Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Occupy Wall Street

Something really interesting started in New York and is taking off around the country. Kari has a good background:
This is a grassroots movement that received a lot of criticism (yeah, I'm looking at you NYT) for being disjointed and not having solidified leadership after all is just a few young people causing trouble (note my sarcasms).  Actually, Occupy Wall Street is a diverse movement composed of the unemployed, students, unions, etc, but we can probably summarize by saying they are the poor/working poor/disenfranchised, and if not directly one from these group understand that "this is not about me" (as noted from a sign I saw in photos: "I have a job. This is not about me. It is bigger".  It all comes down to the same things though, some people with a dangerous idea that must be vilified.  This idea that says corporations have to pay their fair share, that corporations are not people, and that if politicians will do nothing about it then the masses will.  So, I'm wondering why it took so long.  I'm wondering why the unemployed and underemployed didn't take to the streets when we started talking about yet another Free Trade agreement that will rob US citizens of jobs.  I'm confused why no one rushed into the streets after the President declared a third illegal war, when he was the guy who was supposed to bring the troops home.  But finally, the people have gathered, and not in DC, but in the New York financial district, you know where the power is.
Don't really have time for a full post, but check out the rest of Kari's for more. Also Glenn Greenwald has an interesting post about the reaction to the protests, while Matt Stoller has a post that gives you a pretty good sense of the people who started this.

1 comment:

  1. I've been wondering when this was gonna happen.

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