OWS becomes microcosm of big government: Protesters’ anger turns inward

posted at 11:25 am on October 23, 2011 by Howard Portnoy
[ Double Standards ]   

On Friday’s NBC Today, deep-thinking host Matt Lauer asked of the Occupy Wall Street protests, “What’s the civics lesson in this for our kids as they’re watching this on TV?” (h/t Kyle Drennen, Newsbusters).

News anchor Natalie Morales had an answer:

Well, I think there—as a parent, there’s a huge civics lesson, and it teaches, you know, what is important about this. What are—I think you have to ask the questions, ‘What are they there for, what are the reasons behind this?’ And I think the idea of having that civil discourse is important to teach our kids…. [Ed’s note: Take a minute to stop laughing and collect yourself.]

Tempting though it is to focus on the hypocrisy of Lauer and company—who after all saw no such civics lesson in the fledgling Tea Party movement and fail to see the total incivility of the Occupiers—there is far bigger game to bag in this story. It comes by way of a New York Post article, which suggests the  protests do indeed embody a teachable moment, if not the one the Today crew envisions.

According to the Post, OWS’s Finance Committee (!) has amassed $500,000 in donations, and the cash continues to pour in. Yet like the wealthy 1% whose greed they so revile, the OWS leadership refuses to spread the wealth. Bryan Smith, 45, a TV producer from Los Angeles who joined OWS three weeks ago, is quoted as saying:

F–k Finance. I hope Mayor Bloomberg gets an injunction and demands to see the movement’s books. We need to know how much money we really have and where it’s going.

Smith, the Post notes, is a member of the Comfort Working Group, one of 30 small collectives that have sprung up within the greater Occupy Wall Street movement. Responsibilities of Smith’s group include determining what basic necessities campers need, like thermal underwear, and then raising money by soliciting donations on the street.

Smith grumbles that on a recent day he collected $2,000, a third of which went to his group, while the Finance Committee seized the bulk of the cash. When he complained that protesters need basic comfort items, he was told to fill out paperwork. “Are they the government now?” Smith fumed. I would argue that the answer is no. The government collects taxes from people who work for a living, not from ordinary panhandlers.

The Comfort Working Group is not the only collective with a grievance against the Finance Committee. The artfully named Pulse Working Group, which oversees the incessant drumming that is driving area residents draft, needs $8,000 for new drums and a small lockable shed to house the instruments when they are not in use. Last week, someone stabbed holes in many of the protesters’ drums—imagine!

At a recent meeting of the General Assembly, Pulse Group founder Elijah Moses made a request for the needed funds and was turned down.

“I’m really frustrated,” said the 19-year-old Moses. Perhaps he should try asking a bank for a loan.

Related Articles

• Mayor Bloomberg: No more Mr. Nice Guy to Wall Street protesters
• Occupy Wall Street has a ‘hero’
• OWS protesters report they are being robbed—by other protesters
• NYC Occupy Wall Street protests turn violent AFTER eviction plan is scratched
• Zuccotti Park owners received ‘threatening’ phone calls over planned cleanup
• Occupy L.A.: We will need violence and socialism to achieve our goals

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