Occupy Wall Street and The Tea Party

I commented on a recent hub, just yesterday, about the Occupy Wall Street protesters and had the audacity to compare them to the Tea Party. Both groups are protesting what they consider to be over-reaching, over-powerful, and over-entitled institutions that are infringing on their rights as human beings, and I am wrong to compare them? Well our fellow hubber American Romance thoroughly disagrees with me. He states, "Mtbailz, not even close! The OWS crowd are thugs, they look like thugs, act like thugs so conclusion...they are thugs! Tea Party folks are well mannered, clean, clean looking, so conclusion......real hard working Americans!" I would not really care if this was the idea held by one ill-informed man, but it frightens me to see many just like him. This is the reason for this post. When an argument like American Romance's is made it's like spitting into the wind; it will blow back and hit you right in the face.

Let's first take his definition of thug. He contrasts the thuggish Wall Street protesters with their "well mannered, clean, clean looking," Tea Party counterparts. Thus the implication made is that the OWS protesters are ill mannered, dirty, and grungy looking. Well this may be the case for some Wall Street protesters, but, as is the case with any uniformed body of people, not everyone looks the same. Look at the first three photos bellow and tell me if these protesters are anything like the "thugs" American Romance and his brothers in arms would claim they are. Many are like you and me; average Americans looking hard for stability and the ability to live a normal life.

Now let's contrast these photos with the one's taken at some of the Tea Party rallies. I promise you, the thugs American Romance utterly despises are found throughout these Tea Party protests. Take a peek at last three photos bellow and be prepared for some disgusting images. I could have shown terrible pictures of the OWS and great pictures of the Tea Party movement, but my point is that it is ignorant to state that one group is full of thugs and the other full of grand ole Americans. That kind of simplistic thinking belongs in the minds of our children, who haven't yet developed critical thinking skills.

Both of these groups are quite diverse in their membership which is one more reason why they are similar. They are both practicing their constitutional rights, making their voices heard, and creating a political tide which they hope will wash away the corruption found in both New York and Washington. The Tea Party and OWS have more in common than American Romance, his followers, and the mass media are letting on. We find ourselves replaying the decades of the early 1900s when a huge progressive movement reshaped America forever. Just like today, the movement was not unified and the progressives were sometimes at odds with one another. But, no matter what kind of progressive you were, you wanted change. This desire has reincarnated itself in a modern form and it is exciting to see what will happen in the years to come.