The Wall Street protests have been intriguing. While the movement has an obvious anti-corporate tinge, I can’t tell whether labeling it anti-capitalist would be fair. Nancy Pelosi’s endorsement, in addition to the general direction of the movement, makes it safe to label the Wall Street occupiers as leftists. and there seems to be a pattern among these left-leaning protests.
For some reason, every public assembly that involves resentment of the upper class eventually evolves into rioting — their monotonous chanting and clichesigns somehow elicit tear gas and riot shields. This generalization has been true across the world.
In the last year, Britons have smashed windows because of high tuition rates, and Greeks have thrown Molotov cocktails in reaction to the government’s public sector cuts.
The U.S. is unique in the relationship between the government and the current recession. America is the only country that I can think of that also has a political movement asking for less government help. the Tea Party — feel free to cringe — is in this way unique compared to the other movements.
Regardless of the disparity in their beliefs, the current Wall Street movement (along with its more violent European counterparts) can actually learn — cringe more — from the Tea Party.
This isn’t to say the Tea Party, the movement symbolized by the angry, obese Anglo-Saxon, is without flaws.
The Tea Party’s tense relationship with the media has painted it as fanatical, thus disenchanting moderates.
And despite its attempts to distinguish itself from both political parties, it is rightfully seen as a Republican vessel, causing it to inherit all of the GOP’s negative connotations.
The Tea Party has been honest but impractical in its applause at the GOP presidential debates — in one instance cheering over the death of an uninsured man within a hypothetical scenario.
While their argument may be legitimate, applauding the death of anyone is rarely good public relations.
But the Tea Party does have some positive characteristics. first, no one can doubt that they are populist. There have been allegations that the Tea Party consists of “Astroturf” rather than being grassroots oriented, but the attendance of any Tea Party event proves that assertion to be untrue.
A peer and I attended last year’s Tea Party of Virginia Convention, and the only slithering Republicans in suits were the politicians on stage.
The common participant was, as shown on the news, the predictable, aging American adorned in patriotic attire and covered in political bumper stickers. My friend and I were disappointed — we had hoped for a more elitist attitude.
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A version of this article appeared in the Oct 20 issue of the Collegiate Times.
