Quote Originally Posted by PanzerJaeger View Post
it seems to have grown into a somewhat greater populist movement trying to emulate the Arab Spring protests.
Bingo, that's the movement in a nutshell.

I read this article that touches on something I hadn't really considered about the movement:
Those hallmarks are dubious successes, at any rate. A movement propelled by money – as the Tea Party is, gifted with millions from conservative influencers – dies without it. OWS has something more important than money: a marketing plan. Adbusters, who put out the initial call for the occupation, has always been savvy about mixing a healthy amount of "ad" in with its "busting", borrowing the techniques and strategies of Madison Avenue even as it preaches abstinence from capitalism.

With franchises rolling out in LA, Boston, San Francisco and Chicago, and a growing list of celebrity endorsements, OWS has an advantage that even the most successful political campaigns lack: it isn't even trying to get someone elected. Like Nike, like Coke, like America itself, OWS has the potential to become the most powerful thing an idea can be: background noise.
Even if the movement doesn't achieve anything (which is likely, even almost certain) then the manner in which it implants itself on the civic discourse of America could have more potentially far-reaching consequences. If only by further enforcing the Us vs Them dichotomy that has boiled under the surface for so long, this movement has the power to cause a notable change in the political sphere.