constitutional methods being used to silence these people’s message?
You should worry less about the differences between your two movements and more about how the police are trying to brutally supress peaceful protesters, regardless of your prejudices against them.
My wife, my grown kids and I went to Occupy Tampa. We hardly believe anything on mainstream news and wanted to check it our ourselves. First, we talked with 2 elderly retired Latino businessmen who where sitting on the park bench. Their families were from Ecuador. We spent 30 minutes listening to them about how the U.S. government has installed, removed and installed again political leaders there, using force to get what we want there, something you will not hear in the news. Next an RN who was there to support her union and how hospitals are just pulling benefits like crazy. The next guy was a “green” guy who was stationed on a nuclear submarine during his tour and wanted everybody to know about the dangers and instability of nuclear power.
The last couple we talked to were middle aged. They classified themselves as “Socialist Libertarians”. After I got the confused look off my face, they explained:
For what is important to life and health of our citizens, such as clean water, nutritious food and health care, the government should regulate that and let everything else be open to free markets.
I was a bit taken back. I thought about Monsanto changing seeds from natural, forever recycled seeds, to one time use, buy more Monsanto seeds by genetic modification seeds. I thought about T. Boone Pickens buying the largest underground fresh water reservoir in the U.S., located in western Texas, and now the Texas legislature trying to push through the privatization of water for profit.
With health care, I thought about my recent trip to Costa Rica. Every citizen covered, direct sales tax to the government that directly fund the hospitals. Their government buys an ibuprofen for a penny, and that’s the cost, not $6 an ibuprofen like here. Costa Ricans live 2 to 3 years longer than us. Maybe because they don’t have to worry about deductibles or coverage, I don’t know.
In closing, the couple said, “We just want clean water, naturally grown food and good health care”.
This was our OWS experience. Yours may differ.
I have been to several Tea Party websites this morning to check out their issues, positions, etc. This one seems to be as close to normal as I’ve found. The other sites seem to attract angry people with little quality content. I feel comfortable here, this site contains normal people.
Has the mainstream media been given marching orders to “divide and conquer”?
First, the Tea Party was attacked as being racists which they are not. Then OWS was attacked as being unemployed, irresponsible bums who should get to work.
The thing the government truly fears is that these 2 groups agree on what is wrong, then the dominos begin to fall and real change takes place.
I hope there can be a fusing of ideas on some level. So far, the common ground was that the Tea Party was misrepresented by the media. A critical thinker would maybe say “maybe they are doing to them, what they did to us”. It happened to you, is it possible it’s happening to them too?
You might want to read occupywallst.org before publishing articles like this. A nice quote from their website reads as follows; “We want to see a general assembly in every backyard, on every street corner because we don’t need Wall Street and we don’t need politicians to build a better society.”
Huh?
A response to “OWS vs. The Tea Party” from teapartypatriots.org
[info]denouement100
November 18th, 22:46
Here I will attempt to refute the central theses of an article by a Tea Party member comparing their movement to OWS: that the Tea Party is more effective.
It is not for several reasons. Here I will provide excerpts from his article (http://www.teapartypatriots.org/news/ows-vs-the-tea-party/) and my responses.
The author writes: “The first answer I give is: the Occupy Wall Street protesters have been around for about 50 days, compared to about 1,000 days for the Tea Party Patriots—and so far 2,500 “Occupy” protesters have been arrested (compared to zero Tea Party arrests), there have been 4 rapes at Occupy Wall Street protests (and no rapes at Tea Parties) and the OWS folks have caused about $2.4 million in property damage, whereas the Tea Party Patriots have actually been a source of revenue for the cities in which we protest because we pay permit fees for our protests and we leave the city spaces cleaner than when we arrived.”
Indeed, the assertions made by the author are true. However, it is his interpretation of these assertions that lead to false conclusions. First, the number of days each movement has been around has no bearing on the superiority of either. Indeed, the Tea Party movement was launched far earlier. This is its only reason for its longer life-span. And longevity does not need to be a sign of its ability to influence political and economic life. It is a sign of its staying power, but how is that significant to its potency as a movement if it survives as a movement without accomplishing any major victories? This raises two questions: what have the Tea Partiers accomplished, and do their principles conform with those of OWS? I believe they don’t, which I will explain shortly.
