After his appearance at Occupy Oakland last week , Michael Moore stopped off at Occupy Portland, where he gave a pep talk to a crowd of thousands at Portland’s Terry Schrunk Plaza.
During his speech, Moore argued that the disorganization and leaderless nature of the ‘Occupy’ protests – something that has often been declared a weakness by critics of the demonstrations – was actually one of their greatest strengths:
“The reason why this has spread is specifically because it is ‘disorganized.’ The reason this has spread is because it doesn’t have a ‘leader.’ I don’t want politicians to co-opt this in any way. We’ll tell them what to do, not the other way around.”
The crowd gave Moore a rousing reception as he said the movement had been organized by “greedy bastards” at the nation’s banks.
He also compared the Occupy movement to historical rallies against Vietnam and to the protests that led to womens’ rights, and warned protestors that giving up their protests now would be a waste:
“This movement is only six weeks old and it has spread like wildfire across the country. This is happening everywhere. And it can’t be stopped. The American people have had it. They are counting on you and me to go away. They think this is just the latest fad.”
Moore was in town to do a book-signing for ‘Here Comes Trouble,’ his latest book that he describes as an “anti-memoir that blends personal reminiscences, history, and politics.” You can see his full speech below:
