The selling of Zuccotti Park

The most shocking thing I saw at Zuccotti Park during my weekend visit was that it is teeming with very thing that protesters hate: markets and commerce. All around the tiny tent city, vendors have sprung up, like mushrooms in warm compost, selling all kinds of Occupy Wall Street paraphernalia— buttons, pins, souvenirs. (Incidentally, there were more tourists than protesters at the park.) I actually witnessed greenbacks changing hands several times.