Lance Schaubert

After listening to the propaganda streaming out of FOX, CNN, MSNBC and other national media, I got the impression that OWS was a violent group of rag-tag aimless children that put up some tents in a park. But why take their word for it? I went on a search for myself…

Test Group #1: Occupy George

1. Nonviolent -  Occupy George stamps infographics on one dollar bills to raise awareness about the political influence of the wealthy 1%. It’s illegal – it defaces federal currency – but nonviolent. No reports of physical harm coming from this site.
2. Goal-Oriented – “Money talks, but not loud enough for the 99%. By circulating dollar bills stamped with fact-based infographics, Occupy George informs the public of America’s daunting economic disparity one bill at a time. Because money knowledge is power.”
   Seems like a clear goal to me, not some aimless kids throwing maltovs.
3. Public - “LEGAL DISCLAIMER: The intent behind Occupy George is not to render any money unfit to be reissued, and in fact the hope is that all stamped money will circulate as much as possible, passing knowledge to all those who come across the bills.” Aside from offering a rebuttal to the defacing claim, this shows how broad they hope to get.

Test Group #2 – Occupy Cyberspace

1. Nonviolent - Every post as far as I scrolled emphasized two things: (1) the uncalled for brutality of city police forces and (2) the MLK-like insistence on refusing to use violence during protests. They hope to “occupy” space like Rosa Parks “occupied” a bus.
2. Goal-Oriented – “Occupy Cyberspace is an #Occupy Activism  Blog and Fan Page-Resource in Solidarity with Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and Occupy Together. It was created …for those wanting to keep up with and/or join the #Occupy Movement….” Seems pretty clear to me.
3. Broad - As I’m writing this, Occupy Cyberspace hasn’t been around for longer than half a year and the site has over 110,000 hits, not to mention it networking with the following sites:

Check out the Occupy Cyberspace (Online Community) on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/OccupyCyberspace on WordPress – http://occupycyberspace.wordpress.com/ on Occupy Together – http://meetu.ps/57F92 #OccupyTogether on Occupy Wall Street – http://occupywallst.org/users/OccupyCyberspace on New York City General Assembly #OccupyWallStreet – occupycyberspace

Test Group #3 – Occupy Wall St.

1. Non-Violent – Every assembly organized through the site not only emphasizes waging non-violence, but community consensus. It would seem that the black block really is an attempt to slander the movement: “The occupations around the world are being organized using a non-binding consensus based collective decision making tool known as a “people’s assembly”. To learn more about how to use this process to organize your local community to fight back against social injustice, please read this quick guide on group dynamics in people’s assemblies.“
2. Focused – Here are their goals, plain and simple: “Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #ows is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and aims to fight back against the richest 1% of people that are writing the rules of an unfair global economy that is foreclosing on our future.“
3. HUGE - Let’s just say you’ve heard of these guys. I also checked into the diversity of the group. There’s homeless and rich, black, white, hispanic, asian, democrat, republican, green party, anarchist, media, non-media and a slew of other diverse representation from what I can see.

Test group #4 – Occupy Oakland

1. Non-Violent – They seem to just want to occupy space: “In response to coordinated attacks on the occupations and attacks on workers across the nation: Occupy Oakland calls for the blockade and disruption of the economic apparatus of the 1% with a coordinated shutdown of ports on the entire West Coast on December 12th.”
2. Focused – “We are reclaiming public space to use as a forum for the people to come together, meet one another, listen to each other, and build power for ourselves. Occupy Oakland is more than just a speak-out or a camp out. The purpose of our gathering here is to plan actions, to mobilize real resistance, to defend ourselves from the economic and physical war that is being waged against our communities.“
3. Large – These guys shut down one port and have influenced the entire west coast, including the hispanic populous.

I’d keep writing about my research, but I’m over my word count for today. My suggestion? Don’t take what people spoon feed you. Go find out for yourself.