As we sit in classes day in and day out, a movement has started.
It’s not just another far off revolution in the Middle East; it’s a worldwide movement now affecting 100 cities in the United States.
Occupy Wall Street started Sept. 17 in Liberty Square with a relatively small group of college students protesting against bailouts for corporate America.
The movement was started by a group of Canadians known as the “Adbusters” and is now unofficially organized by former Wall Street analyst Karanja Gacuca.
According to the Occupy Wall Street website, “Occupy Wall Street is a leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that we are the 99 percent that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1 percent.
“We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants.”
Their argument is that corporations (the wealthiest 1 percent) are making the decisions for the everyday citizens (the 99 percent) and they will not stand for it any longer. Among the major governmental concerns are health care, tax representation and education.
On Oct. 15 several cities hosted Occupy Wall Street-based protests, including Pittsburgh.
Seton Hill University freshman Shadeia Sheridan attended Occupy Pittsburgh with a friend.
“In the beginning, I simply wanted to observe the occupy movement from my own perspective rather than the media’s,” she said.
“However, as I researched the protests upon attendance of the rally, I realized that I agreed with many points that were being rallied against, such as cooperate personhood,” said Sheridan.
The protest itself invited people all backgrounds—each with strong reasons for being there.
“There were high school teenagers begging for a change so that they didn’t have to fall victim to education spending cuts, as well as parents who couldn’t enjoy retirement because of salary cuts and debt for their children.
“I loved the way that the people in suits and sweats could bond over the same stories from different walks of life.”
The movement is being compared to the Tea Party Movement, but there seem to be some major differences.
The protests are not just limited to America—they have traveled to 86 countries.
Also, young people appear to be fueling the leaderless movement.
Finally, the people still believe in government and business, but it appears that corporate greed has corrupted many headlining industries.
While the U.S. government supported the rebellions in Libya and Egypt, the government is not supporting similar protest in their own country.
Many are crying hypocrisy.
For the most part the riots have been peaceful with only handfuls of arrests unlike the London riots.
Many students don’t know about the Occupy Wall Street movement. Memes on the Internet seem to be a prime source of information.
The issues that started this movement directly affects students, especially financially.
Graduates will be looking for jobs in an economy that is failing.
It seems as though instead of fixing the problem, the peoples’ representatives appear more concerned with blocking the opposition, propaganda and slandering their running mates.
The implications that result of this major American demonstration will hopefully change the way our government is run.
This is history in the making—maybe we should get informed.
For more information, visit:
http://occupywallst.org/
Official website of the movement complete with live stream, chat forums, and news. It also includes the options to donate, contact, and subscribe online.
http://www.facebook.com/OccupyWallSt
The social media version of keeping up with Occupy Wall Street. Facebook users can like this page and discuss it by having their own page.
http://www.occupypittsburgh.org/
Official wesbite for Occupy Pittsburgh, including news, resources, blogs, a volunteer link, and contact information.
http://www.occupytogether.org/
Website promoting the overall concept of Occupy Wall Street. Includes a directory and links for finding events in localized areas.