Understanding "Occupy Wall Street"

        It was a rough summer for President Obama... his poll numbers were steadily declining, and raising the debt ceiling took a toll on the perception of Washington as a whole. There was story after story that the base of the democrat party was not nearly as energized as the republicans going into the 2012 elections. Even worse for the president, support from independent voters who were crucial to his win in 08' was eroding as well. After vacation, he returned determined to energize his base. 

        On 9/24/11, President Obama made a speech to the black congressional caucus where he spelled out that it was time to quote: "Take off your bedroom slippers, and get your marching shoes on." 

        A week later the group "Occupy Wall Street" began generating media attention by clashing with the NYPD to gain the national spotlight. Loyal members of this new group began the "movement" by camping out in the shadow of Ground Zero (Zuccotti Park), demanding attention. 

Four days after blocking traffic for hours on the Brooklyn Bridge, and 700 arrests, local and national unions announced a formal march of solidarity with the movement. They asked college students across the country to walk out on classes in a show of support. To that point, no one really understood what "Occupy Wall Street" stood for, so a show of solidarity was a curious move at this point.

        When you have people gathering to send a message, the best way to understand them is go listen yourself...

The media sound bites are far too simple and biased when describing groups like this.

A protester rests before the supporters arrive

I went to the march on 10/5/11 to learn more about it. 

It would be fair to say that most of the 200 people who had camped out were hippies, young and old. They were painting signs as if it were art class in the park, and there was lots of food being donated from local restaurants and supportive groups. I was offered a hot dog and drink a few times... no charge of course.

Daily Show reporter interviews a protester, 10/5/11

The beautiful thing about the event initially was the amount of interviews going on all around the park. While the national media had their vans and bright lights on the outskirts, each with a pretty person to deliver you their headline, inside the park bloggers and news websites wanted to actually understand what message the group was sending. 
     
      The overall message was mirky though, with signs for various causes like anti-war and gay rights, to those advocating that all loans should be "erased", and demanding an end to capitalism. Corporate greed was the unifying slogan overall, and the banks were clearly the enemy of the day.

The people in the park were the "grass roots" of the movement. Within two weeks of Obama's speech to the CBC, it seems many listened, except they forgot to take their slippers off...

Now that these people had done their job, bringing attention to a new group that could counter the Tea Party,  the unions and the democrat party had clearly marked this day as the time to take control. To the democrats, the initial protesters were useful idiots. They would get arrested, sleep in the park by Wall Street for weeks, and generate the attention needed to start a movement.

            A man I saw speaking with the Iron Workers Union stood up in the center of the park, announcing that the organized march was coming, and having the crowd repeat his every word as a form of crowd control. (a tactic now used at these groups across the country) Here are two short clips I took of the announcement from a union leader and the march entering the park:

As the march proceeded, there was clearly a shift into an organized event. Their signs and messages became much more uniform. The majority of the groups were local and national unions, from nurses and teachers, to Iron workers and SEIU employees, among students and others. 

The unions clearly took the lead, with formal signs rallying around the idea that they were the "99%" (a reference to the fact that 1% of the population has 35% of current wealth in the US). Many signs advocated that we tax the rich more, and use their money for a variety of causes from improving schools to paying off student loans.

It was peaceful during the organized event, and although there were some arrests made later that night, they had successfully created a group under the banner of "Occupy Wall St."

Looking Forward:

Back when the Tea Party began, the left tried to counter with a "coffee party", meeting in Starbucks for change...

while that died out quickly, there has been a steady call by democrats for something to spark the counter movement. 

It is no secret that the President is a friend of the unions, and community organizing is something the President does have experience with from his past...

The morning after the march, the president called a rare press conference, which allowed him to recognize the group by answering a question about them that would undoubtedly come. When a president recognizes a protest, it is given instant credability. 

Suddenly there is a movement to counter the Tea Party.

Signs of "solidarity" with the Arab Spring

          This group says they were inspired by the Arab spring, and the Egyptians who took camp in Tahrir Square, to overthrow a dictator. This needs to be taken very seriously. Americans who believe their situation is similar to those living under a 30 year dictatorship? So what exactly is it that they want to happen here? "Change"?

Egypt is now run by military rule, and the people are again struggling to gain "control" of their governance. Is that inspiring now to American citizens? How far we have fallen if that's the case... 

          The people in this movement have real concerns though. Higher education, healthcare, healthy food, and energy are all getting more expensive. These people are concerned with good reason. When they turn on the tv, they see the President constantly talking about all the profits being made by corporate fat cats on the backs of the middle class. They are told that the rich are not paying their fare share, and their lives would improve if only the rich paid more in taxes.

The answer for them seems to be that if we demonize the rich enough, we can convince voters to take their money/property by using the government as a tool to "redistribute wealth".

            Here are the solutions proposed by the grass roots wing: (Click HERE) They are laughably absurd.


            Here are the solutions proposed later by those who funded & hijacked the movement: (click HERE) seems more reasonable, right?...

          And now we have "those occupying liberty squares across the US" as a counter to the Tea Party heading into 2012. The 99%...  

Goldman Sachs CEO's head on a stick...

          The things I will be looking for now, is whether the president will embrace the movement or use caution as they are defecating on police cars and calling for the murder of bank CEO's. 

Will the media write off the group because of a thousand bad apples? or will they use relativism to ignore the fringe by taking unfair cheap shots that the Tea Party has racist elements at its fringe...

Will the democrats propose plans on how to take the wealth/property from the 1%, or will they just lead a blind lynch mob through the election? 

Can the Republican nominee convince the country that capitalism is the back bone of our success, and individual responsibility is the best way to educate a free people?

All will be explored in future posts, so stay in-tuned.

The 2012 election has begun!