Occupy Wall Street & Tea Party - The Same ?

The Occupy Wall Street movement may have started small but it has grown enormously in the last month. It has spread across the nation and is even taking root in other countries -- as the root message of "economic justice" appeals to more people every day. People are tired of seeing the rich get richer at the expense of everyone else, and they're tired of government giving preferential treatment to the rich (who are doing better than ever in the midst of the recession that's hurting most people).

At first the politicians ignored the demonstrations. Then when they did not immediately die out, some politicians tried to demonize the demonstrators in the hope that they could block the growth of the grassroots movement. That didn't work either. Now politicians on both sides of the ideological spectrum are trying to identify themselves with the movement -- either out of fear or a desire to co-opt the movement for their own political ambitions.

But in the last few days an interesting thing is starting to happen -- the lumping of the Occupy Wall Streeters in with the teabaggers. This is being done by politicians of both parties. President Obama told ABC News, "I understand the frustrations being expressed in those protests. In some ways, they're not that different from some of the protests that we saw coming from the Tea Party. Both on the left and the right, I think people feel separated from their government. They feel that their institutions aren't looking out for them."

A very similar refrain was heard from New Jersey's Republican governor Chris Christie. He recently told a Town Hall meeting, "I understand why the Occupy Wall Street people have sprung up, the same way I understand why -- two years ago -- the Tea Party people sprung up. Because they are frustrated with what their government is doing -- and not doing -- on their behalf."

This brings up the question of whether there really are any similarities between the 99 percenters and the teabaggers. They are clearly not the same today, but did they spring up from the same frustrations by the people? I don't think so. The Occupy Wall Street movement is a grassroots movement centered on the frustration over economic injustice in America. They are angry at both political parties for their failure to address this injustice.

The Tea Party is a bit different. While the perceived economic injustices may well have been a part of the initial movement, there were two other reasons that propelled many members -- the embarrassing Republican defeat in 2008 and the unhappiness by many racists over having an African-American president. This allowed right-wing groups (funded by corporate interests like the Koch brothers) and racist elements to quickly co-opt the movement and turn it into just an aggressive and unhappy wing of the Republican Party.

So far, the Occupy Wall Street movement has not favored politicians of any political party (although politicians from both parties are trying to curry favor with the movement). They need to keep this independence, and force the politicians to come to them and address their concerns -- and not just try to get votes by "identifying" with the protesters. Identifying with the protesters and offering solutions that address economic injustice are two different things -- and the movement should not get behind any politician that does not offer real solutions.

The 99 percenters and the teabaggers are not the same, and they are not perceived to be the same by most people. That is why the Tea Party movement has ceased to grow anymore and is disapproved of by more people that approve of it, while the Occupy Wall Street movement continues to grow and is approved of by a majority of the people. And as long as the OWS movement retains its grassroots independence and doesn't get co-opted by any organization or party, it will continue to grow.