What's Really Going On At "Occupy Wall Street"

A person who follows conservative media will find "Occupy Wall Street" coverage full of mockery, disdain, or a dismissive attitude. A person who digests liberal media will be informed of a growing movement that will soon dwarf the Tea Party in influence.

So we turn to the libertarians for some balanced coverage--they don't like Republicans OR Democrats.

My own view? Well...that's influenced by my own perspective of political debate.

I never like debate in which the opponent is accused of "not caring about" or "wanting to destroy" something. You've heard it: Republicans don't care about the environment, Democrats want to destroy the free market.

Republicans and Democrats often share the same concerns but have different solutions. Improving education? I'd say charter schools. A Democrat may say pay teachers more.

In this context (common problem identification), "Occupy Wall Street" has something in common with the Tea Party. Both are aware that our economic policy is being driven to benefit big donors to politicians.

While the Democratic party may hope to ingest the "Occupy" movement into its party, I believe that the Dems will have the same challenge faced by Republicans who attempt to incorporate the Tea Party--the movements purposely exist OUTSIDE the existing political structure, because its members are motivated by a frustration over how the current system operates.

Both the "Occupy" and the "Tea Party" movements are organic and mistrust the existing establishment. I saw evidence of that on an "Occupy" website when the movement was endorsed by some union organizations. Commenters were already bemoaning that the "professionals" were trying to muscle into the movement.

A particular challenge for the left lies with its ideology; if government is identified as the problem, how do you fix that problem with MORE government?