As we experience the shutting down of the Occupy Portland protests, let's reflect back on social movements of the past. Answer one or more of the questions below.
Compare the Occupy Wall Street movement to a historic movement from the past: Tienanmen Square, Poland's Solidarity Movement, the Civil Rights movement, or the Arab Spring are a few examples. How are the causes similar or different to OWS?
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Why do you think the Occupy movements did not escalate to extreme violence, as they did in Tienanmen Square or in Egypt?
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How could have the Occupy Portland movement been more successful?
Hmmm. I think that the Occupy movements have made a point to be clear that they want to demonstrate in a peaceful manner. This was not the case in other historical riots. As a result, the police and the government do not seem so worried about revolts. This movement is all about the lower classes of people being heard. There are no obvious solutions here. It's more like a sit-in protest from the 1970's during Vietnam. A peaceful demonstration from a group of people trying to make a point.
ReplyDeleteI think the movement should have centered around rallies, marches, or demonstrations rather than camping out in the middle of the city which ended up pitting a lot of people who should be on the same side against each other.
I agree with Meredith that the Occupy Portland movement has pitted people against each other who would otherwise be on the same side. I am impressed that the movement has been as peaceful as it has been, which is similar to the peaceful approach many Civil Rights movement members had during the 1960s. However, I think the Civil Rights movement had a more unified message and a more unified appeal.
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