This is going to be long, and you're not going to agree with much of it, but I can't read this and not say anything, as someone who supports the movement (mostly, not on everything), and someone who recognizes you as one of the "good guys".
There are two groups in OWS: there are a bunch of hangers-on, anarchists, and other undesirables (and I think some authority figures are encouraging that to discredit the movement, as well as the media in general) , but there is a core group who seems the anti-competitive power being wielded by large corporations, and how easily they can influence the government. Capitalism exists not for its own sake, but to benefit the people. The current system is not benefiting enough of the people.
I've talked to plenty of the more moderate protestors, and they're not against business. What they're against is anti-competitive/anti-consumer practices, excessive corporate influence in politics, and education inflation/service cuts while the wealthy receive historically low tax rates and economic mobility is below almost every other developed country.
Another difference: Tea Party Protests generally attract rich, affluent types who have plenty to lose, and won't risk arrest, or docile folks who are convinced to go against their own economic interests. OWS protests are attracting people who have already lost plenty, and have less to lose. They're also attracting a younger crowd who have more on the line then 5% higher taxes. It's a different, much more diverse and desperate demographic.
As for the Tea Party: the original Tea Party, before it got co-opted, wasn't bad. I didn't support their anti-healthcare stuff (as I believe our current healthcare system is woefully inefficient, and what became Obamacare was a pander to the health insurance companies- and another symptom of why we need real reform in our government), but they wanted to reduce government interference in some area and cut the deficit. What happened was groups like AFP took over the Tea Party's message and switched it to a radical anti-tax/anti-consumer/anti-union/pro-large corporation agenda, which I feel is bad for the US. That's why I have contempt for the movement. Unions aren't saints in any regards, but for a properly functioning free market, you need competition and market power equality- and unions are the only effective method of achieving market power against the largest corporations. I'm seeing what abuse of corporate power is doing firsthand to a good friend of mine, who is getting paid half of what he promised with no legal recourse other then striking.
That agenda is not good for you, as such an agenda would reduce the money people will spend on your products. I'll say this: if more businessmen were like you and took your long-term approach and thinking, a movement like OWS would not be necessary, and this country would be in much better shape. I'll take the policies of Henry Ford over Ronald Reagan any day of the week.
