Much contrast between Occupiers and Tea Partiers

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Occupy Denver protester Lily Chavez sleeps at Civic Center Park in Denver on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011. | AP photo

Updated: December 17, 2011 8:26AM

Are you an Occupier or a Tea Partier?

During a new media conference in Denver last weekend, I asked that question as I witnessed firsthand the clear differences between the Occupy and Tea Party movements.

I attended the first Chicago Tea Party rally in February 2009 at Daley Plaza, just days after Rick Santelli’s famous cable news rant. Folks waved flags displaying the “Don’t Tread on Me” slogan and shouted in protest of mortgage bailouts and Obama administration outrages. No angry taunting of onlookers, no in-your-face confrontations and no police in riot gear.

Months later, thousands convened in New Lenox on Labor Day, when the growing Tea Party movement was celebrated by moms, dads, kids, grandmas and grandpas. Speeches and protest signs advocated limited government, individual rights, free markets and traditional values — principles upon which this nation was founded.

After a few hours of rallying, the crowds dispersed — going back home, to their jobs and families. No arrests were made, and the grounds were left almost spotless.

This past weekend, I experienced firsthand the Occupy Denver movement, which followed the theme of Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Chicago.

During the conference’s Friday afternoon session, some Occupy Denver protestors shoved their way into the Crowne Plaza Hotel lobby and began taunting those attending. They accused us of taking money from the conservative Koch brothers and of being part of the vilified “1 percent” as they burst into a chant, reminding us they were “the 99 percent.”

The leader of the Occupy group told us they came to discuss our differing views, but there were issues on which we agreed — corporate tax loopholes should be tightened, the tax system should be amended fairly, and America should produce more jobs.

I found the most concise listing of Occupy’s demands on YouTube, something called the “Contract for the American Dream,” in which young schoolchildren list 10 things the leftists are demanding. The contract includes more green jobs, more investment in public schools, Medicare for all, collective bargaining for all workers, secure Social Security and fairer tax rates.

For the Occupiers, fairer tax rates mean that millionaires and corporations pay more. There is no demand for less government, spending cuts or balanced budgets. Why? Because that would demand responsibility and self-discipline.

The Occupy list does not plead for the individual rights that our Constitution upholds in its Bill of Rights. Indeed, what is best for the crowd is what Occupy extols.

Occupy condemns capitalism along with the associated evil Wall Street and LaSalle Street financiers and stockbrokers whom they say take from the poor and give to the rich. Everyone, including those of us who already pay a considerable portion of our income in tax, should pay more to spread the wealth equally, they say.

For the most part, these folks have no kids, family or jobs keeping them on a schedule. But somehow the Occupiers have discretionary funds for the latest cameras, cell phones, laptops and digital recorders to journal their activities.

The Denver protesters slept in tents made in foreign countries, communicated via iPads and iPhones, drank Starbucks coffee and consumed McDonald’s burgers and Dunkin’ Donuts.

All the while, they complained how they couldn’t pay school loans, get a six-figure job or enough fair media attention for their cause.

My encounter with them in Denver left me struck by the stark contrasts between them and Tea Partiers, which results from the two movements attracting different but basic personality types — doers and whiners.

We all have seen these types in our families and friends or at school or work. Whiners respond to adversity with, “I don’t want to do it, and I won’t do it.” Doers face the same challenges with, “I can do it, and I will find a way.” That’s the difference in a nutshell between Tea Partiers and Occupiers.

Fran Eaton is a Southland resident who co-founded and edits the conservative political blog illinoisreview.com