Most Occupy Wall Street sit-ins across the country have been dismantled, leading some to ask whether the movement is over. I doubt it, but it is unlikely to return in the form it took for the last two months.
The problem with OWS wasn’t a lack of support for the income-inequity argument, it’s that it had no spokespeople who could focus the message enough to garner consistently positive media attention. A revolution doesn’t run on crowd-think, drum circles, and finger-waving consensus-building. Someone (either singular or plural) has to take the reins, make the speeches, set the agenda, organize the voices, and galvanize popular opinion. That’s how you grow crowds from a few hundred to tens of thousands, and it’s only at that volume of humanity that attention will be paid. OWS resisted having any of its “leaders” take on that role — even when invited to sit down in front of cameras and microphones and make the sale to the American public.
They must now retreat, but only long enough to chart and implement a new path towards change, one that includes a more effective way to spread the message and encourage others to take part.