Occupy post Zuccotti

What next?

Randy Shaw makes a pretty good case that a public square occupation is just one tactic among many, and there's no reason this tactic must be seen as the be all and end all. On the other hand, this tactic has worked in ways all of the 'usual' tactics (marches, letter writing, etc) haven't.

At a GA on Saturday, the folks in New York apparently decided that another permanent outdoor occupation isn't in the works, at least not right now.

(SEIU, meanwhile, is actually trying to get people on board with some campaign about Republicans Bad, Democrats Good, which Glenn Greenwald rightly mocks. SEIU will surely get some bodies on board with this to a rally, but most occupiers will remain independent of this stuff.)

What will the next tactics be? No one knows. The unpredictability of the movement is one of its key strengths. Well, assuming there's something still to come.

Losing momentum is a huge threat. And on that front I think people need to get what a difference Occupy has already made. Hard to get the masses if they don't think you're making a difference. And to me it's fairly clear we are. Occupy has already shifted the debate tremendously, accomplishing more than the vast majority of things we've tried in the last few years.

This is working and the old tactics weren't. There are times when it's appropriate to worry "but will this make a difference?" Based on the evidence of effectiveness so far, this shouldn't really be one.