theperfektkid-deactivated201211 asked: Well I think people call occupiers hippies from a social perspective not so much a political perspective. What do you think can be done to make people not see the occupiers as an inaccessible group of hippies, and instead transform the image to a group of informed political activists that are trying to make the world better? So far every time someone says something negative about occupy, occupiers just start yelling at them. Instead, how do you get them on your side?
Fristly, check out this video on how to explain the Occupy movement to detractors. There’s similar stuff on the web on effective retorts.
Secondly, my blog post goes a little way to explaining it. If they’re going to throw the ‘hippy’ tag at you, look at which way they’re using the term, and argue accordingly. My blog post goes through why each varying definition of hippy and how it attaches to Occupiers is poor-form. The main argument I think is that ‘hippy’ has been thrown at everyone that’s challenged the status quo. Martin Luther King was called a ‘hippy.’ You can get a non-believer to sort of think twice with that one, that they don’t want to fall into the same trap.The ole MLK ticket - its a bit cliche but pretty damn effective (and dammit it’s true. Thank goodness we have one solid example of someone going against the status quo and riling up change that we can all agree was necessary and admirable).
But that alone isn’t enough. I think then you’ve got to wear them down with some facts that justify what the Occupy movement is saying. I think the whole thing is about coming off as sensible and in control of your cool. That’s the key. And serious. That you’re not just doing this for fun. That you genuinely have concerns and those concerns are rooted in facts, backed up by respected economists etc.
Lastly, I don’t think ‘every time’ faced with detractors, Occupiers just start yelling at them. Occupiers have actually been pretty awesome and trying to reach out to others. There are definitely exceptions, but I think a lot of Occupiers are aware how much their detractors WANT to paint them as rowdy douches, rather than civil politically-active citizens.
