re: #229 Dark_Falcon

The “far (left or right)” people almost always end up running the movement, mostly because they are the most committed. They feel the most strongly about the issues in question and tend to simply outlast more moderate persons.

Kind of. I think the original organizers never really relinquished control over the movement despite the decentralized window dressing. However, I think there’s something more primordial going on. Liberals were almost uncontrollably attracted to OWS just like conservatives just couldn’t resist the appeal of the Tea Party. All the right buzzwords were used, all the endorphin inducing bling of drum circles or pantaloons were present. Once people start reacting on such a base level higher thinking goes out the window and people just start falling back on their respective political instincts right from the brain stem. It becomes group think and quickly devolves into radicalism.