2,500 OWS protesters were arrested because they engaged in actual protest. That no Tea Party member has been arrested since its inception reveals what is wrong with the Tea Party: the rulers of financial capital and their police guardians are not threatened by them, since they don’t actually challenge the status quo. The request for permits to protest by the Tea Party indicate that as they attack the government they also request permission from it to assemble. When assembling is done within the boundaries of the law, the law is fetishized and the movement ceases to be about the civil disobedience embraced by OWS and which is necessary to remove globalized capitalism and construct a democratic society in its place.
The alleged ‘rapes’ – which may very well have been disinformation to discredit OWS – at Zucotti Park can’t be mentioned without some background context: it has been widely reported that NYPD officers deliberately provoked bedlam in the park by systematically gathering up dangerous and violent criminals from the streets and driving them to the park, where they were set loose to disrupt the peaceful activities of the park. The Tea Party protests have not been innocent of any wrongdoing themselves, a fact that the author of this article blithely elides. In fact, as I will show, their actions have led to far more violent consequences. Several internet videos and witness accounts show a group of Tea Partiers harassing a man sick with Parkinsons, barking derogatory remarks at him, and lecturing him to ‘get a job’ as they taunted and humiliated him. It should be noted the sick man had an advanced degree in engineering. It is also widely accepted that the Tea Party is a corporate-funded movement. OWS’s stance against the rule of corporations and its grassroots base would make it both inconsistent and foolish to unite with the Tea Party, and from the perspective of the OWS, the Tea Party’s corporate-funded mass conservative base makes them not only less impressive than the OWS, but profoundly more despicable. Their support for chauvinistic, nationalistic and pro-war political leaders demonstrates their lack of interest in replacing the moribund system of electoral politics against which OWS fights, and their assimilation into that very same system of electoral politics makes them responsible for the wars in the Middle East, and especially for the defense of the corporate aristocracy that the State protects by armed force. The Tea Party protesters have not been arrested at all simply because they are nothing more than supporters of the status quo whom corporations not only don’t consider a threat, but regard as an ally. How can their position be reconciled with that of the OWS, let alone condoned by it?
Others attending a few Tea Party protests testified to hearing racial slurs being hurled. At the Tea Party protest against the building of the mosque on 9/11/10, the protesters consisted of unvarnished Islamaphobia, war-mongering messages, and right-wing conservative attacks on government debt used to justify their support for the tax cuts for the super-wealthy. All attacks were launched against the government. None were launched against the rule of corporations that OWS challenges first and foremost. As the danger individuals are put in at both movements, the 4 alleged rapes at the park that have not been corroborated are surpassed by the Tea Party’s support for war, hatred of immigrants and muslims, their unvarnished xenophobia, and their attempts to elect conservative pro-corporate, war-mongering politicians that ‘wall street’ has in its pocket. Perhaps I should remind OWS that its target is wall street.
The author also mentions the dollar amount of property damage the OWS protest has caused (without providing any evidence to support this figure). The barefaced hypocrisy is clear: The original ‘Tea Party’ protest against the East India Company during the U.S. revolution was one of the greatest acts of private property destruction in U.S. history. If the Tea Party ‘activists’ today have not caused any property damage, they have not earned their name.
The final criticism is that OWS does not keep the sites of protest clean after their actions like the Tea Party does, nor does it generate revenue for local communities. The author must be reminded that the first eviction we faced by the clean-up crew was cancelled after OWS members spent several thousand dollars on cleaning supplies which they then used to make the park just as clean as it was before they occupied it. The cleanup lasted almost all day and night.
A few mainstream media newspapers and television networks interviewed some local businesses around the park who complained about the presence of the occupiers, but several polls taken showed that the majority of local businesses in the area benefited from the occupiers and welcomed their business. As a matter of fact, a recent General Assembly at the park decided to donate several thousand dollars to the nearby McDonald’s for the use of their bathroom.
