Occupying My Mind

You know, I just can't help myself. "Occupy Wall Street" is a topic I should probably avoid, but it keeps intruding on my mental space. In part because the media keeps spending its time bubbling over "the movement." Now they are comparing it to the "Arab Spring," and I think the comparison bears some examination, but I'll get back to that.

This movement is getting a lot of attention, but its lack of a clear message bothers me. Not because I am in favor of "corporate greed," whatever that is, it sounds like something bad. And it's not because I favor increasing he gap between the richest of the rich and the poorest, I understand opportunity for everyone is the cornerstone of our society. I just think people ought to be clear about their goals.

Nothing about this occupation in Manhattan, which is now spreading to other places, tells me their purpose. What about clarity? Can anyone bring forth in a few simple sentences what these folks are for? I just hear about what they are against and I don't hear what they want us to do. Do you know what happens to a movement that has a lot of energy and no clear purpose? Their movement gets co-opted. Just today I heard (for the first time) that these people are protesting labor laws in the U.S. Where did that come from? Well, the AFL-CIO and a few of its largest member unions have endorsed the movement, so now you hear the media report they are occupying spaces to protest corporate greed, super-rich people and bad labor laws. For a month, these folks have been out there occupying and they didn't even know they were protesting bad labor laws until this week. Oh, and the President and former House Speaker have endorsed the movement, too. I guess the movement will be picking up some more purpose pretty soon.

I promised to get back to the "Arab Spring" comparison, so here goes. There is growing unrest in Egypt again. Leaders of the spring time revolution there have found the leading generals in the military have quietly strengthened their hold on power in Egypt. The movement that only knew it was against Mubarak has been co-opted. Mubarak is out, but no gain for the people of Egypt.

I find a funny kind of parallel here between the occupying movement and an article I picked up yesterday. I ran across the author in my effort to become a better writer. Her name is Suzette Martinez Standring, and she has a web site (www.readsuzettecom) where she offers help to people who want to write. She has spent a great deal of time interviewing award-winning columnists about how to write well. Distilling their advice, she talks about half a dozen qualities of good writing. They are:
- Focus (What is your entral message or goal?)
- Clarity (establish your premise and build your message, cutting out anything that fails to move your point forward)
- Connection (Evoke emotion and compel interest)
- Fixes (don't complain about issues without offering solutions)
- Vitality (be aware of the impact rhythm and cadence of words you use)
- Integrity (be accurate and truthful)

While you have all that time on your hands, how about taking Suzette's advice and creating a message while you still have people's attention?