>On the comparison with Occupy - both were grass-root movements but that's where the similarities end. The Tea Party influenced both political parties and pressured them to do things they otherwise wouldn't have done. By contrast, Occupy never developed any real cohesion (except maybe for getting people together for weed and cocaine). Occupy's simple rallying cry was the 1%, though that itself wasn't original. Occupy did accomplish one thing -they caused much more in property damage and resorted to more criminal behavior and violence than the Tea Party protestors ever did. :)

Living in the city that expirienced a bit of unrest and siege feeling when ECB was officially opened, I think the damage was more linked to adrenaline junkies - here clearly in the blockupy camp, but from people willing to travel anywhere some unrest can be expected, as long as the cause can somehow be seen as anti-establishment. Could have been a number of topics, but I guess the unrest was more a function of the people gathered than the topic protested ;-)