Watching the peaceful assembly of thousands of students, teachers, parents, and alumni on the UC Davis quad yesterday, it was clear to see that the Occupy movement has evolved far beyond its initial stages of disorganization, uncertainty, and lack of solidified motive. Back in September, while still in its earliest stages, the movement received only half-hearted support from those that stood on the sidelines, and heavy criticism from non-supporters, who discredited the movement for lacking any tangible goal or purpose. These criticisms were warranted, to an extent; the subject matter raised at the first several demonstrations on Wall Street ranged anywhere from an unfair tax system to animal cruelty, seemingly unrelated issues.

Over the next few months, however, the movement would push past these criticisms, crystallizing itself into one larger-than-life statement: that all of the issues being raised in the countless demonstrations across the country, including police brutality, budget cuts, tuition hikes, political funding, and media bias, are not problems, but merely syptoms of the institutional failure of the neoliberal system. In this sense, the movement has embraced its own so-called "disorganization" by recognizing the economic connection between its many valid yet scattered arguments.
 
Unification of sentiment isn't  the only thing that has changed in the past few weeks. The Occupy movement, which initially lacked any central leadership, is slowly building up a (very literally, since most of these events take place outdoors) grassroots organizational structure of its own. These demonstrations aren't merely rallies or marches anymore; in places like Oakland and UC Davis, they have evolved into public assemblies where there is an open dialogue to not only identify the issues at hand (rather than simply chanting and complaining about them), but also to engage in a collective brainstorm for solutions. After the 12pm rally in Davis yesterday, students broke up into "committees" where they voted on various proposals (like the dismissal of campus police) on a 90% basis. This method was borrowed by UCD from its counterparts at Occupy Oakland, who have also been using it as a means to collectively problem-solve. And while this approach still has its organizational imperfections, and in many ways remains purely symbolic, it reveals that the Occupy movement has anything but lost its momentum, and instead has grown larger, more organized, and ever more committed to a peaceful approach.