I remember being in discussions with various Occupy people at various sites, in which I would say, "Well, what's the next political move?" Or, "How do we, or how are you thinking about structuring this?" Or, "What's the strategy?" and there would be silence, there's no strategy.

If it had merged in some possible manner with the Occupy movement, and if the Tea Party movement hadn't been co-opted by big money, by the Koch Brothers, by others in the Republican right, maybe we could have seen the beginnings of almost a third party movement in America

One of the biggest lessons of the Occupy movement was that you can't only have a demonstration. Demonstrations are great. Demonstrations are important to bring attention to certain critical issues. But if you lack mobilization and organization and a political strategy, then you're just basically engaging in a performative act. You're indulging in a performance. You aren't really changing the course of history.

On the path we were on, the sludge had been thickening even under Democratic administrations. There were fundamental systemic flaws that remained unaddressed. Inequalities have continued to widen. Corruption and bribery have worsened. We were on the way to losing our democracy without even knowing it. But, as a friend put it, authoritarian forces have been building for years, “like the pus in an ugly boil,” she said. The only way we work up enough outrage to lance it is for the boil to get so big and ugly that it disgusts all of us.