As we head into the 23rd day of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protests, thousands of Americans have taken to the streets of a growing number of various cities and expressed their outrage at the abuse of large corporations, banks and the government against the "common man." For over two weeks, I've watched and listened as this movement claimed a pedigree straight from the uprisings earlier this year in Egypt's Tahrir Square.
I saw large, mostly youthful looking, crowds chanting and marching and sitting and in some cases, getting arrested. Their immediate intent is to physically take over Wall Street. Their long term goal is less clear. In general, "they" want to see more responsible behavior from the firms that run and benefit from our financial district. Who is against that? Its unclear to me how long this will go on. The protests seem to be gaining in number and locations all around the country. As unions and other labor groups join arms with OWS group, I think they will become more organized and begin to deliver a more defined "message" for all to hear.
Thursday evening, a document was released titled, “Declaration of the Occupation of New York City.” Here is that document, reprinted in its entirety:
As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.
As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.
They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.
They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them.
They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.
They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*
To the people of the world,
We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.
Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.
To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.
Join us and make your voices heard!
*These grievances are not all-inclusive.
As income disparity continues to grow in a fashion unfavorable to the vast majority of us since the late 1970's, the collective story is heartbreaking. Too many honest, hard working people who followed the rules, went to college, found a job, started a family and bought a home have found life to be nothing like they expected.
There's a website that I encourage you to visit. Its called: We are the 99 percent ..Its a collection of individual photos of people and their stories who are struggling. No story is the same. Many are working multiple jobs, have bills, mortgages they can't pay, too often lack health insurance, etc. A cynic might say how do we know these are actually real, truthful representations? We don't, but I'm inclined to believe the vast majority of them are legit. To write them off as all losers, bums, anarchists is asinine.
What does this mean?
Its too early to tell, but we're not looking at another Tea Party.
I believe both groups are basically sincere and genuine. Both groups have "members" that don't reflect well on the majority. To be fair, there have been hundreds of arrests so far in the OWS protests, while there were virtually no arrests of any Tea Party protesters. While I've seen no reports of any racist behavior of anyone associated with Occupy Wall Street, there were some allegations of racism toward the Tea Party members. Mostly it was reflected in a few tasteless signs that were seen at various rallies. I'm not ready to judge the entire Tea Party movement by the actions of a few. I imagine we'll see some pretty disgusting signs come out of the OWS protests as well. Same deal here, don't judge the movement by the actions of a few.
The Tea Party advocates smaller Government and the free market. The movement toward smaller government was a message that resonated with those who felt the Obama administration was growing government via disappointing stimulus spending, bank bailouts, auto industry bailouts, and yes, Wall street bailouts. To sum it up? Government is the enemy. Please stop spending our money.
The Tea Party, in short order, was able to effect the mid terms in a fairly profound way. While the "out" party historically makes gains in mid term elections, the sense was that the far Right had significantly improved their position. A strong message, delivered with drone like repetition, resonated with a large number of Americans and as importantly, with the Republican Party. The GOP was able to take harder hard line positions and in many ways, bring our Country's legislative body to a stop. The strategy seems to be, with consent from the Tea Party, to obstruct everything, make no concessions, wait out this administration and see how the General election plays out in 2012. (By the way, we're watching, if you even think about compromising with this President we will vote you out of office next chance we get!) With a good chance to take back the White House and possibly the Senate next year, why play ball? Let Obama look ineffective and weak, and hope for brighter days after the election.
In terms of media coverage, Fox News/Conservative talk radio aligned itself with the Tea Party movement, whereas mostly left leaning networks like MSNBC/and a few progressive talk shows seem sympathetic to the Occupy Wall Street movement. The Tea Party has a far, far superior situation as a result.
Occupy Wall Street seems to attract a younger person than does the Tea Party. It shows. They not only aren't as organised as the Tea Party, they seem to shun organisation and structure. Whereas the Tea Party welcomed certain like minded politicians to their rallies, so far OWS has not. (Some Democrats/liberals leaders have expressed support but aren't part of the rallies yet.) Both may come to regret their approach. (If the GOP takes the WH back and makes gains in the Senate but fails to meaningfully slow spending, I hope I see the same level of discontent from the TP-ers. If I don't and it appears that big spending is now more ok with the only significant difference being the color of the President's skin, then I will not be as generous with my assessment of the Tea Party's motivation.)
My politics lean left. I'd like to see something meaningful done to address income disparity in this country. I'd like to see everyone have good quality healthcare. I'd like to see Wall Street reigned in. I'd also like to see large Corporations who abuse their size within our economic system be held accountable, more than they have been. I'd like to see an Administration and Congress work together to reduce the number of subsidies, tax loopholes, etc. that fill the coffers of a few Corporations. And so on...
The remedies I believe that are desired by Occupy Wall Street are conceptually virtuous, but amorphous. Where the Tea Party supported politicians who would represent their voices in Washington D.C., the OWS movement doesn't appear to be soliciting support from the political machine directly. So, in my mind, its not likely to produce much change. That's where the comparisons to Egypt fall apart for me. They're not trying to wait out a harsh, corrupt dictator with the hope he resigns his office. There was a single, defined desired outcome that was wanted in Tahrir Square. The action that would, in the short term, satisfy the massive crowd was known. President Mubarak must leave power. One man and his administration had to go away.
It would be easier to get a President of the United States to resign under such pressure than it will be to realize meaningful change from the Wall Street interests and large Corporations that really run our Country.
We should continue to watch the Occupy Wall Street movement and see where it leads us. Pursuing remedies to social injustice is a noble effort, but emoting won't get this done. (Think of the annual G-8/G-12 protests around the world. Have they effected change on a single thing? Do they even matter?) While the OWS participants may feel they have little in common with the older, more organised Tea Party brethren, I say there are some lessons to be learned from them. The Tea Party has effected change to our Country from within the political system. I have my doubts if the Occupy Wall Street movement can effect change from outside the world of politics.
Sources:
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/227641/20111008/occupy-wall-street-movement-protestors-greed.htm
Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/occupy-wall-street-issues-first-official-declaration.html#ixzz1aFGHBZPZ
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/jul/05/united-fair-economy/liberal-group-says-family-incomes-grew-equally-pri/
http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/
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