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Occupy Wall Street: The Protesters Speak
Casey O'Neill had no regrets. He had traveled thousands of miles across the country – and gave up a well-paying job as a data manager in California – to sleep rough in a downtown Manhattan public square, enduring rain and increasingly chilly nights. Police keep a close eye on him every day.
Anti-capitalist protesters march through Lower Manhattan, New York. (Photo/John Stuttle)
But O'Neill was happy to be part of the "Occupy Wall Street" protests that have transformed New York's Zuccotti Park from a spot where Wall Streeters grab a lunchtime sandwich into an informal camp of revolutionaries, socialists, anarchists and quite a lot of the just-plain-annoyed.
"Regrets? No. God, no," said O'Neill, 34. "It is a little scary for sure. Somebody had to make a stand to do this. It is kind of amazing right now." O'Neill is even happy to sleep on the park's concrete benches. "It's OK, actually," he said.
O'Neill is part of an encampment in the square that looks ramshackle but in fact is highly organized, and looks rapidly on the way to becoming a fixture of downtown Manhattan life – if the police let the protesters stay there.
That looked unlikely on Tuesday when several protesters were forcibly arrested and taken away, including one woman who ended up in hospital. But for now the protest continues after beginning last weekend with a march on Wall Street.
The protest has morphed into a wide-ranging anti-capitalist demonstration that has attracted attention – and support – from around the world. Bemused bankers, construction workers and other downtown workers pass by every day, stopping to gawp and take pictures. Sometimes there is a lot to look at. Today, for example, Zuni Tikka, 37, was engaged in a topless protest along with several friends.
The protesters' camp in Lower Manhattan
Standing bare-breasted behind a poster that proclaimed "Capitalism Isn't Working", she happily posed for interested bystanders. The lack of clothing, she explained, was a metaphor. "I can't afford a shirt. Wall Street has stolen the shirts from our backs," she said.
That carnival atmosphere is typical of the protest. Anyone hoping (or fearing) for a violent assault on the bastions of American capitalism will be sorely disappointed. Instead, several hundred protesters each morning and evening set off to march by the New York stock exchange.
They blow trumpets, bang drums and chant slogans while holding placards that read "Free Market My Ass" and "Too Big Has Failed". They go back and forth down Wall Street, behind barricades lined with police, and then return to the camp in Zuccotti Park.
The daily march around Wall Street
They then spend the day holding workshops, informal concerts and various protest stunts (such as the nude demonstration). They welcome visitors and tourists and try to obey the demands made by the police.
Each day a "general assembly" is held where topics and events are discussed in a free-for-all of debate and discussion. "It is a leaderless situation," said Thorin Caristo, 37, who nonetheless is part of a small core group of people who try to keep things organised.
One of the protesters, Thorin Caristo, explains why he is there
The protest has attracted wide support and has a sophisticated social media operation. There is a live feed onto the internet and a huge presence on Twitter. Supporters around the world have even been sending in orders to a local pizza shop to keep the protesters fed. So much so, in fact, that some organizers have asked them to stop ordering pizza as they had more than they could eat. Now most help comes in the form of money or – most importantly – more people coming.
"People are donating from all over the world. There are car pools of people arriving from Wisconsin, California and Florida. They told us: 'Hang on, we're coming!' One woman who has traveled a long way is Becky Wartell, 24, a massage therapist from Maine. "I am a small business owner!" she laughed. She had just returned from the latest march down Wall Street.
Becky Wartell explains why she has joined the protest
"What everybody's here protesting is that fact that 1% of the population controls so much wealth. We are the rest of society. We are the 99%," she said.
There is a broad range of opinion on display. Some are travelers who have made protesting into a lifestyle. Some are students. Others are working people, like O'Neill and Wartell, who have taken time off to join in. No one knows how long they are going to be in Zuccotti Park.
As with much of the protest, things appear likely to just evolve as they go along. The same goes for the protesters' aims too. "We don't have a precise goal. We want to stay a month. That's a loose goal. Or maybe longer. We want to be here until we have entered a worldwide dialogue about transparency and accountability in the financial system," said Caristo.
One thing many of the protesters do know is their facts and figures. For every hippy talking about world peace or traveler wanting to heal the world, another will mention the exact tax rates that rich Americans pay, or that 20% of the US population now control 84% of the wealth. Or that the richest 400 families have the same net worth as the bottom 50% of the entire nation.
