Will the May 1st Occupy General Strike be very effective?

The Occupy Wall Street crowd is making a big deal about their call for a General Strike on May 1st, but as far as I can see, they are unlikely to muster much more than their usual cast of characters and their allies, some union members, and some students. Sure, it will be a decent-sized protest as these things go, but nothing so dramatic as to cause more than mild amusement or annoyance over relatively minor disruption on the streets. Maybe 1,500 to 5,000 people here in Manhattan, or a maximum of 15,000 to 20,000 if they manage to attract a lot of union members and a lot of students.

 

In short, this call for a General Strike will only be effective at one this: proving that the Occupy movement has marginalized itself and made itself fairly irrelevant.

 

The biggest obstacle to growth for the Occupy movement right now is a gradually improving economy.

 

The Mega Millions lottery mania even further disproved the underlying foundation of the Occupy movement. Far too many people still have grand aspirations of "making it big" and don't believe as the Occupiers do that they are permanently stuck at the bottom of the pyramid.

 

Oh, and if you think you are helping the movement by donating money, guess again, since they will simply spend the money, which will provide only further stimulus to economic growth. That is a virtuous cycle for the economy and Wall Street, but a vicious cycle for the Occupy movement.

-- Jack Krupansky