The Essential Desperation of the Occupy Movement

I have identified one of the central things that irritates me about the Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Oakland, and all the other Occupiers.

At first, I thought of this central point in terms of rudeness, of the cavalier attitude of unconcern with the property, well-being, and freedoms of others.  When you shut down all commerce in an area, as Occupy Oakland did, you are doing something selfish and illegal, and you deserve the punishment that comes your way.  I will not shed a single tear over the "ouchie" you get from the rubber bullet which the Oakland Police send your way.  Sorry.

When you forcibly camp out on someone else's private property, as OWS has been doing all along, you deserve whatever negative consequences come your way.  You are stealing private property, perverting it for your own demonic uses.  You deserve no sympathy.

But when I thought deeper about the Occupy movement, and why they do what they do, I realized that it was chiefly this:

Blocking the passage of innocent citizens, impeding traffic, shutting down commerce, and appropriating someone else's private property are chiefly acts of desperation.  They are done when it becomes obvious to the protesters that, based solely on the merits of their grievances, nobody at all will listen to them.  So, they find a way to be so obnoxious that people have to listen.

If the Occupy folks didn't block people's travel, stop their commerce, and steal their private property, no one would listen to them.  Because their arguments are ridiculous, and have no power to persuade.