????電話那一端，是身處溫哥華的卡勒?拉森。這位白發(fā)蒼蒼的老人是占領(lǐng)華爾街運(yùn)動(dòng)的布道者。我還沒(méi)來(lái)得及開(kāi)始我的采訪，他就用濃厚的東歐口音催促我回答他的問(wèn)題：“你們《財(cái)富》雜志（Fortune）那邊氣氛如何？你害怕嗎？有沒(méi)有一種地動(dòng)山搖的感覺(jué)？”

????當(dāng)時(shí)是10月末，這場(chǎng)由拉森及其在《廣告克星》（Adbusters）以“文化干擾者”自詡的全體同仁吹響號(hào)角的運(yùn)動(dòng)已延續(xù)了6周時(shí)間。“你們準(zhǔn)備好迎接解放廣場(chǎng)（Tahrir Square）時(shí)刻的來(lái)臨了嗎？”《廣告克星》7月份在其網(wǎng)站上發(fā)布了這樣一個(gè)問(wèn)題。“9月17日，涌入曼哈頓下城，采用和平手段搭起帳篷、廚房和路障，一舉占領(lǐng)華爾街。”現(xiàn)在看起來(lái)，將這場(chǎng)運(yùn)動(dòng)與解放廣場(chǎng)抗議活動(dòng)相提并論，似乎太過(guò)牽強(qiáng)了。甚至連拉森本人（他于1942年出生在被德國(guó)占領(lǐng)的愛(ài)沙尼亞，孩提時(shí)代的部分時(shí)光在一個(gè)難民營(yíng)度過(guò)）都覺(jué)得美國(guó)還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不具備爆發(fā)突尼斯式“硬政權(quán)更迭”的條件。要不然的話，這倒是個(gè)好主意。

????但現(xiàn)如今，冬天即將來(lái)臨。作為占領(lǐng)運(yùn)動(dòng)的兩大中心，紐約和奧克蘭的市長(zhǎng)已經(jīng)派遣防暴武裝關(guān)閉了各自城市的露宿營(yíng)地，接下來(lái)會(huì)發(fā)生什么事情？在那次訪談中，拉森對(duì)我說(shuō)，我們所了解的占領(lǐng)運(yùn)動(dòng)或許正走向終結(jié)。“部分富有英雄氣概的人民將繼續(xù)逗留在那里，露宿在雪地里，用非凡的勇氣激發(fā)我們所有人的斗志。但總的來(lái)說(shuō)，我認(rèn)為這場(chǎng)運(yùn)動(dòng)現(xiàn)在已發(fā)展到頂峰了，或許正步入第二個(gè)階段。人們將回到家中，籌備并啟動(dòng)各式各樣的計(jì)劃，”拉森做出了這樣的預(yù)測(cè)。

????警方摧毀祖科蒂公園（Zuccotti Park）的營(yíng)地?cái)?shù)小時(shí)之前，《廣告克星》發(fā)布了最新一期的“戰(zhàn)術(shù)簡(jiǎn)報(bào)”。拉森在這份簡(jiǎn)報(bào)中聲稱，他注意到了一種“不祥的氣氛”，并建議抗議者們采取以下反應(yīng)：“我們要宣稱‘勝利’，開(kāi)慶功會(huì)，要像過(guò)節(jié)一樣，操辦一場(chǎng)慶典，或者舉辦一場(chǎng)狂歡活動(dòng)，以盛大的姿態(tài)慶祝、紀(jì)念，歡慶我們所取得的成就，我們結(jié)交的同志，一起展望未來(lái)的榮光。想象一下，在某個(gè)尚未公布具體時(shí)間的禮拜六，或許就在12月17日吧，那天正好是我們這場(chǎng)運(yùn)動(dòng)爆發(fā)三個(gè)月的紀(jì)念日。在世界上每一個(gè)被我們占領(lǐng)的地方，我們?cè)俅巫呦蚪诸^，讓那里成為我們歡慶勝利的海洋。”只有時(shí)間能夠證明這一切。

????自上世紀(jì)60年代以來(lái)，我們從未見(jiàn)過(guò)這樣的事情，至少?zèng)]有見(jiàn)過(guò)這么大規(guī)模的左派運(yùn)動(dòng)。我最近花了幾天時(shí)間走訪了紐約、波士頓、華盛頓特區(qū)、丹佛、洛杉磯和奧克蘭等地的占領(lǐng)地（11月2日那天，我在奧克蘭，正好碰上了大罷工活動(dòng)，游行隊(duì)伍一度令這座全美第五大港口城市陷于癱瘓），我想說(shuō)的是：無(wú)論你對(duì)抗議者有何感受（如果你覺(jué)得很矛盾，很困惑，和你一樣的人還有很多），不可否認(rèn)的是，他們給人們留下了極其深刻的印象。搭建在全美各地城市廣場(chǎng)上的帳篷王國(guó)、街道上如潮水般涌動(dòng)的抗議人群，4千多人被警方逮捕——這些都是我50多年的人生里生平頭一次看到的景象。

