Those pundits and politicians who still insist that the Occupy protesters don’t have a coherent message need to bone up on their Marshall McLuhan: The medium is the message. And the protest is the medium. What’s so hard to understand about that?
Everything about these protests is rich in symbolism and meaning. The participatory democracy of the general assemblies offers a striking counter to a tone-deaf and dysfunctional national political system widely (and rightly) perceived to be bought and paid for by wealthy individuals and corporations. The voluntary division of labor and communal distribution of food and supplies presents a distinct alternative to a corporate-controlled market economy that fosters dangerous levels of unemployment, foreclosures, and income inequality. And of course, the symbolic occupation of Wall Street and other financial districts is nothing if not a direct challenge to the basic economic assumptions behind financialization, globalization, deregulation, and other contributors to our current economic morass.
But perhaps no aspect of these protests better illustrates McLuhan’s thesis than “the People’s mic,” which as silly as it may sound, and as mundane as its content may sometimes be, is a medium that inherently expresses a powerful message of solidarity and defiance, in and of itself.
In his classic work, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, McLuhan famously describes content as “the juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind,” an apt metaphor for the way the guardians of our corporate media have attempted to distract attention away from the true message of the Occupy protests by focusing relentlessly on their content.
The protest is the message. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of Americans are staging permanent occupations of parks and squares throughout the nation, as an expression of their profound discontent with current economic policies. And politicians who ignore or belittle that message do so at their own risk.
Might I suggest the addition of a “straws, grasping” tag?
“…an expression of their profound discontent with current economic policies…”
You do realize that the current economic policy is the Frank-Dodd act… right?
Those pundits and politicians who still insist that the Occupy protesters don’t have a coherent message are propagandists, and likely don’t give a shit about the truth of the matter. As usual, a liberal pundit takes the bait and tries to show everyone how smart he is by proving that the other side is wrong.
When will you stop dancing to their tune?
“And politicians who ignore or belittle that message do so at their own risk.”
Just like the WTO and Iraq War protests before this! Er, wait…
Love this. So much that I said it myself just the other day.
Complexity is hard, Goldy.
You are never going to get the majority of people to understand something that isn’t superficially apparent. It’s easier to crack wise about a bunch of college kids and unemployed schlubs protesting their own laziness than it is to face the fact that maybe the protests are general because the problem is general, deep, and complicated.
The American spirit is many things, but one of the things it isn’t is comfortable with ambiguity. Restating “The medium is the message” to a modern audience is going to get you the same disinterested puzzlement it has for decades.
Let’s remember that the effort to suggest that Occupy “doesn’t have a clear message” is a PR campaign waged by PR professionals.
If you even engage this issue, we (the 99%) lose. It’s designed to draw protesters and those who agree with them into an argument about process and off of the main point, which is: the 99% in this country have given bailout after bailout to the 1%, and continue to be left behind. It’s time to come together, occupy our public space, and work to fix our nation’s problems.
Do not engage the argument that Occupy’s message is unclear. Ignore it. Let the message speak for itself about its clarity.
@2 Politicians of all parties, fully bought and paid for by corporate interests and primarily interested in satisfying their largest donors, are part of the problem. It’s not just the banks, it’s not just the 1%, it’s the political culture that allowed the architects of the recession to go unpunished.
And that’s what people have been saying all along. You just aren’t listening. Why is it so hard for you to understand that the grievances being aired go beyond mere partisan bickering?
Goldy, your posts remind me of the therapist scene in Office Space. Every new post you make is your worst post.
I’ll tell you what’s a hundred times more annoying than a protester without a clear message; it’s a pundit telling us all solemnly that there is no lack of a clear message, and then providing their version of that clear message to us. In case we’re, you know, slow.
Nobody is interested in your message. Messages are for dweebs. Fine, you’ve got a clear message: CONGRATULATIONS. What you don’t have is a goal. Something that you want to happen as a result of the protest. No, not “total reform of the system, man” — actual specific goals. You don’t have those. Even after you explain for the hundredth time what you think your goals are, you are unclear, because you don’t know what the word “goal” means.
Fnarf @10: Sorry the Occupy stuff doesn’t fit your model of what a proper protest should be. I guess they should just pack up and go home then.
Here are a couple of goals, to start with:
1) A Directive to Gov’t: Roll back the Bush-era tax cuts. Like, yesterday.
2) A Directive to The People: Get your money out of the banks and into credit unions. Again, this needed to be done yesterday – so do it today!
@11, or, maybe they could do some PROTESTING instead of standing around like wet socks. Did you miss the big banker hoedown three blocks away? Why didn’t they go to that? The people they claim to be protesting against WERE RIGHT THERE. Instead they’re standing there listening to Bob Marley and watching their signs disintegrate.
But yeah, they’re accomplishing zilch. I think the Stranger staff are the only people who would notice if they did go home.
Goal #1: Grow the Movement.
@8
I agree with you more than you know…
This is WAY over simplified, but the “message” of its “medium” rings true to me: http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/…
Maybe it’s a “Tea Partiers are from Mars Occupiers are from Venus” thing but, the thing is… while messages are interesting, without solutions (goals) they are not useful to me and just sound like so much whining which in turn just makes me want to remind them that their “problems” are the envy of the rest of the world (http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/… ).
I heard what you were saying! You know nothing of my work!
I remain optimistic something good will come out of this (and by “this” I mean occupations other than this morass in Seattle) — but no good will come out of demonstrating political systems and economic systems even more decisively dysfunctional than the ones we already got.
“The Medium is the Massage” seems to apply better.
Goldy,
I believe 2011 is the McLuhan centennial. All sorts of celebrations in Toronto where he taught..