Cultural encounters may not only be of different nationalities, but also of different ideas.
On a long weekend, my friends and I decided to celebrate by heading into the city. We were so excited to leave school and enjoy ourselves, that we realized we had no idea where we were going. We were still debating in the subway when I said ” Let’s check out what’s going down on Wall street with the Occupy Wall Street movement.”
At the time, Occupy Wall Street was still a growing effort and we had only heard of it. My friends were very reluctant at first, but I managed to get them to give in. It ended up being a great time. Although we didn’t really agree with the movement’s goals and ideas, it was incredibly interesting to see the passion they all were gathering with. The weather was frigid and yet most of the movement remained intact. I would hear random people stop and stir up a debate with any random protestor.
However, I found it difficult to understand what they were protesting. There seemed to be talk of everything from job creation to a four-hour workday. I tried to empathize with their cause but continuously found myself becoming more skeptical of what they were really doing. At the end of the day, the movement gained all the attention from creating a public scene and mass audience like my friends and I.
Later we left with a sign saying “We are the 99%,” to remember the day.
Going to Stuyvesant put me right next to Wall St and so I actually know a student who participated in the protests. He was actually arrested and informed the rest of our class on what Occupy Wall St was really about. Like you, I was also confused about what they are really fighting for but I realized there is no one key goal. The protest in itself is an amalgamation of various ideas and problems we face in the country. It is a movement that unifies all grievances to show that America has many different problems coming from many different people.
I agree with Wesley’s comment. Since Stuyvesant is so close to Zucotti Park, I was able to learn more about the movement and actually witness the living conditions people stayed in. Unfortunately, organized activity is not easily achieved, and this was definitely evident during my visit, and possibly yours. However, in my opinion, these strikers are commendable because they are able to express their beliefs and the problems they have to face in a faulty economic system.
The Occupy Movement reminds me of the Anna Hazare movement currently going on in India. It is to remove corruption in the government and help the common man (called the 99% in the Occupy Movement). The fact that these somewhat similar movements are happening in two completely different areas of the world shows how there are certain ideas that transcend culture and are universal. People are beginning to demand what they desire from government and this is now becoming a global phenomenon.