Occupy Wall Street, whether you agree or disagree with them, is a PR war. It's a battle to frame the narrative of what is happening to society (which is far more complex that anyone really understands, although people have their own understanding of things based on the experiences they are living and politic views they may hold).
On the OWS side you've got a protest against greed, corruption and poverty and on the other side you've got a belief in order, maintaining the status quo and structuring society based on a competitive / meritocracy model of reward (those who work hard and are smarter than others, reap more rewards, and in turn, hypothetically, create a better world to live in for all of us).
Now, putting aside the corruption element (which everyone should be on the same side about), you've got a classic socialism versus capitalism / free market debate.
And up until now the public has been pretty split on OWS. About 20 per cent strongly support, 20 per cent strongly oppose and 60 per cent not really knowing how to feel about it.
However, recent events in Oakland will, I believe, shift public sentiment strongly towards the OWS camp. Recently the police descended on protesters in Oakland at five in the morning to clear them out of a park. Obviously, the early morning raid was designed to catch them asleep and unprepared. Not to mention crowds would be at their lowest at that time.
Tear gas was used. Probably not the smartest move by the police, as tear gas looks and sounds pretty dramatic on video.
But what tips the PR battle heavily to OWS side now is that the police shot one of the protesters in the head with a tear gas cannister. The protester was an Iraq veteran and is now in the hospital in critical condition with a fractured skull and brain swelling.
This was a giant mistake by the police as it now recasts the police from being a force for social order to being a totalitarian force used to suppress civil (and peaceful) disobedience. These kinds of actions help create a narrative of US (the people) versus THEM (the state). You almost have to wonder if America's own Tianamen square moment is around the corner (although I don't think we'll be seeing tanks any time soon).
Below are videos of the event that took place in Oakland. I've also tossed in a video from NYC of an Iraq veteran who went down and confronted the police (I only toss it in as it's gone viral and has over two million hits on YouTube).
The police need to reassess how they are handling protesters because they are seriously losing credibility with the general public. Which doesn't only compromise their ability to handle the protesters today, but erodes the public's faith in them long term.
America is still, after all, a democracy. So unlike dictatorships where public opinion can be suppressed and ignored (hence why you don't see many PR folks within a dictatorship, as PR relies heavily on free speech), in a democracy public opinion is everything. The people you are beating today could easily become the people elected to office tomorrow. As such, heavy handed tactics are a bad PR strategy, because it's not just a group of 200 people you are pushing around, rather it's a display of governmental force that millions of voters are watching.
1:00 minute mark is the time where people realize the veteran has been injured.
NYC video of veteran (over 2.4 million YouTube hits)
On the OWS side you've got a protest against greed, corruption and poverty and on the other side you've got a belief in order, maintaining the status quo and structuring society based on a competitive / meritocracy model of reward (those who work hard and are smarter than others, reap more rewards, and in turn, hypothetically, create a better world to live in for all of us).
Now, putting aside the corruption element (which everyone should be on the same side about), you've got a classic socialism versus capitalism / free market debate.
And up until now the public has been pretty split on OWS. About 20 per cent strongly support, 20 per cent strongly oppose and 60 per cent not really knowing how to feel about it.
However, recent events in Oakland will, I believe, shift public sentiment strongly towards the OWS camp. Recently the police descended on protesters in Oakland at five in the morning to clear them out of a park. Obviously, the early morning raid was designed to catch them asleep and unprepared. Not to mention crowds would be at their lowest at that time.
Tear gas was used. Probably not the smartest move by the police, as tear gas looks and sounds pretty dramatic on video.
But what tips the PR battle heavily to OWS side now is that the police shot one of the protesters in the head with a tear gas cannister. The protester was an Iraq veteran and is now in the hospital in critical condition with a fractured skull and brain swelling.
This was a giant mistake by the police as it now recasts the police from being a force for social order to being a totalitarian force used to suppress civil (and peaceful) disobedience. These kinds of actions help create a narrative of US (the people) versus THEM (the state). You almost have to wonder if America's own Tianamen square moment is around the corner (although I don't think we'll be seeing tanks any time soon).
Below are videos of the event that took place in Oakland. I've also tossed in a video from NYC of an Iraq veteran who went down and confronted the police (I only toss it in as it's gone viral and has over two million hits on YouTube).
The police need to reassess how they are handling protesters because they are seriously losing credibility with the general public. Which doesn't only compromise their ability to handle the protesters today, but erodes the public's faith in them long term.
America is still, after all, a democracy. So unlike dictatorships where public opinion can be suppressed and ignored (hence why you don't see many PR folks within a dictatorship, as PR relies heavily on free speech), in a democracy public opinion is everything. The people you are beating today could easily become the people elected to office tomorrow. As such, heavy handed tactics are a bad PR strategy, because it's not just a group of 200 people you are pushing around, rather it's a display of governmental force that millions of voters are watching.
1:00 minute mark is the time where people realize the veteran has been injured.
NYC video of veteran (over 2.4 million YouTube hits)
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