Late last month, a ragtag group of several hundred liberal activists ventured to the centre of America's economic universe – Wall Street – to protest against what they saw as the country's growing income inequality and the stranglehold of corporate money over US democracy. The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement hoped to attract thousands of protesters, but the turnout ended up being disappointingly smaller. Coverage of the protests was largely restricted to liberal media outlets and a snarky piece in the New York Times captured the sentiments of many when it dismissed them as "carnival" and "street theatre". One could be forgiven for dismissing the demonstrations as simply another failure of progressive populist politics in an era where populist energy is generally restricted to the anti-government, conservative right.
What a difference a month makes. Not only has OWS survived, it has captured the imagination of multitudes of embittered Americans. It has become a national force with the very real potential to roil American politics fundamentally. Other groups have sprung up in cities across the US and are now branching out internationally, including London....:"
