The Occupation: Public Protest & Use of Space

Over the course of history, most societies have had a class of ruling elites and a much larger group of everyday people who are often called the masses, the public, the demos, the citizenry, or the hoi polloi. A common tenet of political philosophy has been that the degree of political stability in a state depends on how well it balances the divergent interests of the masses and the elites. One explanation for the current state of instability in our country is that we have lost this balance. Instead of negotiating policies that consider the interests of the masses and elites, the elites enact self-serving legislation by fiat, prompting the masses to vent their rage through symbolic demonstrations of violence and unrest.

According to Polybius, an ancient Greek historian who wrote extensively on the various forms of government, the instability that results from an imbalance between the masses and elites is a threat because it tends to lead society to one of two kinds of political corruption: either the result is oligarchy or ochlocracy.

Read Full Article »