Occupy Wall Street

By Jolie Peters

(All italicized quotes are from signs held by protestors)

  There are zen meditation circles, singing, camp sites, news reporters, and it wouldn’t be New York without the variety of Halal trucks surrounding Zuchotti park. “The only thing I can possibly feel is hope,” said Roberto Anderson, a twenty three year old college graduate from upstate New York, as he approached one of the Halal trucks to charge his cell phone. “A month is nothing, just wait till we reach six.”  

One month has indeed passed since people have been participating in the Occupy Wall Street Movements. These protests are the result of resentment that some Americans have had towards large corporations, banks, and the government, who, in the protestors opinions, do not have the interests of the American people in mind. The occupation has included a variety of marches that have occurred in New York City, and around the world. Despite the mass arrests and legal interventions, the occupation has made incredible headway since it began in September. The movement has not only spread to over a thousand cities, but it has gotten the attention of many politically important people as well.

How the Protest’s Began

“Lost my job, Found my occupation.”

        In July of 2011, Adbusters, a non-for-profit, non-consumerist organization , as well as the New York General Assembly (NYGA), a compilation of groups set out to organize the occupation, put out a call to occupy Wall Street. They asked people to protest the fact that over the past few decades the majority of wealth in America has been in fewer and fewer hands, as well as the events that occurred leading up to and after the recession in 2008. When September 17th came, thousands of protesters began their march through the Financial District. After the police began blocking the march, protestors moved to the privately owned Zuchotti Park where they have stayed ever since. 

        “I’m here because I have a feeling of personal responsibility,” Said Jordan McCarthy, from New Hampshire as she sat with her friends and Beagle puppy, Tucker on the steps of Zuchotti Park carefully explaining her reasons for traveling to New York in order to protest. “I don’t know if this movement is going to accomplish everything I want it to, but it goes along with what I believe has to happen so much that I needed to be here.”  The media has painted the face of the protestors as young politically naive individuals. 

“By late morning on Wednesday, Occupy Wall Street, a noble but fractured and airy movement of rightly frustrated young people, had a default ambassador in a half-naked woman who called herself Zuni Tikka,” wrote Ginia Bellafante in a piece for the New York Times. “The group’s lack of cohesion and its apparent wish to pantomime progressivism rather than practice it knowledgeably is unsettling in the face of the challenges so many of its generation face....” 

  While there are a fair share of young activists on Wall Street, there is a larger spectrum of protestors who are different ages, and have different intentions for occupying. World War Two veteran Eddie Davis sat silently on a wooden bench, wearing his World War Two veteran hat and holding his hand-made sign. He observed his fellow protestors, on October 5th, during the union march in which the unions came to join those occupying. 

       “I’m here because there needs to be a broad peoples movement. All of us affected by the same issue need to call for a meeting of interested parties,” Davis said. "In the 1930‘s there were unemployment councils organized throughout the country. The outcome of this was Social Security and Unemployment Insurance. We all need to ban together to see a change.” 

There are a variety of events that have consequently sparked the feelings that brought people like Davis, and McCarthy down to the occupation.

The Creation of the 99%

“None are more Hopelessly Enslaved than those who believe they are free.”

Bank deregulation has been occurring in America since the early nineties. The banking industry pushed for deregulation, or less monitoring of their transactions, and in 1999 congress passed bills legalizing it. After the bills were passed, bankers were able to give out large quantities of risky loans to American citizens. This led America into a severe recession in 2008 because people who were issued these loans were unable to pay them back. During this time foreclosures began to skyrocket and banks were left with the loans unpaid, and real estate they were unable to sell. When the banks began to collapse due to this debt, the American Government passed bail out packages to save them. When the smoke finally cleared from the financial crisis, many CEO’s walked away with billions they had made prior to the recession, as well as bonus’s they received during the recession and afterwards. 

“There is an incredible anger and disillusionment with watching those executives in the upper 1% that contributed to the financial crisis walk away with bonuses when unemployment and poverty are at levels not seen in decades,” said Mary Borrowman, an Economics expert and teacher at The New School.

  On top of the feelings of disenfranchisement people felt after the recession, there are also high levels of resentment towards the income disparities that have been growing for decades. According to a report released by the Congress of the United State’s Congressional Budget Office, from 1979 until 2007 the average income for the top 1% has grown 275 percent. The people outside of the 1% have not seen their income grow higher than 65% since 1979.

