JLF’s John Hood writes here about the “Occupy” movement. Like Hood, I relate to the frustration with government bailouts of banks and insurance companies. But then there’s the other stuff the movement stands for, and that’s where “Occupy” and I part ways. Here’s part of Hood’s view:
Then there’s all this talk of the “1% vs. the 99%.” To suggest that 99 percent of Americans have the same views, the same interests, and the same agenda is not only preposterous but creepily reminiscent of the rhetoric of past autocrats who won 99 percent of the vote in fake elections and claimed universal support for radical social movements that had few true adherents.
Finally, there’s the actual agenda of the Occupy movement. Once you pierce its artifice of ambiguity, you find the usual left-wing tropes. Protesters insist on the right to the fruits of other people’s labor – not the right to trade their own labor for food, clothing, shelter, and health care but the right to take what they want. They insist that corporate executives, employees, and shareholders have no constitutional rights to freedom of speech or petition, and can thus be muzzled by the Bolshe… sorry, I mean the “99 percenters.”
In short, the Occupy movement is little more than a new name for an old, discredited brand of radical politics. It is about rage, hatred, envy, and larceny, not liberty, respect, and equal treatment under the law. It is a manifestation of the hard Left’s ongoing attempts to mask an unpopular agenda with populist appeals.
