"Occupying" Value

The movements are now breaking up, and some are lamenting the loss of this voice of young democracy. However, the contribution has already been made - the leftover tents and urban encampments now being evicted in cities throughout the west are but echos of the value they created.
Whether you agreed or not, understood or not, or paid attention of not, what we witnessed in places near and far was the perception of a lack of fairness that some in society felt. They espoused leadership, a single voice and demands, and in some ways resembled the screaming child stamping their feet on the ground, unclear as to the instigator that brought them to their cold lonely vigils.
Value judgements aside for a moment, we can all personally relate to a feeling of being mistreated, deservedly or not. Often we quietly vote with our opinions, or wallets or in other ways, swearing never again to take that course of action. This is what we saw I'd suggest - on a scale that resonated far and wide. Websites started, social media kicked into gear and news and support materialized from those around us. It was our neighbours, kids we knew and we recognized them. Insofar as they weren't denounced or thrown out on day one, they received an outpouring of support for something none of us knew we cared about. It piqued our curiosity and we empathized with those that raised their voices, to highlight their perceived injustices.  This was democracy and freedom of speech in its truest form - we may not agree with them, but we'll defend their right to be heard.
So, now it's over. Popular media says it accomplished nothing. Do you believe that ?   I don't.
It brought the discussion about the distribution of wealth in society into our living rooms, and into a US presidential election.  It's very "grass-rootedness" and lack of defined agenda never mixed up the message.  It was brilliantly un-organized.
This key message isn't something we're supposed to be discussing by the way, there's many in powerful positions that could lose significantly if the covers get pulled back on this.   We all know it's not pretty, and we've had the discussion in various arms-length ways in the past, from CEO pay packages, to Enron-levels of greed to needing to bail out a country due to lack of fiscal responsibility.   But all these situations and discussion dance around the fundamental issue that there's cracks in the system of capitalism, and it's not a self-repairing model.  Something should be done to address the concerns of the 99%, as history tells us this is where revolutions are born.
Value ?  I think tremendous credit is due to our Occupy friends for raising the discussion to one that's being had openly now.  That's not just a valuable contribution, that's a responsibility that's been passed onto all 100% of us.