Three weeks in, the anti-corporate, pro-democracy “Occupy Wall Street” protests show no signs of losing momentum. Quite the opposite, in fact.The Occupy Wall Street website states:
We will be in a thousand cities in this country by the end of the month – hundreds of cities in other countries. We will see General Assemblies on six continents.
We are growing. Block by block – city by city. We will see change in this country, in this world. It will happen sooner than you can imagine.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0JmJ7-bhrY&feature=player_embedded#!]
If we are going to salvage our ecosystem for our children and grandchildren, the corporations that currently make the decisions have got to be challenged and disempowered. These folks are showing us how to do just that. As Arundhati Roy said, “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”
Go to Occupy Wall Street for more videos, info, and images.
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I know that my opinions here are not in line with most others, and i am always hesitant to post, but again, i am compelled to respond..
once again, people like these protesters, as admirable as is their goal, I believe their methods are wrong headed.. Sure, mass protests garner attention, but without real action, that attention, like other fad fed movements, quickly dissipates..
yes it’s true that our financial markets are controlled by the greedy and the wealthy, with banks and corporations that like to think they are above the commoners and immune to regulation and fair play, this has always been the case, and probably always will be. But the fact is that never before have the commoners been so empowered, so much so that we feed the very organizations that we rail against.. How?, by buying into their ambition. Corporations do not do what they do for their own health, they offer a product or service to a market that demands it, their reason for being is profit driven for them and their share holders. Everyone one of those protesters, as well as the rest of us watching, are walking testaments to their existence, from our stylish foot wear, up to our coiffed do’s, toys in our handbags and driveways, not to mention future purchases dancing in our heads.. we are the ones who fuel corporate greed by lining up to buy into the next revolutionary product, or idea destined for greatness, and we hail and exalt those that have “made” it.. (while all of us secretly wishing we will too)..
again, and agin, i will maintain, change starts at home with deep conviction. If you want to change the world- take control of your own life, be skeptical, make conscientious decisions based on your ideals and standards, block out the noise, and concentrate on what is important and indelible, take stock of and responsibility for your own life and situation and take your elected officials to task by taking your protests to the polls, not the headlines.. if we all did this, the banks, corps. and greedy (crooked politicians too) who seek to exploit us with their ambition, would soon go away for a lack of costumers..
francis,
Francis – You and I agree that change starts at home with deep conviction. But if it only stays at home (and voting every four years is included in that) then no social change would ever happen. We would still have slaves, and women wouldn’t have the vote.
I challenge you to do more than that – if you are not comfortable with what’s happening on ows, that’s fine. But I hope you are also regularly in contact – phoning, writing letters, etc – with your elected officials letting them know the importance of acting on regulating carbon emissions while we still can. Democracy is much more than voting on election day. And if politicians don’t hear from their constituents that dealing with climate change is important, they will continue to ignore the issue.
And once you’ve established regular contact with your elected officials (municipal, provincial, and federal) then in your “circle of influence”, encourage others to do the same. If people like you, who have a deep understanding of this issue, don’t do this, we’re truly sunk.
I don’t think this is a fad movement, born of a whim. It appears to me that the protesters do have real conviction, and their motivation is the hardship currently experienced by millions of Americans.
True, the protesters form a very eclectic group, and quirkiness abounds. But their passion is true-and contagious, as Christine has pointed out.
It’s because it’s so eclectic and their message is broad that pundits and politicians are having a hard time pigeon-holing them. I think it’s democracy at it’s finest!
I think so too, Christine. And their demands aren’t eclectic as they are, according to this (admittedly rudimentary) poll.
Francis – I just saw this quote from Chris Hedges, and thought it was worth sharing with you:
“It is understandable that a realist would despair. And if I was to retreat into self-absorption I would find a small plot of land where I would never have to hear another leaf blower, and find what comfort I could in my family, my books and the whispers and beauty of the natural world. But to give up is not morally permissible. It is to condemn, as Sitting Bull reminded us, the born and the unborn, as well as the flora and fauna, which Sitting Bull also considered sacred, to misery and death. We have no right to do that. We must stand and fight for life.” – Chris Hedges 2011
Is our planetary home plagued by patently unsustainable, human-induced pressures derived from something so simple, so evident, so widespread and so pernicious as unbridled avarice, by outrageous greed that is being willfully perpetrated by a tiny minority of self-proclaimed masters of the universe who pretend not to know exactly what it is they continue to do on our watch, come what may? Finally, it appears the long-stalled struggle against the corporate mass media is being joined. Perhaps human beings with feet of clay will reclaim democracy from the greedmongers and make necessary changes toward sustainable lifestyles and right-sized human enterprises with all deliberate speed.