[lbo-talk] the autumn of the communes?

[Slacker Faction]

What ever you may think of the soaring rhetoric, one should be
conscious that the "Occupy" movement bears watching as an evolving
social phenomenon. No, the occupy sites will not scale up. That's not
the point. The point is that you are looking at a politicized movement
of the long-term unemployed and underemployed. Unlike previous such
movements many present have real doubts that a return to the land of
the waged is possible.

I have some insight into this. I am a late 40's male with "some
college". Supported myself by doing a variety of blue-collar jobs
through the years. Dismissed from my last "permanent" job in the
winter of 2007. (Thank you "compassionate non-profit"!) Beat my head
against the wall seeking work, while doing so applied for and won
Social Security Disability. Took advantage of what the New York Times
deems the "shadow safety net". I am employable -- but not in this
economy.

Between dispatches from Occupy Everywhere I am re-reading Bruce
Sterling's 'Distraction'. It's quite prescient. It's set in 2044. Much
of the former working class is now  networked, self-reliant lumpen.
Easy to see the Occupy movement as a precursor. Here's a short review
of it:

The Book That Predicts Occupy Wall Street: Bruce Sterling’s
‘Distraction’ | Think Progress

http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2011/10/07/338518/the-book-that-predicts-occupy-wall-street-bruce-sterlings-distraction/