Zuccotti Park is not Tahrir Square, because the United States is not Egypt.
In case this is not obvious to those camping out near Wall Street and in various other cities around the country, consider the following: In about 13 months, all 435 members of the House of Representatives must stand for election. In addition, 33 Senate seats and residency at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will be up for grabs. And this is just at the federal level. So if the "Occupy Wall Street" crowd wants to peacefully overthrow the government, there is no need to gather in a public square. The demonstrators can work for a candidate or run themselves.
Unfortunately, those who are part of this movement seem to have dismissed this option. The New York group has produced a manifesto of sorts, entitled a "Declaration of the Occupation of New York City." Among the grievances listed (which they helpfully note are not "all-inclusive") is "that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power."
So are we to conclude that since corporations control American politics, the best thing for us to do is to sit outside in a park and issue manifestos? Writing in the pages of CNN.com, Douglas Rushkoff chastises those of us who don't understand the point of all this, explaining that Occupy Wall Street is "the product of the decentralized networked-era culture, it is less about victory than sustainability. It is not about one-pointedness, but inclusion and groping toward consensus."
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