Occupy's Short Sell

Anne Sorock of the Frontier Lab has written a very insightful study of the Occupy movement. Using the tools and techniques of a consumer analyst Ms Sorock delves into the motivations that drive the Occupy movement. She has made living by predicting that brand y will outsell brand x, even though both products are basically identical. To know how to market say, a Crest to outsell Ipana one has to know the motivation of the consumer. Are they motivated by the desire for fresher breath or whiter teeth? To know the answer one has to ask the consumer and one of those techniques is the in-depth interview of what one hopes is a representational sample. Frontier Labs did many of these in depth interviews with both the Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Chicago movements. Frontier Labs has published it findings in a pdf file, Short Selling America, that you can download here. Ms Sorock is also interviewed by by Rob Bluey of the Heritage Foundation in a podcast available here.

Although the report maintains a neutral and detached demeanor the profile of the Occupier that emerges is not very flattering. For instance Frontier expects the movement to last for while longer simply because it is needed by the Occupiers. There is no end game. The goal is not to achieve an objective; the goal is to have a demonstration. Unlike the Tea Party that uses peaceful demonstrations to achieve political ends the Occupy movement uses demonstration for the camaraderie and a narcissistic, moral preening that comes from being associated with a cause one deems to be noble. The Occupy crowd shuns real political power because it would entail responsibility. The Tea Party demands greater personal responsibility the Occupiers crave security. The verbiage used by the Occupiers such as "income inequality" and "crony capitalism" are articulated only because they have broad popular resonance not because these issues are dear to the hearts of the Occupiers.

The research reveals two segments of Occupy protesters, divided not along demographics but along their deeper reasons for supporting the protests. These two segments, the Communitarians and the Professionals, support the Occupy solution because it satisfies six core values?many which flow from a decrease in individual responsibility and a focus on present-day satisfaction. The Professionals come together with the Communitarians, capitalizing on the latter?s lack of meaning, purpose, and community in their lives, in order to achieve self-centered ends.

Key insights from the report:

• The Communitarians' deep-values set includes Community, Purpose, and Security

• The Professionals' deep-values set includes Prestige, Validation, and Control

• The promise and responsibility of ?The American Dream? do not overlap with either values set

• The most viable segment for conversion to other political movements are the Communitarians,

The Communitarians fit Eric Hoffer's description of the True Believer " a guilt ridden hitchhiker who thumbs a ride on every cause from Christianity to communism. He is a fanatic, needing a Stalin (or a Christ) to worship and die for." They are the majority that provide the muscle and voice to the movement, most of them are in their twenties and almost all of them come from non religious homes. They are beset with real economic problems and they are unable to find employment that is not below their status. Remember their values are Community, Security, and Purpose. In other words they have no sense of belonging and no purpose in life. They are pitiful people willing to be used if only they can feel wanted.

The Professionals are older and not all of them are ideologues. They find fulfillment in Occupy because it has drawn so much attention. It is a theatrical success. Organizing demonstrations is their forte and they derive satisfaction when they can marshal the gullible Communitarians; not too differently than a high school band director prides himself on a good half-time show. Again their values are; Prestige, Validation, and Control. In other words they value the ability to control the Communitarians because it gives them prestige among their peers and validation is bestowed by an uncritical mass media.The report finds very little genuine political affinity to Marxism or Anarchy but it warns that the motivation is not at all benign.

By concentrating solely on the surface level pronouncements of the Occupy movement, one can easily be fooled, as the core Occupiers? motivation hinges less on the political ends than on emotional, self-directed fulfillment. The Communitarians and the Professionals are the face of a partnership between the foot soldiers and the operatives of an attempt to change the entire U.S. system of government, rights, and values. It is vital that the public understand the movement?s deep motivations so as to avoid conflating signs and slogans with support for traditional American values.

Unlike the Tea Party which is other directed, the Occupiers are inner directed. When asked why they are involved in their movement the Tea Party respondents reply for the sake of their grandchildren or the good of the country. The Occupier are all about themselves. They are involved because it makes them feel good about themselves. The Frontier Lab has done a great job!