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Occupy Houston needs to refocus if it wants to survive coming winter

The protestors at Occupy Houston no longer have to worry about mosquitoes, but they have a new problem: the cold.

Last week a group of the protestors requested that the Houston City Council let them camp out in city parks with free electricity, presumably so they wouldn’t freeze. Their requests were denied.

Thus far, Occupy Houston protestors have not prevailed in toppling businesses, and they have done nothing to disrupt the daily workings of local politicians. As a result, the protestors should not be surprised that their requests were denied.

Their tent space and free electricity request seems almost farcical—the protestors asked the very people they’re protesting against to help them.

The movement should be able to procure living space and energy on their own. And if this is not the case, it indicates that there isn’t enough cohesion in the group to obtain the donations to do so.

On their website, OccupyHouston.org, the protestors describe themselves as “a group of autonomous individuals with no leader.”

Occupy Houston states that they are a “non-hierarchical horizontal democracy,” but how will that leaderless democracy work against highly structured, well-disciplined and well-funded corporations with veins in the media and government?

Sitting in circles regurgitating lines from well-written but misunderstood political literature, and talking to self-serving journalists trying to sell their latest memoir will not meet the goals of Occupy Houston.

But does anyone even know what the goals of Occupy Houston are?

According to their website, they want what everybody wants: “the ability to have a home, to make a livelihood, to have a family or a community, to live in a free society.”

How protesting in the streets will meet this unclear and general goal, I do not know.

Granted, Occupy Houston is not Occupy Wall Street, but considering that OWS is still shaky and loose, both movements might want to work on organization and progress.

Furthermore, where is Occupy Houston’s plan to impeach the mayor or governor? Where is the worker’s strike? Where is the pooling of funds to set up a hostel or other accommodations for the winter?

The protesters say they are disillusioned. They say they have no interest in politicians because politicians only care about large donors. They say the media purposefully ignored them for weeks, and that the public still doesn’t back them.

But watching a local news story on Occupy Houston shows rich and naive college students, bitter dropouts and homeless who aren’t organized or prepared to answer questions.

Critics say this is an attempt to skew the appearance of the movement, and there are definitely modestly dressed downtrodden honest people in those crowds. These people seem to be in the minority, though.

There are also plenty of reasons to protest, but Occupy Houston is simply venting steam without affecting change.

The protestors give out leaflets and info on their grievances, but use statements like “end corporate personhood” or “campaign finance reform” with little explanation on how, when or why.

An example of the problem and solution is not difficult. For instance, a generic grievance is, “Wall Street wrecked the economy three years ago.”

It would be more informative to state, “Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan opposed regulation of derivatives.” Or, a more simple statement: “No one working at Wall Street was indicted or convicted for taking part in the events that led to the 2008 recession.”

There are even state specific grievances to protest. They could protest Texas and the prison industrial complex. Or, they could protest the potential privatization of public schools, highways and everything else in Texas. Rick Perry is a champion for privatization, including pushing for privatizing Texas prison healthcare in 2010.

However, Occupy Houston ignores the homework for such semi-obvious issues. Instead, protestors seem satisfied to wave signs in the street and kick up dirt.

But winter is coming, and it’s questionable if the protestors can withstand even the relatively moderate cold of the South.

For all their intentions, Occupy Houston is like an ant pile from the perspective of Houston businessmen in their skyscrapers. The observation deck of the JP Morgan Chase building is a particularly good place from which to view the movement for yourself.

27 Comments

  • Ewww…Burrr!!! Bundle up in your Snuggies, Occupiers! Houston winters are SO brutal. This article is such a waste of kilobytes.

  • Mr. Haydon should fit in well at Fox news after graduation. It's never too early to establish your self as a willing parrot.

  • Let's hear it for the least effective protest…EVER! These "occupy" protests are nothing but a waste of space and time. No one really cares what those idiots are doing and honestly, I do not even think the protesters themselves care. It is another attempt by young and stupid to get a free meal out of this country. I work hard and pay my taxes and I can afford a house and car. This country is not trying to screw anyone out of living their dreams. It is just there are a growing number of slackers that feel these things should be given to them and they do not have to earn it. I say screw em. Let them freeze and when they finally realize no one give a crap about them, maybe they will go submit a few applications somewhere and stop being a drain on society and it's limited resources.

  • Let's hear it for the least effective protest…EVER! These "occupy" protests are nothing but a waste of space and time. No one really cares what those idiots are doing and honestly, I do not even think the protesters themselves care. It is another attempt by young and stupid to get a free meal out of this country. I work hard and pay my taxes and I can afford a house and car. This country is not trying to screw anyone out of living their dreams. It is just there are a growing number of slackers that feel these things should be given to them and they do not have to earn it. I say screw em. Let them freeze and when they finally realize no one give a crap about them, maybe they will go submit a few applications somewhere and stop being a drain on society and it's limited resources.

    • http://pol.moveon.org/
      We don't see this type of media coverage

      Why? Because the media corps are the 1% they would like nothing more than Occupy to go away.

      Occupy has many purposes. Each and every one have their own issues with the government.

  • Mr. Haydon criticizes the protesters for failing to do their homework, while the scope of his own research about the movement seems to be limited to a few minutes or less on one local website and watching a news report.