Police and Legal Action

“We are not fish, put your nets away”

        From the start of the protests there has been clashes between police and occupiers. Video’ went viral on the internet of police officers brutally arresting, beating, and macing protestors. One of the videos depicts three young women standing on the side walk near an occupation march. When one of the woman pulled her camera out of her bag, a police officer in a white shirt stormed over to the side of the curb, and maced her as well as two other bystanders. The protestors in turn fell to the ground writhing in pain an screaming for help. 

Some of these mass arrests occurred on October 5th during the march on the Brooklyn bridge where s700 people were arrested. Also on October 15^th 92 people were arrested during the march to Times Square. 

      According to the Partnership for Civil Justice, the police have been using a trap and detain tactic in which they use an orange net to surround the protestors. 

 “I think the police officers just got desperate, took out their orange nets, and blocked off the (street) block,” said Yotam Marom, a recent graduate student from The New School and activist who has been avidly participating in the occupation since the start, in regards to the Union March which occurred on October 5th,“That was a intentional move to scare these people from coming out today. Parents that have kids can’t risk being arrested, people that have to go to work the next day can’t risk being arrested. I can risk being arrested.”

While some people may have been intimidated and scared by the police tactics, Jill Nelson, a writer and activist who has written books on police brutality, said that the police’s actions have actually raised awareness for Occupy Wall Street. 

“Ironically, the police violence, mass arrests, and overall ineptitude have done wonders for OWS in terms of getting the message and images out to a national and international audience...” Nelson said. “This is not to say that the demonstrations would not have continued and grown without the unintentional assistance of police and mainstream media, I think they would have, but the police violence and media coverage of it didn't hurt.” 

       While some are outraged by the police’s actions thus far, the police stand by their tactics. During a press conference Raymond Kelley, the police commissioner, said, “We are a big organization and we have an obligation to maintain order.”

       Because of these mass arrests, a large class action lawsuit has been filed by the Partnership for Civil Justice fund.

Political Response to Protests

“Obama is NOT a brown-skinned anti-war socialist who gives away free

healthcare...you’re thinking of Jesus.”

       The protests have not only gotten the attention of the media, but politicians have also turned their attention towards the occupation.

       Nancy Pelosi, the house minority leader, said during an interview on October 9th for ABC’s This Week, “God bless them for their spontaneity. It’s independent... it’s young, it’s spontaneous, and it’s focused. And it’s going to be effective.”

      The Republican presidential candidate Gary Johnson also sympathizes with the protestors, even though he blames different culprit than the protestors do for the problems America is facing. “Everybody is outraged over the inequity and I hope it gets focused on the fact that government perhaps is at the root of all of this, politicians are at the root of this,” said Johnson during an interview with 

        Although some political candidates agree with the protesting and hope for change, many have problems with it. Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn’t just disagree with the what the protestors have to say, but he believes the protestors are going to ruin jobs in New York. "If you focus for example on driving the banks out of New York City, you know those are our jobs. Mayor Bloomberg said. “What they’re trying to do is take away the jobs of people working in the city, take away the tax base that we have.”

The occupation has even had a response from possibly the most important politician, president Barack Obama. “Obviously I’ve heard of it. I’ve seen it on television,” said President Obama when asked if he has been following the movement. “I think it expresses the frustrations that the American people feel -- that we had the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, huge collateral damage all throughout the country, all across Main Street, and yet you’re still seeing some of the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to fight efforts to crack down on abusive practices that got us into this problem in the first place.” 

Growing in Size

“I won’t believe corporations are people until Texas executes one.”

  The protests have been continuously spreading. October 15th, right before the month anniversary of the protest’s start, was global action day. This called for people all over the country, and the world, to march for the cause. Prior to global action day, numbers of protestors had increased in New York, as well as spread to other cities including Los Angeles, Rome, Boston, Denver, and many more. Some of the goals are the same as those in New York, while others differ.  

       “I hope that this will help the government to see that the people are tired of electing officials just to have them pander to Wall Street,” said Chrystal Zimmerman who is occupying in Amarillo, Texas. “As far as our local movement we are still discussing what our local goals are. Obviously, we support the movement in New York and everywhere else, but we haven't really chiseled out our individual group's goals yet.”

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       The drum are still beating down at Zuchotti Park. There are still people there eating hummus on bread thanks to the food service table. There are still people burning sage, and doing Yoga. There are even still people using Halal trucks to charge their cell phones. At this juncture, it is hard to tell how much longer this movement will last. As the cold days are quickly approaching one can’t help but think, will the occupiers survive the winters jarring temperatures? For the time being, life goes on in Zuchotti park. Well, at least while there are still places to charge a cell phone.