What started as a group of protesters in Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park has erupted into a global movement. The grassroots Occupy Wall Street demonstrations have since sprouted up in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Washington, Michigan, Connecticut, Texas, Italy, Scotland, Germany, and Australia.
With all the buzz surrounding the protests, many are asking what exactly caused the movement. In the “Declaration of the Occupation of New York City,” the assembly stated:
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.
Their laundry list of concerns covers economic issues (such as illegal foreclosures, the bank bailouts and the tax system), civil rights and liberties (inequality and discrimination based on gender, race, religion and sexual orientation and right to privacy), environmental policy (the “poisoning” of the food supply and refusals to invest in alternative energy), labor (unemployment and workers’ protection), international affairs, and much more.
Occupy Wall Street has been described as the left-wing parallel to the Tea Party (the conservative movement within the Republican Party); some argue that both movements share numerous grievances, a comparison both groups oppose. The Tea Party argues that the government has caused and continues to cause trouble with regard to the economy, whereas Occupy Wall Street protesters generally demand that the government take appropriate action to repair a system gone awry.
Critics of Occupy Wall Street say that the protesters fail to convey a clear and cohesive message. With various causes and issues being raised under one movement, the media has repeatedly questioned whether a united, underlying message exists. Commentators also argue that while Occupy Wall Street has attracted the attention of millions of people, the movement does not seem to include interests that the majority of Americans can relate to or agree on.
Despite this, 37% of Americans support the Occupy Wall Street protests, and 58% of the country said “they are furious about America’s politics,” as reported by an Associated Press poll.
Occupy Wall Street has attracted attention not only because of its politics, but also because of the relations between demonstrators and law enforcement officials. A YouTube video of Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna spraying a group of women with pepper spray sparked outrage and incited allegations of police brutality. Demonstrators were arrested as they marched on the Brooklyn Bridge in the beginning of October, when “hundreds of people” began to walk into traffic lanes. A protester was run over by a NYPD motorcycle and was recovered from the street, arrested, and hospitalized. NYPD Commissioner Kelly told reporters, “We are accommodating peaceful protests. We are proud of the fact that we do that in this city. People are going to be here for an extended period of time. We’re going to accommodate them as long as they do it peacefully and in accordance with the laws and regulations.”
Occupy Wall Street will cost New Yorkers millions of dollars in taxes to pay for police overtime.
The communities surrounding demonstration sites complained about the participants’ behavior; local businesses said that protesters not only deter potential customers but that they also use their restrooms and leave them in “disgusting conditions.”
As Occupy Wall Street reaches its one-month milestone, one thing has become apparent to everyone — this movement will not be dissolving anytime soon.
