re: #166 Killgore Trout

One of the main differences, again, is that the Tea Partiers were, in the mainstream of it, articulating fears and problems that were fictional, that did not exist. Most Tea Party people had an idea that taxes were too high— during a period they were at record lows— that Obama had raised taxes, and all sorts of other misconceptions.

There are certainly ridiculous ideas present in the OWS movement, and plenty of ridiculous solutions. But the main problems that they’re identifying— lack of banking regulation, cosy relationship between government and the financial industry, the corruptive power of money as speech— are very, very real, and some of the largest and most important problems in our political sphere right now.

That, for me, is the biggest difference. I have lots of problems with what a lot of the protesters are protesting, and their plans, and their solutions, etc. But the problems that they’ve identified are quite real.