Counter the "unwashed hippie" comments?

[lsl]

There has been a continuous flow of letters to the Times Union -- some pro and some anti OA. (I haven't counted, but the number of pro and anti letters seem to be relatively evenly balanced -- maybe with an edge to the pro side.) Running as a theme through many of the anti letters has been what I refer to, for shorthand, as "unwashed hippie" comments -- often suggesting that OA activists should get a job. We know that most involved in OA struggle to balance their OA commitments with work, school and family responsibilities. Perhaps PR can prepare a media release that highlights some of those struggles and commitments. (I thought of suggesting a statistical tabulation [e.g. polling those at a well-attended GA] but I'm not sure that would be consistent with the spirit of OA and the somewhat fluid nature of OA participation.)

[roylemons]

i saw a survey of the OWS camp that found that the unemployed rate there was about equal to the national average which was interesting and i think makes for a good statistic on our side, if OA demographics are similar anyway.

rule of thumb: don't feed the trolls.
replying to those kind of negative comments/insults is allowing them to frame the discussion and puts us on the defensive. so even if we're right, we're still standing knee deep in troll muck.

i would say the best thing to do, and i think we've been doing a good job of it thus far, is to keep putting our most professional and diverse face forward and hope that Albanyians will look past the stereotypes.

[lsl]

I see that there now is an "Occupy Albany" blog at blog.timesunion.com/occupyalbany/ on the TU website, started on 11/15/11 with a posting by Christopher J. Anderson and followed with a post by Nicole Higgins on 11/16/11. Each described their background and the basis for their Occupy Albany involvement. There has been an extraordinary response -- about 120 comments in total in two days -- some the expected negativity but most supportive or at least ready to dialogue.

[tooladder]

I am going to be making a form for people who don't have internet access(available also to those who do) and/or occupy nearly 24/7 to optionally fill out in an attempt to gain a more... accurate and insightful picture of why people are here and why they occupy. I will then be consolidating them UNEDITTED AND UNFILTERED into a book to be printed at a local bindery. Just FYI

[lsl]

I wanted to supplement my 11.17.11 post on this page. Since 11.15.11, there have been 13 posts by OA participants on the TU's Occupy Albany blog site -- blog.timesunion.com/occupyalbany/ -- and there continues to be an extraordinary volume of submitted comments. Some comments are repetitively mean-spirited, but most, whether supporting OA or not, seek and offer dialogue (on movement tactics and positions). The OA posters are to be commended for the patience, thoroughness and thoughtfulness of their responses to submitted comments.