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I wish this article had more evidence. It's really hard to evaluate the claims either way. What makes me skeptical is that there's no obvious motive for this.

I wish this article had more evidence. It's really hard to evaluate the claims either way. What makes me skeptical is that there's no obvious motive for this. Imagine if you're one of those people that happens to be super rich enough to be part of the 1%. The OWS people probably just seem like ants to you. You might not take kindly to them, but you probably have other things to do with your time, especially since this is well after the movement (basically) failed. This sort of petty revenge seems like the kind of thing that happens when you have nothing better to do, it's high school politics, so I just have trouble imagining the motive. I'm not saying it didn't happen, I just don't see the evidence yet.

calibraxis 13y ago
If you'd like to learn more context, he wrote _The Democracy Project_. (He's fine with people downloading it.) There's also a wealth of videos of free talks he gave. For instance, you might reconsider your premise that Occupy "failed" — where did you learn that, and why do you believe it? Incidentally, Aaron Swartz recommended Chomsky's _Understanding Power_, which provides some general context. (http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/epiphany http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/epiphany)
coldtea 13y ago
>What makes me skeptical is that there's no obvious motive for this. Imagine if you're one of those people that happens to be super rich enough to be part of the 1%. The OWS people probably just seem like ants to you. You might not take kindly to them, but you probably have other things to do with your time That's very hypothetical. In actual life, in modern history, people have been targeted for participating in such actions (and even for far less). And it's not like the 1% is involved itself, or even knows about it directly. The role of the police and various state agencies, as they perceive it (and as their budget and higher policy orders allow them to continue to foster that perception) is to stomp people like those, to "maintain order". They are "un-american", "troublemakers", etc.

calibraxis 13y ago

If you'd like to learn more context, he wrote _The Democracy Project_. (He's fine with people downloading it.) There's also a wealth of videos of free talks he gave. For instance, you might reconsider your premise that Occupy "failed" — where did you learn that, and why do you believe it? Incidentally, Aaron Swartz recommended Chomsky's _Understanding Power_, which provides some general context. (http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/epiphany http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/epiphany)

coldtea 13y ago

>What makes me skeptical is that there's no obvious motive for this. Imagine if you're one of those people that happens to be super rich enough to be part of the 1%. The OWS people probably just seem like ants to you. You might not take kindly to them, but you probably have other things to do with your time That's very hypothetical. In actual life, in modern history, people have been targeted for participating in such actions (and even for far less). And it's not like the 1% is involved itself, or even knows about it directly. The role of the police and various state agencies, as they perceive it (and as their budget and higher policy orders allow them to continue to foster that perception) is to stomp people like those, to "maintain order". They are "un-american", "troublemakers", etc.