Before Occupy, wealth and wage disparity were virtually never mentioned by mainstream media or mainstream politicians. One heard it mentioned as much as overpopulation is mentioned now, that is to say, kind of never. Occupy put both the term for and the concept of a measurable general wealth inequality into the national consciousness, not just among academics, but also among common people. Occupy may not have won any wars, but this was a considerable and useful achievement.
Professor Cole, lets not forget (like everyone else has)that Americans have not seen "all the horrible photos" of the Iraq prisoner abuse. They saw only a few lightweight ones. The nastier ones (rape, blood, anal penetration with a florescent tube etc.) were only seen by a few civilians (members of congress) and were described, but then quickly forgotten by us and our press. Thus, the "abuse pictures" became hoods, pyramids and underwear on the head. Oh, and a dog barking at a prisoner. Our TV training keeps us extremely sensitive to pictures, and the written word can never hope to affect the center of the bell curve of literacy here in America. I spent the war mostly in Europe, and I can tell you, the press there had no problems printing gruesome photos of what I and the rest of the taxpayers here in the states did to the Iraqis.
Before Occupy, wealth and wage disparity were virtually never mentioned by mainstream media or mainstream politicians. One heard it mentioned as much as overpopulation is mentioned now, that is to say, kind of never. Occupy put both the term for and the concept of a measurable general wealth inequality into the national consciousness, not just among academics, but also among common people. Occupy may not have won any wars, but this was a considerable and useful achievement.
Professor Cole, lets not forget (like everyone else has)that Americans have not seen "all the horrible photos" of the Iraq prisoner abuse. They saw only a few lightweight ones. The nastier ones (rape, blood, anal penetration with a florescent tube etc.) were only seen by a few civilians (members of congress) and were described, but then quickly forgotten by us and our press. Thus, the "abuse pictures" became hoods, pyramids and underwear on the head. Oh, and a dog barking at a prisoner. Our TV training keeps us extremely sensitive to pictures, and the written word can never hope to affect the center of the bell curve of literacy here in America. I spent the war mostly in Europe, and I can tell you, the press there had no problems printing gruesome photos of what I and the rest of the taxpayers here in the states did to the Iraqis.