It is clear that the dominant ideology of the Tea Party is hateful toward the poor working class and an apology for the super-rich. Their requests for permits to protest from the same government they attack, and their immunity from arrest betrays both their hypocrisy and their tolerance by the corporate-state complex, if not their collusion. Clearly they are not raising the same question that OWS is concerning the relationship of power to private ownership of accumulated wealth if they consider OWS’s actions ‘damaging’ to private property, and if they have not seized any private property illegally for the purpose of creating a public, democratic space.
I invite the author of the article to defend his argument and justify his statements in a manner more sufficient than was done in the original article
ok first thing freedom is never free i am a nationalist i am completely open about that america is the greatest country on the planet and i hate seeing democrats decrease the size of the military and roll over for the disgusting pigs in countries like saudi arabia there will always be a threat to this country as long as there is a single communist/socialist/islamist country on the planet. this country was founded on a believe in life liberty and the pursuit of happiness with a basis on judeo christian beliefs
i believe in taking the initiative in a fight against foriegn threats. and i also belive in completely backing israel against iran
the wars in the middel east where necesasry in bringing about the revolutions we are seeing now these people in the middle east especially libya now deserve a democracy
there is a qoute by joseph de maistre : every nation has the government it deserves.
i believe that completely and now those arabs deserve a democracy if they are willing to continue to push for it
the tea party believes in operating within the law we do not think it is right to do so
the current system does not need drastic change simply deregulation
steve jobs even came flat out and said that the overregulation here is the main reson jobs go over seas to china and india that and no unions.
i believe in the original laws set forth in the constitution of the united states of america the united states needs to be simplifyed but we do not need any drastic change as you suggest
furthermore what you suggest is essentially punishing the wealthy and successful for the sake of the poor
what do you think the wealthy did to get all of that money get born to it like hollywood tells you no
they worked their asses of in college or had a brilliant idea and went with it and worked their but of to make it a reality those socialis nut jobs need to get a job honestly the problem right now is that people are getting handouts from the government for being unemployed so instead of getting jobs as a farm hand or working at a factory the sit there and life of the unemployment. the great depression was solved because the majority of the american workforce was in factories now the average american worker sits behind a desk all day and asks for more money
this is what is wrong with america
I’m a part of the 1%. I am not a rapist or thief. I worked hard for where I am. I was beaten by the NYPD for peacefully standing in a street. I am Ivy League educated. I have no student debt and a useful degree. I’m an Occupier. We are not dirty hippies, we are conscious of humanity. Join us at your nearest General Assembly.
then why are you on this site?????
Denouement100 – well said!!
So, the Tea Party has been around for over 1,000 days. You expect anyone to believe that no Tea Party member has been arrested during that time period? That none of them have broken any laws, attacked or injured another person, nor taken any illegal drugs?
It seems like someone has been smoking some of that Tea.
Freedom of speech and freedom of protest is a core principal of this great country. Unfortunately in any protest, there are rabble rousers and trouble makers and people who are idiots. But they are the few and they get the most press.
What I don’t understand is why most people don’t agree with trying to stop the corruption and abuse on Wall St. Why are Sallie Mae and Freddie Mac management getting mega-millions of dollars in bonuses when they owe so much money back to the American People. This is wrong, and yet too many people try and justify it.
Michael Prell nailed it. The “OWS”,at least here locally, are nothing more than a bunch of homeless people without any cause what-so-ever.
Actually, I had a revealing discourse with one of my neighbors who I respect. He’s an Occupy member. He says many of their young members have master’s degrees but can’t find a job. They say that 50% of people under 30 are unemployed. Their main gripes are with Too Big To Fail Banks that took unreasonable risks and sabotaged the economy. Yet they took our TARP money for their bonuses. They are also against lobbyists who subvert government with campaign contributions to secure special privileges. I think we should try to find common ground with the OWS group. There’s a lot of overlap where we could work together to make some positive changes in society.
TUESDAY, MAY 03, 2011
400 individuals earn 10% of all capital gains in the U.S.
By Gaius Publius on 5/03/2011 11:50:00 PM
| Reddit | Facebook | Digg | FARK
Wow. Paul Krugman (my emphasis):
One of the more interesting documents published by the IRS — I know, I know, not the hardest criterion in the world — is its report on the income and taxes of the top 400 taxpayers (pdf). A lot of attention gets focused, rightly, on the remarkably low average tax rate these people pay — less than 17 percent in 2007, the lowest on record.
