If the Occupy Movement was the original Star Wars Trilogy then right now we sit in the beginning of Empire Strikes Back. We just scored a major victory but things still seem slightly bleak somehow. We beat the first Death Star (we got the attention of the 1% and media) but we lost our base on Yavin 4 (Zuccotti park). At the beginning of Episode V the Rebellion had dealt a major blow to the Empire but no one knew what to do next. It took all the Rebellion’s energy and resolve to deal this blow. It is hard to see what the next major blow is or where it is coming from. It’s a harsher time. There is momentum but somehow it takes all of the resources available just to maintain. When a rebellion or movement is struggling just to maintain then forward momentum is impossible. Hoth (and winter time here is America) is a tough place to get through. Hoth (like winter) hides us from those that would strike against us but it prevents us from moving forward.
That doesn’t mean that the movement is dead by any means, far from. Fighting for survival, roughing out winter builds character and resolve. It hardens. Surviving the tough times gives added strength when the snow melts or when the fleet regroups and organizes the attack on the forest moon of Endor. If you want to push the Hoth/winter metaphor then Spring broke when the entire rebellion reunited after the death of Jabba the Hutt.
Winter will no doubt be hard for Occupy Wall Street. Winter is a hard time to effect change. Cold weather is an obvious road block. It will be hard to get protesters out in Minneapolis or Boston or New York during a snow storm. It will be hard to noticed when they are carrying a sign and banging a drum in sub zero temperatures. Seasonal depression sets in and people get tunnel vision that focuses on how much they hate the weather. It is hard to maintain political passion when you cannot maintain personal happiness. People outside the movement are much less likely to listen to our message when they are unhappy and fighting just to make it through the cold harsh winter. If people are not listening and we put our safety at risk in the cold then what is the point of protesting?
The cold is not the only thing that will prevent our message from affecting the public. Occupy Wall Street has been a headline for three months now and in today’s society it is hard to maintain the publics attention once they have received the headline. The people in a galaxy far far away quit talking about the Rebellion a few weeks after Luke destroyed the first Death Star. If we maintain a low level of activity constantly then we generate no buzz. If we disappear for a short time then reappear larger and louder then ever people will notice. Our absence allows for much more attention and impact when we return.
What we have lost is going to be another road block. We lost many of our symbols. Our most powerful symbols, the tents and Zuccotti park, have been taken from us. We have faced eviction is almost every major city and all our biggest camps. A mere six weeks ago in every major city nationwide you could see tents representing the Occupation. Those tents are mostly gone, Zuccotti Park (our origin point) has been taken from us. I think on some level we knew those symbols could not last forever but it is still a blow to our movement.
The loss of those symbols is creating a kind of forced evolution for the Occupy Movement. We used Zuccotti and the tents to get our name out nationwide. Our name and our word are out there, we have worked our way into the collective conciseness of America and we are not going anywhere. So what do we do with this time we are trapped on Hoth? We evolve. We use this winter to plan, to built, to shore up our plans online and off. We use the winter to spread the word to every person we know who will listen. We talk between ourselves and plan. Taking to the snow riddled streets will not get us further right now but by brainstorming we can find ways to plan our attack on the next political Death Star. Down time is not a bad thing.
We need to use this time to discover new ways to fight. We have broken into view and will not disappear. We need to evolve but we can and will. Personally I feel we need to use this time to define leaders and clear goals but I understand that not everyone feels that way. We have come to a point where we need to redefine the way we fight this Empire. Our tents are gone and we may be trapped on Hoth at the moment but we will emerge from hyperspace around the third moon of Endor in the Spring to greater victory then we have ever known.
Once spring breaks people feel energized. The winter blues are gone and people are thirsty for change, which is a wonderful fuel for a political movement. The armchair protesters will be ready to get out and fight. The people outside the protests will once again be open to listening to us. Spring is a time of birth, power, awakening and life. These powerful emotions and symbols will all work in our favor. The power of springtime combined with three months of planning, organizing, brainstorming and waiting will allow the light of the Occupation to burn brighter then ever before.
So there you have it how my geek mind explanation of how Occupy Wall Street moved to the ice planet Hoth. I have one more clumsy political Star Wars metaphors I will be writing tomorrow about the rise of the Emperor and how it relates to the Nation Defense Authorization Act. I should have it up tomorrow. I hope you enjoyed these ramblings. Please comment below.
