The Facts: Two more protesters were arrested in the movement Occupy Raleigh over the weekend. The arrests occurred during the weekend marking the 100th day of the Occupy Raleigh protests.
Our Opinion: We’ve covered Occupy countless times in Technician and it’s beginning to wear us down. We’re not annoyed with the cause, we support it; we take issue with the action, or lack of action, being taken.
Two more protesters were arrested from the Occupy Raleigh movement over the weekend. The arrests occurred during the weekend marking the 100th day of the Occupy Raleigh protests. And as we consider yesterday’s news we come to a question: If two more occupiers get arrested in a protest in Raleigh, will anyone care? The Occupy story is one of those that just doesn’t die. We’ve covered it many times in news and on this page, and it’s beginning to wear us down, even annoy us. We’re not annoyed with the cause, we support it; we take issue with the action, or lack of action, being taken. The initial action taken by Occupy, both on Wall Street and Raleigh, was great. Occupy was something our generation has never seen before. People literally took to the streets and cried for change. We were captivated. Occupy had our attention, and it had the nation’s attention, but somewhere along the way it lost us. The platitudes that first drew in our nation have become stale and repetitive. Shouting “end corruption” means less when you ask yourself: Who is really pro-corruption? Occupiers were once treated with respect, and people wanted to hear their message, but now they’re treated as any other solicitor. The movement has become stale because the action never seems to visibly change. Their lack of change can be seen just in the fact that Occupiers have been in the same spot, doing the same thing, in Raleigh for more than 100 days. Their glorified sit-in should’ve been but a single part of a greater movement, not their ultimate form of protest. Let’s examine the actions of another movement, the movement against SB 514/Amendment One. The amendment would make marriage between anyone other than one man and one woman unconstitutional in North Carolina. The movement against it should be commended for its multi-modal efforts. Members of the American Civil Liberties Union can be seen at practically every street corner these days educating the public on gay rights. An activist group, The Vote Against Project, tours North Carolina educating and creating a portrait of the faces against Amendment One. Most importantly, all of the activism against Amendment One gives those who are listening something to do. The major difference between the amendment one movement and Occupy is that the former is an actionable movement. The movement against SB 514 give us something to do. All the Occupiers did in the face of injustice was shout. They didn’t move toward anything, or give people something to do. They never even formulated a plan for change that could actually be realized. All they did was shout, and now their shouts fall on deaf ears.
