The small group meeting at the blue bandshell at Memorial Park didn’t note it formally but today marked the three month anniversary for the Occupy movement. In New York there was a celebratory march in Times Square and an effort to force an entry into the court yard of Trinity Church off Wall Street. Since being evicted from Zuccotti Park, New York Occupy has been campaigning to take over downtown Durate Park, which is owned by Trinity Church. The church, which expresses sympathy for OWS, is opposed.
In LA, Portland and larger cities marches focused on Wall Street bailouts, the wealthy 1%, corporate campaign contributions and a new law that might lead to indefinite detention of terrorist suspects and illegals. A number of protestors were arrested for passive civil disobedience as they planned to be.
Then came Time, making ”The Protestor” the cover person of the year.
In Stuart, by contrast, there was an active discussion about not getting arrested or causing lockouts. “I don’t agree with the movement to shut down the ports. It makes us look like disrupters, hippies, harming the economy. If the movement goes in that direction I will have to leave it, ” said one senior during the Stuart “Soap Box” session.
“Avoid all name calling in online responses” warned another. We’re have an image problem, don’t feed it”. The speaker was referring to the vitriol from online commentators on the Stuart News web site about Occupy.
This points up a real divide. The Stuart group is middle class weighted toward seniors. It meets every Saturday and focuses a lot on local issues. At its first meeting there were 136. There were 32 today.
A key point a few weeks ago was how to protest plans for two mega housing developments that opponents said would carry heavy tax and environmental costs. Since then, it looks like the plans have been tabled. A new debate is how to stop Florida Light and Power from installing new smart meters on houses without permission. Ben, a local activist, says there have been 30 fires around the state traced to the meters. The utility says the fires are from faulty house wiring and not its concern.
Can it get any grittier than this? Probably not. So the question is whether deep local is good or bad. Local translates easily, admits Pat Wedemeyer, who wants to repeal corporate campaign contributions and close the Fed and is afraid of losing “the big picture”.Liz Piel, a part time resident from Sharon, Ct want to focus on corporate campaign funding.
Liz Piel
There were a lot of middle aged and seniors at Zuccotti Park when I visited during a number of days in October who were pretty much ignored by main stream media. But I remember a blogger who wrote then that Occupy would only succeed when the folks in sport shirts, chinos and slacks showed up. Occupy encampments became a magnet for the homeless, the needy, wackos and radicals who want headline confrontation. Like the Tea Party a year ago, Occupy in Florida is getting networked. Maybe the little Stuart group is a bellweather for creating a middle class base.