    Influencing public opinion is the primary focus of every political movement, and in a Time/Abt SRBI poll, 54 percent of Americans say that they are favorable to the nationwide Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement. Compared to the much more organized and funded Tea Party movement, OWS is doing twice as well (as well as polling higher than Obama and all his Republican challengers.)

    Despite Mr. Haydon's criticism that they lack sufficient goals, discipline, funding, etc., it would appear that the occupiers are doing quite well. As for his journalistic abilities, I think his own words "almost farcical" are quite apt.

  • Anytime someone says Occupy Wall Street/Houston Movement needs to "refocus," it is nothing more than cowardly, veiled criticisms because you cannot substantially refute what they stand for. Instead all you've proven with your article is that you've never left Texas (Houston even??) and that you think the natural freezing point of water and people is 60 degrees.

  • Anytime someone says Occupy Wall Street/Houston Movement needs to "refocus," it is nothing more than cowardly, veiled criticisms because you cannot substantially refute what they stand for. Instead all you've proven with your article is that you've never left Texas (Houston even??) and that you think the natural freezing point of water and people is 60 degrees.

  • The "Occupy" movements are pathetic. With no organizational hierarchy, message cohesion, or clear solutions to the many problems they are protesting they have no hope of accomplishing anything. While I applaud their willingness to stand for a cause, I can' t help but look at the unwashed socially awkward mass with disgust. Without organization and cohesion all that this great movement is reduced to is a group of unwashed indigents pontificating to each other about the great social injustices they have endured at the hands of the evil corporations and the government.

  • Nick Cooper – What *exactly* are the goals of the "Occupy" movement, beyond "I want my student loans forgiven" and "gimme uhhh, ummm, uhhh, stuff!"?

    Virtually all we've seen are demands that are clearly unreasonable and are vanishingly unlikely to even have a chance of working. How do the "occupiers" plan on bringing their ideas to fruition?

    Why should anyone who goes $50,000 into debt for a degree (any degree) ask the government to force me (via the tax code) to contribute to repaying it? Four or five years ago, nobody was holding a gun to these people's heads, forcing them to take out a loan of that magnitude.

    n.b. some of their goals are reasonable and are things I can wholeheartedly agree with, namely breaking up "too big to fail" banks and similar institutions and reinstating some sort of firewall between the investment and commercial divisions of banks.

  • Nick Cooper – What *exactly* are the goals of the "Occupy" movement, beyond "I want my student loans forgiven" and "gimme uhhh, ummm, uhhh, stuff!"?

    Virtually all we've seen are demands that are clearly unreasonable and are vanishingly unlikely to even have a chance of working. How do the "occupiers" plan on bringing their ideas to fruition?

    Why should anyone who goes $50,000 into debt for a degree (any degree) ask the government to force me (via the tax code) to contribute to repaying it? Four or five years ago, nobody was holding a gun to these people's heads, forcing them to take out a loan of that magnitude.

    n.b. some of their goals are reasonable and are things I can wholeheartedly agree with, namely breaking up "too big to fail" banks and similar institutions and reinstating some sort of firewall between the investment and commercial divisions of banks.

    • Want to know what "Occupy" is about? How about taking a close look at their supporters. The following is an official verified list of supporters put together by blogger, Zombie, compiled from " first-hand statements by the groups or individuals themselves, hosted on their own Web sites; or videos of the people in question voicing their support for OWS at various Occupations; or news reports from reliable mainstream networks; or articles by publications or organizations sympathetic to the Occupy movement; or indisputable evidence, whatever the source." : http://pjmedia.com/zombie/2011/10/31/the-99-offic….

      • Did you actually read your link or did you just slap it into your comment?

        I'm sure the KCNA ("news" agency of the DPRK), The CPUSA, a couple of ayatollahs, David Duke, Oogo Chavez, et al. have lots in common ideologically with the "occupies". I didn't even have to scroll down to "supporters" 1-89 to compile that august list of supporters.

  • Want to know what "Occupy" is about? How about taking a close look at their supporters. The following is an official verified list of supporters put together by blogger, Zombie, compiled from " first-hand statements by the groups or individuals themselves, hosted on their own Web sites; or videos of the people in question voicing their support for OWS at various Occupations; or news reports from reliable mainstream networks; or articles by publications or organizations sympathetic to the Occupy movement; or indisputable evidence, whatever the source." :
    http://pjmedia.com/zombie/2011/10/31/the-99-offic

  • People on here clearly have no idea what they're talking about. The Occupation movement is about giving people back their voice and trying to bring back democracy.
    All you idiots who think it's a bunch of kids looking for handout clearly don't have a clue and probably are the sheepish morons who watch Fox News.

    • So, would you be willing to take the "over" bet on what percent of the occupy protesters voted in the most recent elections, relative the general population? I'll take the "under."

  • It seems to me it could be the case that Occupy Houston operates at a high level, agitating for a change in constitutional Facts rather than the usual policy-level band-aid temporary solutions which might buy this country another 20 years at the most.

  • Making tuition free in the U.S. would actually be quite cheap. Less than the cost of the Bush tax cut.

    And if you can’t see the benefit of an having an educated population, you are truly lost.

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