????我并不奇怪為什么會(huì)爆發(fā)這場(chǎng)運(yùn)動(dòng)。但我的確有點(diǎn)好奇，為什么是現(xiàn)在呢？不斷擴(kuò)大的貧富差距，華爾街的腐化墮落，以金融創(chuàng)新之名甚囂塵上的投機(jī)行為，被腐蝕的美國(guó)夢(mèng)，巨額資金和特殊利益集團(tuán)對(duì)民主體制的持續(xù)腐蝕，若隱若現(xiàn)的環(huán)境災(zāi)難，占領(lǐng)運(yùn)動(dòng)議程關(guān)注的問(wèn)題中沒(méi)有哪一項(xiàng)不是廣大民眾已經(jīng)關(guān)注數(shù)年的問(wèn)題。

????拉森聲稱他已經(jīng)忘記了他在1998年接受倫敦《生態(tài)學(xué)家》雜志（The Ecologist）采訪時(shí)所說(shuō)過(guò)的一番話。他當(dāng)時(shí)表示，全球經(jīng)濟(jì)是一臺(tái)“末日機(jī)器”，“這座星球上每一個(gè)了解形勢(shì)發(fā)展的人都能感覺(jué)到這一點(diǎn)，但又都不愿意承認(rèn)。這臺(tái)機(jī)器一直躲在幕后，一旦它來(lái)到前臺(tái)，就會(huì)催生出劇烈的社會(huì)變革。”我給拉森重讀了一遍這番話，并問(wèn)他是否認(rèn)為這個(gè)時(shí)刻已經(jīng)最終到來(lái)。“完全正確！”他說(shuō)。

????Kalle Lasn, the white-haired evangelist of Occupy Wall Street, was on the phone from Vancouver, pressing me in his thick Eastern European accent. "So how do you feel there at Fortune?" he asked before I could begin my interview. "Are you scared? You feel that some sort of a heave is happening underneath your feet?"

????It was late October, six weeks into a movement that Lasn and his crew of "culture jammers" at Adbusters magazine take credit for launching. "Are you ready for a Tahrir moment?" Adbusters posted on its website in July. "On Sept 17, flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street." Now Tahrir may have been a stretch. Even Lasn, who was born in German-occupied Estonia in 1942 and spent part of his childhood in a refugee camp, doesn't think that America is quite ready for Tunisia-style "hard regime change." Otherwise, good call.

????But what's next, now that winter is on its way and mayors in New York and Oakland, two of the movement's epicenters, have sent riot squads to shut down the camps in their cities? Lasn told me during the same interview that perhaps the occupation as we know it was coming to an end. "Some heroic people will hang in there and sleep in the snow and inspire us all with their guts," he predicted, "but by and large I think this movement is kind of peaking now and probably moving into its second phase, where people will go home and initiate myriad projects of all kinds."

????In the latest "tactical briefing" issued by Adbusters hours before police began dismantling the encampment at Zuccotti Park, Lasn noted the "ominous mood" and suggested a possible response: "We declare 'victory' and throw a party … a festival … a potlatch … a jubilee … a grand gesture to celebrate, commemorate, rejoice in how far we've come, the comrades we've made, the glorious days ahead. Imagine, on a Saturday yet to be announced, perhaps our movement's three month anniversary on December 17, in every #OCCUPY in the world, we reclaim the streets for a weekend of triumphant hilarity and joyous revelry." Time will tell.

????Not since the 1960s have we seen anything like this, at least on the Left. I recently spent a few days visiting Occupy sites in New York, Boston, D.C., Denver, Los Angeles and Oakland (I was in Oakland on November 2 for the general strike and the march that briefly closed the country's fifth busiest port) and I'm telling you: No matter how you feel about the protesters (and you're not alone if you're conflicted or confused), you would be impressed. Tent cities in the public square in cities all over America, crowds of marchers in the streets, over 4000 arrests nationwide—in my lifetime, and I'm past 50, that's new.

????I don't wonder why this is happening. I do wonder, a little, why now? There's nothing on the crowded Occupy agenda—the growing gulf between rich and poor, corruption on Wall Street, runaway speculation disguised as financial innovation, the erosion of the American dream, the steady undermining of democracy by big money and special interests, and looming environmental disaster—that hasn't been a concern of many for many years.

????Lasn claims he had forgotten but back in 1998 he told The Ecologist in London that the global economy was a "doomsday machine" and that "everyone on the planet who knows what's going on can feel it, but we're denying it. It's waiting there in the background and as soon as it comes to the forefront, then that will be the catalytic moment when dramatic change will be possible." I read Lasn's words back to him and asked him if he thought that moment had finally arrived. "Exactly!" he said.