When I wrote about the Occupy Wall Street movement a few weeks ago I had not really intended on it becoming a recurring topic, but as events transpire I find myself compelled to speak out further.  The movement has continued to gain momentum and has spread all over the country, and to various locations around the world.  More people are getting involved, and more media attention is being cast in their direction.  Some of the attention has been on the movement itself, and some on the actions of the NYPD and other police departments in response to it.

At this point, we should regard the Occupy movement as a potential danger.  It is very volatile.  I do not suggest that we should be concerned that it will escalate to a point of violence, though that is not out of the question, it seems unlikely at this point it time.  The danger stems from the fact that the protestors are so very disjointed.  There is no leader, and there is no clear mission or set of demands.  The protestors might as well be there for the simple fact that they have nothing better to do.  Clearly they share in their frustration and anger over the direction of the economy.  This seems to be about all though.

So what we have are thousands of angry individuals who have taken to the streets to protest a vague concept of what they feel is wrong.  This is not a good situation.  While the protestors all agree that there exists a serious problem, they either do not recognize the problem at all or fail to identify the true problem.  Nor for the most part do they seem to have any concept of how the problem came about, or how it can be remedied.  Establishment forces are at work trying to harness the energy of the protestors and direct it toward their own ends.  Primary among these forces are unions, which act as parasites draining the productivity and profit from industry, enabled by their big government mercenaries.  The Occupy movement will do great harm should its power be exploited by purveyors of the liberal agenda.

Already, while not acknowledging the existence of the movement directly, the Obama re-election campaign is strategizing on how they can tie the GOP candidates to Wall Street in an attempt to turn the wrath of the protestors upon the GOP hopefuls.  Moveon.org, another liberal group has expressed its support for the Occupy movement.  The left is attempting to assimilate the Occupy movement in much the same way the Neo-Con right attempted to gain control of the Tea Party.

There are members of the Occupy group who are loudly calling out the left for trying to take over the movement, and they are fighting it.  What remains unclear is just how many in the movement feel this way, versus the number who can be easily led astray by the liberal cronies.  Given how fluid the group is, it will be hard to say.  Currently it is difficult to tell what information regarding the group is actually representative of the group since there are no leaders, and no official platform.  Some of the ideas that are being presented are very conservative, while others are libertarian, and still others are purely socialist.

Advocates of liberty need to get involved with these protests and act as guides to educate fellow protestors as well as to repel those who come with malicious intent.  If we are able to steer the energy of the protestors toward the restoration of liberty and prosperity though constitutionally limited government, sound money, and the free market it may be possible to make great strides in restoring our Republic.

The important distinction is that Wall Street is not the root of the problem.  While Wall Street has benefited greatly, it was government that made it possible.  By allowing the creation of a private bank and giving it unrestrained control of the currency and instituting policies that stifle competition the government has created an atmosphere of corruption which has allowed the banksters to leech off of the rest of society.  There is nothing wrong with being rich.  That is a facet of the American dream.  There is however a problem when riches are obtained by stealing from everyone else.  Capitalism is a good model, if it functions within the framework of an unrestricted free market.

Do not allow the establishment to hijack the Occupy movement.  With education and the right direction, Occupy Wall Street could be the citizen-based movement needed to turn our country around.  Get involved!

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Based on a work at http://www.considerliberty.com.
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.