But I was struck by something else: in several years during the last decade the top 400 accounted for more than 10 percent of all capital gains income in America. Just 400 people!
You don’t have to posit a Bilderberg Club, or whatever, to realize that these guys all know each other and hang out together. It’s a whole lot easier for a couple dozen billionaires to get coordinated than millions of Democrats. The billionaires can do it after golf.
By the way, I’m willing to bet the guys at the IRS who released that report will be getting a little phone call. Any takers?
Greg, Here in Charleston, West Virginia we have the homeless issues as well. I believe Fox News called them bums! 5 of the 7 homeless we have at our camp are war vets, that didn’t get the assistance they needed after serving their country.
Just a thought…
I know the mainstream media wants to keep us far apart. Why? We come from the same backgrounds, the love of our state, country, and founding fathers. I know we can’t agree on everything, but I believe we can reach a better moral ground than those who take money from deep pocket interest. As you could imagine, the Dems are trying to co opt our movement much like the Reps tried co opting yours. We don’t want this!
To send a message to both sides, we should have an open dialog. Could you only imagine the power of the headlines, if we could reach just only one topic that we would both support loudly.
http://youtu.be/xVJgBb3-z8w
The difference between Tea Partyists and members of the Occupy Wall Street movement (or the “Coffee Party” before that, or International ANSWER before that, or any of the myriad incarnations of the International Socialist Organization before that) is that the Tea Partyists represent taxpayers that are fed up with havin their money taken away to maintain a corrupt, extended Leftist-run bureaucracy in our federal and state governments, and the OWS represent the government employees and union leaders that are ripping us off.
It’s very simple really. That’s why when the OWS representatives aren’t telling Tea Partyists how they all support the same thing, they’re calling them “teabaggers” and otherwise being condescending and insulting.
I guess you guys like drinking the koolaid.
Never mind you will see the truth soon enough when your jobs are gone due to technology. I don’t have to do a thing or lift a finter.
I been supporting OWS and I am not homeless and I take a bath as well as most of them do and have jobs.
You guys got a rude awakening coming. But never mind OWS still will help you when the time comes for you guys are out for self only and the rest can die by your thinking.
This is nothing but propaganda to keep the powers that be in power and you will pay the price of doing so.
Me I know I have others to help me if I need it. I am happy about OWS.
i found a political cartoon that sums up the media’s view between the two groups
http://www.ihatethemedia.com/the-medias-guide-to-protestors
Hello Tea Partiers and fellow Americans. I’m guessing I’m about to get a ton of negative comments, but I’m hoping you’ll read my words as they are written and intended, rather than seeing me strictly as a man on the “other side”. I am not your enemy and I support some of the same things you do, so I’m hoping to find common ground here, even just a square foot of common ground would be great.
It seems to me that spelling out negatives of either camp is counterproductive in the greater scheme of things. Our nation has fallen to the control of those who would reduce our constitution to ash, rather than give up the corporate welfare we, as citizens, are giving them. Our government has been corrupted by the wealthiest few at the top and those people have instituted laws that allow them even more power – power to oppress the rest of us even so far as to condone violent attacks against unarmed and non-violent women, veterans, priests, old ladies, and even former police officers. A retired Supreme Court judge was recently abused by a police officer after she witnessed the cop abusing an unarmed woman who was simply attempting to reach her daughter. He held her on the ground and beat her in front of the retired judge. Even if you don’t agree with the majority of OWS you must be able to see the dangers posed by allowing such actions of the police to go unpunished. I am in NO WAY saying that there haven’t been OWSers who have deserved to be arrested – quite the contrary. Anyone attempting violence has been deserving of arrest, but when an entire group of people are beaten or pepper sprayed a line is crossed.
We both believe corporate money should be taken out of government. We both believe the bailouts were a huge mistake, but the government proceeded against the will of the people. We both want our government to abide by the constitution of the United States of America, and we both believe this nation was founded by great men who fought the good fight, and won. We beat tyranny to begin a new nation – a just nation in which free speech is paramount, but our nation has again fallen into the hands of tyrants who’s only interest is power and money. We both believe that our personal liberties have been and continue to be infringed upon and are disappearing each and every day. I’m personally neither a Democrat, not a Republican, but I love my country and I want to see it’s former glory restored. I think we can move on and retake this nation – kick the bad politicians out of government and put people in who will represent the people who elected them.
