NPR

Message To 'Resistors' From Occupy Co-Creator: Stop Protesting. Run For Office

Micah White helped spark the Occupy Wall Street protests that spread worldwide. The activist and writer now says street protest is futile. Progressives, he says, should go rural and run for office.
Micah White, co-creator of the Occupy Wall Street movement, now lives in Nehalem, Ore., where he's active in local politics. "There are no big businesses here. These are all my neighbors. You can't block traffic," he says.

Opponents of President Trump say resistance to his policies is robust, motivated — and here to stay.

They point to big demonstrations including January's Women's March and the upcoming Earth Day "March for Science."

Occupy Wall Street co-creator Micah White says bravo, but there's just one problem: Big street protests don't work.

They're ineffectual, even counterproductive, he says.

"We could have large-scale marches for every year of Trump's presidency. It would do nothing!" the activist and author tells me sitting in his kitchen in rural Nehalem, Ore., near the Pacific coast.

"You would think that with the triumph of Trump there would be a fundamental re-assessment among activists. But there hasn't been. They've just doubled down on the same behaviors!"

Instead, White argues, opponents of Trump should learn from Occupy's failure and

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