Built as an extension of the uprisings in the Middle East, from Tunisia to Egypt to Libya and Syria, the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstration was an ambitious effort to push aside greed and corporatism in the United States. While admirable and important, the activists failed to understand that by following the Egyptian model, as so often cited by media outlets, they were unable to understand that that exact model has largely failed here in Egypt to ascend traditional barriers and has stalled the revolution. The weekend protests, and subsequent sit-in, were a “copy” of what many believe were successful movements in the Middle East, namely Egypt, using social media to spread the message. Organizers also took to the “airwaves” in an effort to spur change in America's financial center. Kalle Lasn, co-founder of the venerable counterculture magazine AdBusters, took to the micro-blogging website Twitter and other websites to help organize a campaign encouraging tens of thousands of Americans to have a nonviolent sit-in on Saturday in lower Manhattan. The reality, however, is that Wall Street failed to see the missteps of the leftist activists in Egypt, who while talking a good game, have not been able to incorporate larger segments of Egyptian society. Wall Street is much the same now. The protesters, while having an important message, have alienated the vast majority of Americans in getting behind their cause; a direct result of misinformation and lack of dialogue. Protesters are urging President Barack Obama to establish a commission to end “the influence money has over our representatives in Washington,” according to Adbusters's website, a group that asked people to occupy Wall Street “for a few months.” While the idea of tackling greed in the US is important, the reality of “occupying” an area can have major negative consequences. Just ask the Egyptian activists who occupied Cairo's Tahrir Square in July. During the Egyptian sit-in, local residents, average citizens and concerned activists became angry, disillusioned and frustrated that the sit-in was hurting their ability to move freely in their own city. At the heart of the antagonism toward Cairo's sit-in in July was the growing belief that the activists did not represent Egyptians. Average Egyptians told me repeatedly that “the Tahrir people don't know anything about Egypt and are hurting the revolution.” That's the crux of the matter for any protest movement. Alienating people, especially those who would want to support the cause, cannot happen. If it does, the cause is lost. The Occupy Wall Street “sit-in” that has seen numbers fluctuate from a few hundred to as many as 1,000, must understand that it was not social media that brought down Egypt's government. It was the masses, who largely were not online and did not regularly check social networks for what was happening in the country. While the Internet has a much larger presence in the United States, a vast majority of regular Americans do not use Twitter, Facebook and blogs to get their news. Most Americans may support calls to end greed and corruption within financial institutions in the US. It appears all to similar to the Egyptian model: lots of talk, too much alienation. In Egypt, the left has largely missed out on pushing the country forward because they have failed to understand their fellow citizens, who are apprehensive about long protest movements that disrupt their lives on a daily basis. While the US is much larger than Egypt, a similar sense could quickly develop and any success the Wall Street demonstrations could have will quickly fade as Americans become angry at the protesters and miss the message. The rally, dubbed #OccupyWallStreet on social networks, aims to tackle what protesters call “outrageous” greed on Wall Street, “which is hurting the American and global economy.” Let us hope that the protesters understand the missteps of the Egyptian activist movement before entering into a protracted sit-in that could hurt the movement as a whole. Egyptian activists have seemingly understood their failings, so in many ways it is surprising to see a protest movement in the US based on failed actions in Egypt. Both movements had the right message, but their error seems to have been tactics. As both groups of activists push forward, it is important to look critically at the movements in order to understand what was successful and what was not, or else both continue to be doomed. BM