We can do this easier if we can find common ground to work together. Starting with the big things for now – and working on the smaller things later.
If we can put aside the petty bickering and name-calling we can make a real change.
If I’ve wasted your time I apologize – I’m not here to make enemies. You know the OKC Occupy movement has been legal (we are permitted) and have a good relationship with the city PD. I can’t speak for the entire group, but I would love to set up a meeting with some of you good folks and some of ours to see if we can discuss, at least on a local level, coming together on a few basic issues and working together to make a change.
Please let me know what you think.
Thank you for your time,
James
I think we need to check the amount of arrests of Tea Party patriots. I was told by some liberal (naturally) about a website, which i have unfortunately lost that said there were 2400 Tea Party Patriot arrest over the years. After reading about a few, they seemed to all be about the OWS people, but someone had just switched “ows” with Tea Party. It was absolute garbage. Like people fighting in the streets and breaking things, i mean do liberals really just go “OH MY GOD TEA PARTY EVIL” the second some liberal says its true?
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111122/NEWS/111129953
Article I posted
For your information, if it’s of interest, we’re holding a timely 4-day conference at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, CA (Dec. 1-4) that will specifically focus on the very issue of exploring commonalities and possible bridges for mutual empowerment between the Tea Party, OWS, Coffee party, and also Arab Spring. Key individuals from each of these very movements, as well as individuals from across the social-political spectrum, will be gathering for this important public dialogue – as presenters, facilitators, and participants. You’ll find conservatives, progressives, libertarians, independents and points in between.
The conference is the International Conference on Engaging The Other (now in it’s 6th year), and it’s a highly interactive public forum designed to promote compassionate dialogue and deliberation among all who are present; and all are welcome.
We’ve organized these kinds of engaged public dialogues addressing polarization and difficult issues between what seem to be “unlikely partners” for many years (both in the US and in regions of conflict in other countries), and particularly the toxic divide spreading within our country, and have been working to build a quite diverse network that can help to bridge this. Our intent is to provide an inclusive, respectful, and trusted space for diverse and even opposing views and narratives to be heard and respected, without having to defend or be pressured to “convert.” We welcome and honor strong beliefs that leave as intact as when arriving, with hopefully also a better understanding and appreciation for the equally genuine beliefs of others.
We work very hard to be transpartisan, as my friend and colleague Joseph McCormick terms it, and all we ask is that everyone bring both their voices and ears, and mutual respect for each other, to the table. Within this atmosphere we trust that through dialogue common ground can most likely be found that offers unique opportunities for concrete change for the better, as well as an accurate separating out and better understanding and acknowledgment of where we may also differ.
The common ground can offer unique opportunities to act together in mutual support of each others efforts where it fits, rather than fragmenting and undermining what may actually be common purposes, and the better understanding and pin pointing where there may be true differences can then allow us to more effectively focus in on reasoned negotiation and mutually beneficial problem solving to reach accords and solidarity as next steps – as is always indicative of a true, healthy democracy reflective of a strong, diverse society.
The broad-brush negative and devaluing stereotypes do all of us a disservice, and simply promote fomenting deep distrust, scapegoating, and a process of divide & conquer. We deserve more than that from each other,
In any case, I’m new to this forum and this note is just to support the calls I see here for a reasoned listening to each other to just see if there can be common ground, and to let anyone interested know of this upcoming gathering and it’s purpose. It is also one of others being organized around the country by like-minded people from both sides of the social-political spectrum, so I encourage you to look for and attend these as well. If you happen to be drawn to our particular gathering next week in Santa Clara and want to learn more I’d invite you to check the conference website at: http://www.cbiworld.org/Pages/Conferences_ETO.htm
You’ll find contact information there too if you’d like to communicate directly.
If you can’t be there in person we do plan to live stream and podcast portions, and I’ll be happy to post a note here as to how anyone might access this on the Internet.