Director and actor Orson Welles once said , `` If you want a happy ending , that depends , of course , on where you stop your story . '' Of course , the story of Occupy Wall Street and the movement it 's sparking across the nation is just beginning to be written . But those watching it unfold , especially those of us who are sympathetic to the movement , are eager to know how it might end . Will politicians start paying more attention to people instead of profits ? Will the `` 99 % '' persuade the `` 1 % '' to be more compassionate ? Will the protests spawn a new generation of engaged citizens , the `` flower power '' for the 21st century ? If the occupations are n't forcibly ended by authorities , how will they stay visible in our easily distracted society ? And how will the protesters stay warm and dry ? When I asked Occupy Wall Street organizer Jesse Myerson about the possible endgame of the movement , he replied , `` That 's a dumb question . The movement is n't yet 3 weeks old . '' Fair point . As a culture , we have a short attention span ; we 're too inclined to see everything as a sitcom and want to fast-forward to the end . Myerson was being a bit evasive . And this makes sense . Critics of Occupy Wall Street may demand to know the agenda -- the ending -- of the movement , but perhaps its ongoing victory is that its story is even being told . Americans had become shockingly complacent in the face of outrageous inequality and injustice , seeming to defend the special rights of yacht-owning `` job creators '' while swallowing the notion that millions of our fellow citizens can be both working and poor . One poster at Occupy Wall Street read , `` The light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off . '' That we 're now having a public debate about inequality and the ugly road to nowhere on which many hardworking Americans are traveling suggests that , whatever Occupy 's ultimate agenda , the process of movement building -- the fact of its existence -- may be its essential point . Social movements spring up not to achieve narrow policy goals but to shift the broader public debate , mobilizing public will toward change . Polls show this movement 's message against corporate greed not only has wider support than either political party in Washington but wider support than the tea party . `` Occupy '' protests are springing up in unlikely places , from Idaho to Indiana , and drawing unlikely protesters like soccer moms , small-business owners and , yes , tea party members . That you 're even reading this column is evidence the protests are making a mark . Even if the 99 % movement -- as it 's coming to be known in some quarters -- fizzles in the coming months , historically it may be the spark that lights another flame that ultimately leads to change . Just as interest on a bank account multiplies and compounds over time , so does outrage and resistance . Like any good story , the 99 % movement is bound to have a cliffhanger , though it 's too soon to predict when or what it will be . But expect it to come in the form of a significant demand that , if achieved , would dramatically transform our politics and economy for the better . Based on my conversations with participants at Occupy Wall Street , my sense is that the ultimate demand could be a radical reform to get money out of politics . This might be a call for public financing of elections , new restrictions on lobbying contributions . There might even be a constitutional amendment saying the law should not treat corporations as people , effectively overturning the Supreme Court 's Citizens ' United ruling that allowing corporations and wealthy donors to spend more freely on campaigns . Incidentally , the American people widely support such campaign finance restrictions , but both Democrats and Republicans are chronically unwilling to forsake cash cow corporations and embrace reform . Creating huge public pressure to get corrupting money out of politics would be quite a happy ending for the protesters -- and our democracy . But even if ordinary Americans merely become more awake to the injustices of gaping inequality , if they now begin to fight back , then it wo n't matter where the story ends . In the face of economic travail -- with 16 million American children living in poverty and with unemployment for African-Americans at more than double the already-alarming rate for white people -- the 99 % are finally standing up together and taking action . This foreshadows a much brighter future all of us . `` Meaningful change does n't happen overnight , '' Occupy Wall Street organizer Beka Economopoulos told me . `` We are n't talking end game now . We 're just getting started . '' Yet organizers seem to realize the point is n't how their story ends but how long they can keep it going , growing public consciousness and building pressure for change . `` At this time , '' Economopoulos said , `` we are only interested in impossible demands . ''
Sally Kohn says Occupy Wall Street in early stages , but many are eager to see outcome . She says its existence is already victory over Americans ' long season of recession . She predicts that the movement will result in a demand for real economic redress of some kind . Politics : Protesters still demand campaign finance reforms ; that they are finally awake is enough .