Even Tikka, as she posed topless before a gaggle of fascinated construction workers, was protesting deliberately next to a sign that read: "I didn't say look, I said listen."
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18 Comments so far
Show AllWell, maybe if you can get them look, they might listen!
These people are brave. The fact that Wall Street is tanking right now is a testament to the accuracy of their claim that Capitalism isn't working.
Down with Wall Street!
Wall Street off the planet!
Fun protests probably won't have much impact. Just to be blunt. Can anyone remember an anti war protest, anti nuclear protest, and right on through which accomplished anything being about having fun? That's not what stopped the Vietnam War with the possible exception of Country Joe and the Fish. That wasn't in the least typical. I'd be glad to be proved wrong.
Stopping the greed bags is the point!
We need to grow the numbers. Those going to Wall St. will have to overcome police brutality, general derision, and all sorts of other shit. But there will also be better moments to share. All serious, all the time, is not conducive to the creativity needed to accomplish an American Spring. Rock and Roll!
Speaking of brutality by New York's finest, follow this link to view a violet and unprovoked attack on protesters. It is also interesting to note that the Lamestream Media Blackout wasn't broken until five, count them five, Teabaggers brought in their lawn chairs.
http://ampedstatus.org/new-york-police-brutally-attack-peaceful-wall-street-protesters-video/
There's nothing 'fun' about being in any protest. It's either hot or cold, hungry or thirsty, tired or in pain. I've protested for almost 50 years and have been trampled by cops, shoved, screamed at and threatened..ya, it's a real blast.
Good for these people out there, naked or not. The point is, those rich bastards have stolen this country out from under us and how is it so few care or want to do something about it? We have been screwed to the floor with both feet. Good luck y'all. Your future looks dim, so stop being dumb.
Chances are, this "rich" thing may be a scam, a ponzi, of the most dire gigantic level. What if there is no money? It's just all on paper, and they are all in on it. I bet not one of them can actually take their paper to the bank...hmm, a cash stand, and get real money...oh wait, it isn't real money either, so when we say a billion, it's really only about 337,000,000, and then the guys at Knox weighed a pallet of gold and it weighed the same as styrofoam....rutrooh.
Everyone should be IN THESTREETS in the city, in the twp meetings, in the bank lobbies, and at Wall Street. If you have a vehicle and can get to New York or Chicago or DC, even better. Until there are millions INTHESTREETS, no one will pay attention from the media. Except I do see lots of media covering it, just not MSM. But who watches them besides the rest of the dodo birds?
Also have been protesting since MLK, but where exactly did you see any media coverage? There has been an unofficial, but total, black out - bribed or blackmailed by the Wall Street Maggots - to make sure their incoming flow of funds is not diminished. Oh, that's right. Five Teabaggers did show up - and then so did the news trucks. What a co-inky dink.
Check out North Dakota's state bank, founded in 1917. Unlike the Federal Reserve, which is neither Federal nor a reserve (the Fed is actually a bunch of private banks that lend money to the government and, of course, skew the system to benefit themselves), the Bank of North Dakota belongs to the citizens of the state. Other banks and credit unions in the state appreciate the collaborative way it functions. The executives at BND do not earn huge paychecks and bonuses. --------PARAGRAPH BREAK--------
Instead of profit as the goal, the BND supports social benefits like farm credit, providing capital to sound businesses, and saving the state money (the state earns interest on deposits and pays no interest on borrowing). --------
In fact, in these times when the 49 other states are slashing their budgets and firing state workers that actually do jobs benefitting taxpayers, North Dakota has a stable economy and high employment. --------
Ellen Brown, author of The Web of Debt, is part of a group which wants California to have a state bank. Her book explains the economics hidden in the ‘children’s book,’ The Wizard of Oz. The Scarecrow wanted a brain (i.e. farmers needed to outwit the monopolistic railroads who bankrupted them getting their grain to market), the Tin Man wanted a heart (i.e. industrial workers were turned into zombies by their deadening jobs), and the Lion represented the popular silver advocate William Jennings Bryan, opposing the gold speculators that made money too scarce for healthy commerce. Dorothy was the archetypal American girl, a smart and compassionate citizen with gumption. --------
And the Wizard? Ever since Baum's book was first published, the conniver behind the curtain has represented cowardly banksters who rig the system for profit, no matter the cost to real people. --------
