OWS Summary

In the article "Ask Not What Occupy Wall Street Will Do Next; Ask How We Will Change The Status Quo", the author explains how the lack of publicity Occupy Wall Street is receiving now may indicate that the impact of the movement is dying down. The author uses unique analogies to compare OWS to a reality television show and even a brand name, but the fact of the matter is that as long as OWS and Wall Street are coinciding, the effectiveness of OWS is questionable.

The analogies that the author uses speak volumes when it comes to OWS's attention and effectiveness. First, Fitzgerald compares OWS to a character in a reality TV series, where "Americans cannot wait for the next episode." OWS has been depicted as the good guys, the protagonist, the "99%", while the "1%" is the elite, the villain. Known by a collection of images and phrases, much like today's MTV hit "Jersey Shore", OWS has slowed down and has the American public on the edge of their seats for season two. Furthermore, the author emphasizes the point of reification. Reification is the process by which something abstract and malleable turns into something concrete and not up for debate. The author feels that this is what is happening to the OWS movement. Much like brand names such as Nike and Starbucks, OWS is what it is. Whether people disagree with it, love it, or hate it, OWS has become a fixture that isn't questioned; it simply is. Fitzgerald feels that if the OWS movement wants to regain its influence, it must resist reification. People need to think of OWS "not as an organization but as a claim: that private interest is a public problem."

Conclusively, Fitzgerald notices the OWS movement slowing down and relays his advice for it to regain power and reach its full potential. For progress to continue being made, Wall Street and OWS cannot co-exist, as they are doing so now. When the focus shifts from "them" and "it" to "us", OWS will no longer have a brand name attached to it which will lead to the "99%" breaking the status quo once again.