The Organizers vs. the Organized in Zuccotti Park

You can laugh at the OWS group, but really, they sound so . . .I don't know. . . human and flawed, just like the rest of us. And it's the reason the "commons" idea didn't work in 3rd grade when the teacher assigned you to working groups, and why it didn't work in the 70s with the feminist communes, and why it's not working in Zuccotti park. When self-interest is allowed, the whole group advances. When you pretend everything is fair and equal and start taking money to be sure it will be, all hell breaks lose.

The drummers claim that the finance working group even levied a percussion tax of sorts, taking up to half of the $150-300 a day that the drum circle was receiving in tips. “Now they have over $500,000 from all sorts of places,” said Engelerdt. “We’re like, what’s going on here? They’re like the banks we’re protesting."

All belongings and money in the park are supposed to be held in common, but property rights reared their capitalistic head when facilitators went to clean up the park, which was looking more like a shantytown than usual after several days of wind and rain. The local community board was due to send in an inspector, so the facilitators and cleaners started moving tarps, bags, and personal belongings into a big pile in order to clean the park.

The Organizers vs. the Organized in Zuccotti Park -- Daily Intel