The Web of Debt also explains various economic practices, starting in the middle ages. Ms. Brown includes commentary from 1750, attributed to Ben Franklin, which explains why the colonies were thriving at a time when many in England couldn’t find work. “That is simple. In the colonies we issue our own …. paper money, [therefore] we control its purchasing power while paying no interest…. A legitimate government can both spend and lend money into circulation, while banks can only lend significant …promissory bank notes….--------
“Thus, when bankers in England place money in circulation, there is always a debt principal to be returned, and usury to be paid. The result is that you have always too little credit in circulation to give the workers full employment. You do not have too many workers, you have too little money in circulation, and that which circulates all bears the endless burden of unpayble debt and usury.” --------
When King George and Parliament decided that taxes to England could only be paid in the very scarce British currency a huge recession in the Colonies set in, triggering revolutionary activities. --------
In the August 1, 2011, Daily Kos, Deena Stryker wrote about Iceland’s rebellion against international banksters:
“[The bank bail out plan] required each Icelandic citizen to pay 100 Euros a month (or about $130) for fifteen years, at 5.5% interest, to pay off a debt incurred by private parties vis a vis other private parties. It was the straw that broke the reindeer’s back.” --------
Greece, and the rest of Europe, and our own Congress could learn a lot by reading The Wizard of Oz, or get the message directly from the PublicBankingInstitute.org or webofdebt.wordpress.com.
FORWARD!
I am sick of leftist petty bourgeios whining. The bottom 99% doesn't reflect us, it reflects Somoli refugees, Colombian slum dwellers, Myanmar dissidents. Our bums are better off, by a long, long shot than much of the middle class of those countries. All Americans are in the same boat with the Wall Street rich. We are all dependent on wage slavery conditions from China, Bangladesh, Nicaragua and elsewhere. We have a very, very big emergency because we cannot stop our routine consumption, we are dependent on it, and that consumption is fraudulent... most people supplying our goods are working for substandard wages, in environmentally deregulated factories, in war torn countries, under dictatorships that America set up. It is all out of control. What is interesting about this is that the Hopi have prophesied WWIII (page 35 Hotevilla by Mails/Evehema and Google Hopi prophesy rock). WWIII is not unlikely, and would put an end to this heinous cycle of parasitic economic behavior. I am glad you all are protesting Wall Street, but I wouldn't take a cavalier attitude about it, and I would really work at a strategy to actually help the developing world. We are probably going to be OK here. The infrastructure is sound here... its not 1929. What we have to fear is a backlash, WWIII. So the goal is to help those truly in need from the 'recession', the developing world. At the very least, give to your fav at Charity Navigator.
There are three problems with your theory first its ethnocentric in nature “So the goal is to help those truly in need from the 'recession', the developing world.” It is assumed that “we” must help “them” which is similar to the call by Kipling. Second you assume that because people are fighting for their beliefs they must not care about people in other countries and by default people here are selfish which is not true since most of the poor and working class in this country donate in mass to the developing world either by donations or remittance. Third our infrastructure is falling apart if you do not believe me take a ride through the south Bronx or the 181 street bridge which is literally torn up and someone always catches a flat. Instead of criticizing those young and motivated people you should go out and join them. Peace
Thank you for a considered comment.
The real reasons that democratic-type revolutions (France and Russia actually experienced one each) fail - FAIL - is that factions become radicalized and attack one another. Those who cynically took advantage of those two caused far more violence following the successes than occurred during the effort.
Idealists (those who retain ideals, ethics, and morals, is my definition here)presume that others share their attributes and intents. Lenin's people and in France, those who released the angry jacobin-led crowds (you might say anarchist elements)purposely manipulated emotions to gain power. Yes, perhaps they believed too implicitly in some ideal end, enough to act so violently and cynically.
Too many among us believe that they know best.
Alas for those who would prop up civilizations under any banner:
Infrastructure is always disintegrating. This is the nature of physical matter in the universe. A biome or an ecosystem is dynamic, and that dynamism leads all to become something else.
In order for Rome to successfully control empire (the whole thing there started as a matter of "security", as you may know "no citizen is safe outside the doors of Rome" or words to that effect in Latin, were emblematic of the quest), it segued from a Republic into factions, into disagreeing militarists, into dictator and emperor. Even though Caesar was assassinated for making himself dictator for life rather than for a limited time, the next 500 years (and descent was claimed for over 1800 more) Rome ate of the world around it.
