Those of us on the sidelines of capitalism are flabbergasted when some massive international megacorp sues a mom'n'pop operation for copyright infringement because their store name sounds a little bit like the corporate brand. It seems ridiculous. And it is ridiculous. But the core reason behind such moves are anything but ridiculous -- these actions are borne from the most basic desires for corporate self-preservation. In our modern capitalist system, there is nothing more important to success than brand control.
What if Pepsico allowed another company to market a Blue, Red, and White logo-ed soda pop called Pipsi? Even though the name and logo are different, they are close enough that any malfeasance on the part of PipsiCo could and would reflect badly on PepsiCo by those who did not pay close enough attention to note the difference.
Or worse, what if Pepsi allowed another company to market a dangerous product using their name?
If a brand grows popular and it is not properly controlled, others will exploit its popularity and it will be ruined.
Just like is happening to Occupy Wall Street.
One of the most interesting things about the Occupy Movement around the country and the world is the way that a national (and international) movement has taken on the personalities of the local communities in which it has landed. Because OWS fought any attempt to aggregate the movement, defying all attempts to create governance or message control, we have been left with what is essentially a localist movement that is more a reflection of local politics than it is of the national and international issues of inequality and fairness.
And in Oakland, the localism has the potential to derail the national movement.
The purported goal of the Oakland Occupiers was to take over an abandoned building in downtown Oakland near city hall in order to set up a Social Center that would help to provide services that are no longer provided by the Oakland City Government due to budget cuts. Here is a link to the promises they made on their website. Here is a link to the organizational site set up to coordinate the activities.
It is obvious to me, when I compare the promise and the plan for implementation that there is, in fact, no intent to make the social center happen. There was no fundraising. There is no organizational plan. There are no supplies. There are no positions. The building was not even to be chosen until the day of the move-in. There are no plans for things like gas, water, sewer, or electricity to facilitate the safe environment they promise. Where will the food be stored and prepared? How will they light the interior rooms for classes?
I am a firm believer in the need for community organizing and I know that true empowerment is born when people learn to take care of themselves and of others, but that is not what this was.
If the goal were to create services, commercial property rents in areas of need in Oakland are low enough that a year's lease could have easily been covered by a fraction of the amount that will be spent on bail.
What I see is a plan inspired by only one thing: A desire to continue a confrontation with the OPD.
The Oakland Police Department is a terrible dinosaur of a department. Their tactics are stone-age and brutal and the failures of its paramilitary structure are written all over the horrific crime rates and numerous judgments against them that are the sum of their record. I am in no way defending OPD. Not at all.
But to conflate this weekend's events with the peaceful protests that populated dying grass all over this country last summer is to hand OPD and those who want to cloud the message of OWS a permanent and irrevocable victory.
But unless the rest of the Occupy Movement is willing to stand up to simultaneously condemn the OPD and the cynical and pro-violence ("When Occupy Oakland is Under Attack, Occupy Oakland Will Fight Back" was the chant behind the barricades) ethos that inspired this latest move by OO, OWS will have lost control of its brand.
And the loss of this brand will be a terrible blow to all of us who truly care about the crimes of Wall Street against Main Street.
I am truly sad that people have gotten hurt again in Oakland. Oakland is a city where there are plenty of people already getting hurt without adding riots on top of it.
I am disheartened by the aggressive and unnecessary beatings and gassings inflicted by OPD.
I am outraged by the actions taken in Oakland under the banner of Occupy Wall Street.
But I'm not surprised by any of it.