Occupy+Wall+Street

**Student Reading 1:**

**The Message of Occupy Wall Street**

In recent weeks, a movement inspired by the call to "Occupy Wall Street" has spread throughout the country. Protests began in New York City. On September 17, hundreds of activists descended on Wall Street, ultimately setting up a camp in Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan. They had responded to a call to action, initially raised by the anti-consumerist magazine //Adbusters//, which asked people to "flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street." In the weeks since then, the encampment has grown. Moreover, similar demonstrations have appeared in more than 70 cities across the country. The basic message of the protesters is simple: people are mad at the greed and corruption of big banks and corporations that were responsible for sending our economy into a recession. Protesters would like to enact changes to make our political and economic system better serve the vast majority of Americans instead of the country's wealthiest one percent. Reflecting this idea, one of the most popular rallying cries of the movement has been "We Are the 99 Percent." On several occasions, police have clashed with the protesters. During the second weekend of the occupation, police officers pepper sprayed several individuals who had been detained and who did not appear to be resisting. Video of this apparently unnecessary use of force circulated widely on the internet and in the news media. Approximately one week later, some 700 demonstrators were arrested while attempting to march across the Brooklyn Bridge. In spite of the arrests, or perhaps because of the publicity they created, greater numbers of people have since been moved to take part in the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. Thousands of people, including the Occupiers, marched to support the protest on October 5, 2011. Early on, commentators in the media and even some protest sympathizers began voicing the criticism that the movement lacked coherent demands or clear targets for its participants' general feelings of anger. On September 23, //New York Times//reporter Ginia Bellafante criticized "the group's lack of cohesion and its apparent wish to pantomime progressivism rather than practice it knowledgeably." She wrote: > One of the few New Yorkers I met, a senior at Bronx High School of Science, was stopping by in fits and spurts, against the wishes of his psychiatrist mother, who feared the possibility of tear gas and had chastised her son for giving his allowance to the cause. > That cause, though, in specific terms, was virtually impossible to decipher. The group was clamoring for nothing in particular to happen right away - not the implementation of the Buffett rule or the increased regulation of the financial industry. Some didn't think government action was the answer because the rich, they believed, would just find new ways to subvert the system.

> …. > Some said they were fighting the legal doctrine of corporate personhood; others, not fully understanding what that meant, believed it meant corporations paid no taxes whatsoever. Others came to voice concerns about the death penalty, the drug war, the environment.

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Defenders of the movement have disagreed with Bellafante's assessment. On September 28, Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com wrote: > Does anyone really not know what the basic message is of this protest: that Wall Street is oozing corruption and criminality and its unrestrained political power-in the form of crony capitalism and ownership of political institutions-is destroying financial security for everyone else?

> .... > So, yes, the people willing to engage in protests like these at the start may lack (or reject the need for) media strategies, organizational hierarchies, and messaging theories. But they're among the very few people trying to channel widespread anger into activism rather than resignation, and thus deserve support and encouragement - and help - from anyone claiming to be sympathetic to their underlying message.

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<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Young people have been at the forefront of the occupation from the beginning. They have stressed the idea that their generation especially has been betrayed by the American economy. An article by David Weidner at MarketWatch.com captured this idea. Widener wrote: > <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[A]sk yourself how you might act if you were in school or fresh out of it or young and unemployed. What future has Wall Street, the heart and brain of our capitalist country, promised you? How does it feel to be the sons, daughters and grand kids of a "me" generation that's run up the debt and run down the economy? > <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Unemployment is between 13% and 25% for people under 25. Student loans are defaulting at about 15% at a time when more young people have no alternative but to borrow to pay for school. > <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Meanwhile, Wall Street bonuses continue to be paid at close to all-time highs. Lloyd Blankfein, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS), took home $13.2 million last year, including a $3.2 million raise.

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<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As protests have grown larger and more visible, greater numbers of participants have been able to voice their criticisms of corporate power and economic inequality. While the ultimate political impact of the protests remains unclear, the demonstrators' concerns have evidently resonated with a wide swath of the American public. A [|Time Magazine poll] taken in early October 2011 found that 54% of Americans had a favorable view of the protest. The same poll found that the issues positions supported by the occupiers were also strongly favored by most Americans: 68% want the wealthy to pay more taxes; 71% want to see bankers prosecuted for the 2008 crash; 79% believe the gap between rich and poor in the U.S. has grown too large; and 86% believe Wall Street and its lobbyists have too much influence.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**1.** According to the reading, what are some of the main reasons for the occupation of Wall Street?

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**2**. From what you've read and heard about the protests, do you agree with Ginia Bellafante's criticism that the protesters don't have a coherent message? Why or why not? What do you think of Glenn Greenwald's argument?

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**3.** One of the main slogans of the protest is "We Are the 99 Percent." What does this slogan mean? Do you agree or disagree with focusing on the top one percent as a symbol of economic inequality in our country? Why?

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**4.** Young people have taken a leading role in the Occupy Wall Street protests. What are some reasons that young people might feel uniquely invested in this movement?