In case anyone did not understand pablo30's reference here, Kipling's "white man's burden" was never more than a pet owner's excuse for a bogus "great chain of being" dominance. The same excuse was iterated as caring for one's slaves, although I won't here reference that. Study.
Wall Street turned it's back on 99 percent of us. They do not deserve to exist. They are nothing to do with Adam Smith's vision of Capitalism which requires meaningful competition in a mercantile environment. The Fortune 500 Monopoly Mafia is sucking the world dry. Microsoft is a virtual Monopoly. Wal Mart is a virtual Monopoly. But Standard Oil of last century was a Monopoly that brave Presidents of the past Broke into pieces because they were so powerful they were destroying citizen Liberty.
Petroleum prices dictated by OPEC and Texas are not "Free Market". Both are a Cartel, and the function of a Cartel is to eliminate competition so that prices can be artificially fixed high. The Texas Oil Mafia will not allow tankers to approach Houston until supplies are exhausted so that prices can be jacked to the moon on us. Governments are toppled by them overseas to prevent the cheap oil of the Third World from ever reaching us (Iraq, Iran, and soon Venezuela.) This is Racketeering imho. 90 percent of Wall Street engages in bribing elected officials in the form of campaign money and overseas "favors", jobs, and subcontracting of no-bid giveaways of taxpayer money.
It's so bad, that, imho, the only answer is to nationalize all of Wall Street, liquidate it, and then return the ill-gotten gains back to the butt-phucked U.S. taxpayer. Wall Street, left to it's own devices is dangerous. Wall Street thinks nothing of starting wars overseas for profit or bulldozing housing units at home to artificially create a housing shortage to bring profits back to all the houses they are foreclosing on. This is in fact what they are doing right now, while millions are homeless.
SHAME, SHAME! you scumbag bankers from hell. We must drive you back into the vile dust from which you sprang.
TJ
There is a parallel here between Arab Spring in Tunisia,Egypt,Syria .The difference with the Toronto riots,Vancouver riots or Riots in Spring 2008 is that these are not professional protesters,they are not using extreme tactics,they are young ,idealistic,committed and want to wake people up to the dictatorship of Money that has taken over the government of their country,the USA,which was a democracy in the past and now is a plutocracy,Will the media in the USA follow them; I doubt it. But the rest of the world is watching and will see what the Powers of Money will do.Syria or Egypt???
All power has been taken. There is nothing that can be done by people except attend demonstrations that nobody knows about. A discussion needs to be started about how to peacefully organize an alternative political entity here or regionally. The US has become a dictatorship and demonstrations against it only strengthen the argument to the young that they have freedom--if they are allowed to know.
There are billions of people waiting for a sign, that peace is possible...
One which is empowering but NOT threatening, that at first glance conveys THEIR hearts desire of living in harmony and unity.
A sign THEY can easily embrace and reproduce, one that is available in many different forms, jewelry, stickers, flags, etc. yet UNIQUE enough to encompass all the varied diversity which envelopes humanity...
And compliments their own group symbol...
One that unites community while offering a hand and heart of friendship to all, The Peace Heart is that sign...
A mass display of this symbol would draw media and world attention which could catapult October2011 into a global movement...
We The*People... Print signs "I'm A Person" "Corporations R Not"... Take SILENT single file, Nonviolent Marches to your state capital, city halls, schools, corporate locations...
Unite the C.H.A.O.S. + N.O.W. + Display our Heart of Peace...
There are many simple, yet powerful methods in which to convey the message that Nonviolent, Peaceful Action, CAN & WILL CREATE - a World@Peace...
Doing so in mass is the solution, for UNITY is the Power of The*People...
Global Peaceful*Intent must start somewhere, Imagine people all over the world, displaying their heart of peace in actions of all types wearing peace heart jewelry patches tee shirts etc. YT videos, Flash mobs holding peace heart signs singing "We All+R+Saying " + "Build Peace Today" - Silent Marchs carrying peace heart banners.
A unity of global expression, with a single powerful goal. Displaying the people's commitment to developing Nonviolent, Sustainable, Peaceful Solutions...
This is a single STEP that begins The*Journey...
Start*2*Day ;)
Sincerely, BL*M
"Greater than the tread of mighty armies is an idea whose time has come"-Victor Hugo-