OCUPADO

A lot has been said about the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City. However, most of what's been said is the lack of press coverage of the event, save some stories about the police pepper spraying of some protesters. While this protest was noble in its cause, I have a pretty good idea that it could fail, and here's why:

Reason One for the failure: the idea of letting everyone have a voice, i\.e. letting everyone have the opportunity to speak at the event. That doesn't work in this situation. Too many voices and your message is lost.

Reason Two for the failure: they waited too long to start their protest. Timing is everything. They should have struck while the iron was hot, when America was still pissed off about the bailout money the banks received. Instead, they waited two years. By now, although Americans may seem like they're still pissed, most more consumed with the idea of that sales at Macys, instead of yelling at some Wall Street Fat-Cat banker.

Reason Three: the messenger. While there was a sprinkling of protesters in suits carrying signs that said "Angry ex-Wall Streeter," generally, those in the streets were the usual suspects that you find at these types of events. College students, burn-outs, overly-passionate progressives, and those who never got the memo that 1967 ended when 1968 began.

For a movement to take hold and resonate, you need to have a cross-section of society in your ranks. One of the reasons why the Vietnam war protests were so successful was that at some point, you had business men and housewives, college students and the working-class, all out marching. Of course, it didn't hurt that the most trusted man in America, the great Walter Cronkite, had also spoke of his belief that the war was wrong.

Mother Jones Magazine breaks it down even better than I do here, as to why it failed. Check it out.