Matt Taibbi is beginning to get it about the Occupy movement

Most political/cultural/populist movements begin in back rooms, in clandestine meetings over a period of years. Many times the resultant movement looks little like the disorderly chaos of the initial gatherings. Unlike past uprisings, the Occupy movement is taking place in front of our eyes in cities all over the world for all to see.

Pundits and critics, including Matt Taibbi, have been demanding a cohesive message and messengers right out of the box. To many in the media, the lack of a central convenience of talking points has resulted in mocking, half-hearted jokes and derision because they simply do not know what it is, do you Ms. Wente?

Because the Occupy movement continues to gel, detouring much of its energies fighting local governments, the media still does not get it. Matt Taibbi is an exception. A first a promoter of Occupy needing five demands, Taibbi has now opened his mind the way a journalist should and has come to a new conclusion: the movement is doing the right thing.

I’ll add to that with this: we will not know what will become of the Occupy movement. It is too early to formulate the eventual positions adopted by Occupy. Surely, it will mean different things to different people in different parts of the world. Even when all the tents are gone and the authoritarians will be laughing victory laughs, Occupy will only be beginning.As Taibbi rightly notes, the glue that holds together these disparate occupiers is sense of not taking the norm any more. It’s as much cultural as it is political. It’s about refusing to accept the boring, incessant drive to make money no matter the cost to oneself or others. It is our reaction to that stilted exaggeration of capitalism that consumes so much of the world, running it into an environmental, cultural and monetary disaster.

Like Taibbi, I feel rejuvenated just walking through my local occupation. I’m not sure I agree with everything that is being said, or with the people who are hanging on, but I do know that this is something shared that will not go away. It is a purification through sweat, piss and vinegar.

While the media looks upon the difficulties faced by those who are trying to make change by standing ground as a joke, smarter journalists will surely soon begin to pick up that this is not a gimmick. It is real and it is growing. And it will become more popular as the tents leave. The media will have less cheap fodder for easy pickings. That’s when the movement will begin to make its mark. And it will be a lasting one.

Cross Posted at Let Freedom Rain