Let's Get Serious (from SSCHLINK) My Occupy Wall Street Reading List Thus Far (In No Particular Order)

These – just as examples – are all demands that virtually every supporter of the Occupy movement would endorse. Why not settle down, draw up a list of those demands, spell them out in enough detail so that there is no doubt of their meaning, figure out their budgetary implications, lay out a strategy for getting them adopted, and set about systematically developing a campaign around them? Why not? Because that ends up playing the game, and the whole essence of the movement is to reject the game’s rules as it is being played, to produce change that includes each of these demands but goes much further to question the structures that make those demands necessary.
— From Occupy WallStreet – For What? For Whom? Where? Why? by Peter Marcuse, Professor of Urban Planning at Columbia University. (via @nitikp, @jacremes) Going in to week four of the protests that started in New York City’s Zuccotti Park and have now spread across the country and the world to as many as 1,000 towns and cities, I thought I’d set down an updated version of my key readings about the movement thus far. I’ve also put together a pretty manageable Twitter list of people who I’m following (which is admittedly New York-centric). Would love more suggestions— both of Twitter accounts to follow AND articles/videos to consume. SSchlinkert [at] gmail or @reply me at @sts10. — The Observer’s Adrianne Jeffries’ politely cynical early account of the camp and the movement. — Rosie Gray on Malik Rhasaan, his Twitter account @OccupyTheHood, and his mission to get more minorites involved. (I interviewed Malik earlier this week— great guy.) — Again from Rosie, on the NYPD’s actions the night of Wednesday the 5th. ([Graphic] videos of scuffles between protesters and the police from that night via the official site.) — NYTimes’ Kristof and Krugman weigh in, positively. — An extended version of Naomi Klein’s speech, delivered October 6th at Liberty Park, via the people’s mic. Also, Cornel West’s (Princeton) speech to the protesters, and Jeffrey Sachs (Columbia): video. — VIDEO: A solid report from Al Jazeera English on the protests. — John Schmitt on the how the movement’s weaknesses can be and are in fact strengths. (via @jacremes) — A complete, “blow-by-blow” history of the New York City occupation by New York Daily News writer Matthew DeLuca. — Scott Stringer, Manhattan Borough President, comes out in support of those occupying a park in his jurisdiction. — Ezra Klein on the laments of the 99%. — Tech: The Observer beats me to the punch with a guest post on the Zuccotti’s Internet working group, and later an explanation of why #occupywallst hasn’t been trending on Twitter. Here’s my take on the movement’s livestream crew and their gadgets. — On union solidarity: From the Beast, and the Voice on the official UAW endorsement. — A first-hand account of the incident on the Brooklyn Bridge, including arrest and detention. — Glenn Greenwald for Salon on why the protester’s are angry: an early take. — The movement “grows up”: The Times on Saturday’s peaceful, beautiful, and well-attended visit to Washington Square Park. — The Times’ and art blog Hyperallergic on Saturday night’s No Comment art show, featuring the work of the OWS protesters. I’ll try to find some video (I know Monica and Hero took the livestream down there last night around 8:30 p.m.). — The Sunday Times Editorial (Oct 9):
At this point, protest is the message: income inequality is grinding down that middle class, increasing the ranks of the poor, and threatening to create a permanent underclass of able, willing but jobless people. On one level, the protesters, most of them young, are giving voice to a generation of lost opportunity. The jobless rate for college graduates under age 25 has averaged 9.6 percent over the past year; for young high school graduates, the average is 21.6 percent. Those figures do not reflect graduates who are working but in low-paying jobs that do not even require diplomas. Such poor prospects in the early years of a career portend a lifetime of diminished prospects and lower earnings — the very definition of downward mobility.
— Also from the Sunday Times: how OWS fits in as a political movement, via the Tea Party and the New Left of the ’60s. Issues 1 and 2 of the Occupy Wall Street Journal. The movement’s “official” site. Site of the New York General Assembly. The main livestream account, or all the occupy livestreams on one page.

Sam’s been keeping a close eye on #OWS, and put together this sericey link dump of various reads on the protests. He kinda buried his own piece, and we’ve been meaning to give it some tumblr love, so we’ll call it out right here: Check out this look at the Technology Propelling #OccupyWallStreet.

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