My main problem with Occupy Wall Street protesters is that I don't think they realize exactly who may be in agreement with them.
I don't know what it is about psychology but people like to pigeon hole and label others. Once they do that they start to stereotype them. Assumptions are then made about how "those people" think. Have the "Occupy Wall Street" protesters ever thought that maybe the Wall Street workers are in agreement with them on core issues?
Watch this:
Do people even know the negative impact that Wall Street employees have taken since 9/11, since SEC changes post the Enron mess, and since the recession? I don't think they know.
One major problem that really bothers me in our country in general and also regarding this issue is that it seems some people are into dividing and mud slinging instead of identifying core issues and seeing the similarities that others have.
Who wants to stand up and protest issue A, B, and C? Going for the issue and then seeing who joins in should be the way it is done instead of organizing a protest against a segment of people who may agree with the core issues. It is also more peaceful and non-violent to start off seeking to solve a common goal by working on agreed upon shared concerns. The last I knew, anger and rudeness including name calling and lie spreading was not a part of non-violent communication.
A second problem with "Occupy Wall Street" is most of the talking points are so general in nature that it is hard to both discuss them and to look for solutions. If you don't know a more specific issue you can't then pin down what politicians caused that issue to figure out what candidates are in alignment with you versus who is against the issues you care about.
A third problem is that with sweeping generalizations no real solutions can be discussed. If the goal is to solve issues and make things better how can we even start to do that if people do not get specific about their concerns? What is being worked on? Is there a concensus about what these protests are for? The footage I have seen varies widely about what people's concerns are.
The most sickening part of these protests is that it seems that people have a wide range of issues and complaints and problems and the main thing they have in common is they are angry and they are protesting rather than truly coming together on the core issues. This is not anything near as clear cut as the protests done for Civil Rights. They say they are doing a peaceful protest but it doesn't seem peaceful to me.
The divisive nature of this supposedly peaceful protest sickens me. Let's talk intelligently about the issues. Instead of acting like toddlers throwing tantrums and stirring the pot and doing bullying behavior, how about some mature serious intelligent conversation?
I also wonder if the protesters are ready to admit perhaps the politicians they put into office are to blame? If so are they willing to have some "hope" and then vote for the change they want to see happen?
Tomorrow a protest is planned to take place in my new city of residence, Houston Texas. I wonder how that will go? The economy is rocking here and having just moved here from the Northeast and the NYC metro area I can tell you that life is great down here in Texas. I am not sure who will be protesting or what they will protest against as life is fantastic down here!
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Hi there, Thinking Mother.
As someone involved in the protests, I want to clarify: When we say "Occupy Wall St." what we mean is, "Let's take Wall St. back" from those who have run our system into the ground.
Please don't get confused: we are fighting for the workers on Wall St. as much as anyone else.
In fact we have spoken to many in the area and we have heard many tell us they support what we are doing and would like to join in if not for fear of getting fired.
We call upon you Wall St. workers to take Wall St. back with us. If you do not feel you can take the risk, we understand. "To each according to his ability and to each according to his need".
I listened to some conservative talk shows last night and they are presenting the Occupy Wall Street as a core list of values that are not as clear cut as when I watch numerous YouTube man on the street interviews where the protesters explain what they are there protesting against. There are many voices in the protest and not much agreement except on too general statements like "we are against greed".
The very name of this protest sounds like the protest is against the people working in the industry. That all Wall Street workers are evil.
Corporations are people and small businesses are people. There is no entity that is "a corporation" as a corp is made of real people.
Someone told me to find a list on the website that makes the issues clear, I can't find that so far. I'd like to see it.
Christine,
At the bottom I've referenced the proposed list of demands, but I want to stress that these demands are not necessarily what the movement is about. That is a wish list of things we would like to see come from the movement, but this is what it's about:
Occupy Wall St. is not a protest for a specific cause. Occupy Wall St. is a movement made up of working (and not by choice, non-working) people who want to see the United States employ a more equitable financial system.
http://jimarnoldblog.com/blog/?p=2903
Christine,
At the bottom I've referenced the proposed list of grievances by the protesters in Zuccotti Park.
There's something I want to make perfectly clear that not a lot of people seem to understand; Occupy Wall St. is not a protest for a specific cause. Occupy Wall St. is a movement made up of working (and not by choice, non-working) people who want to see the United States employ a more equitable financial system.
http://jimarnoldblog.com/blog/?p=2903
Hello,
To clarify, while corporations and small businesses are -made up of people-, they -are not- 'people' in and of themselves; they are financial entities legally formed which serve specific purposes. That -is not- the same thing as a person.
People vote; corporations and businesses do not.
Yet when corporations can afford lobbyists to occupy government offices and assist in writing legislation which slants benefits towards hefty profit margins at the expense of workers' and consumers' rights to equitable working and living arrangements, the people lose out and have no viable recourse against such powerful and wealthy opponents. And of course those who can neither employ nor afford such lobbyists will not have the same influence up front.
When the government is low on it's usual tax revenue to support programs people in need have come to count on, with few other options for them to pursue, while corporations are paying lawyers to find them loopholes to avoid paying taxes, while enjoying the ability to do business in our country (while often shipping jobs overseas), -and- manage to also accrue millions in tax refunds, those who find themselves unemployed, and out of house and home as a result, will eventually note the inequity of the situation. Being of small voice on their own, it is entirely reasonable that they might band together in large numbers to be heard.
I too wish their message was more cohesive, but I can understand their frustration. I am losing confidence that my influence as a citizen is effective, that voting and writing to my representatives is enough, or carries enough weight, when it certainly cannot match the power of paid lobbyists and millions of corporate dollars donated to politicians.
My life experience in volunteer work, corporate work, and as an elected politician has taught me that the only way to achieve something is to know what the goal is, know what is being worked toward, to find allies and to work together as a team to get there.
Seems to me from hearing their own video interviews or reading their written testimony, that people or at least some, are all working toward different goals. Nothing will come of this if the aims are not aligned and if people do not work together to achieve a small set of goals. Even one goal is hard to accomplish let alone a long list of very different things, with some being very complicated.
Oh, and I'm sorry to rain on your parade with the harsh reality that just changing one thing is hard enough, but that is a fact. You can try but it is hard to change just one thing let alone a laundry list!
Christine,
Sounds like you should be at those rallies too. I think you've got a basic understanding of what they're about. The basis of the occupations are that no matter what you believe politically, everyone can agree that corporations are having too much influence on our democracy. We need to give power back to the people, and instead of fighting about what exact message they're portraying, they're talking more about how we can change that.
The thing I referred to in the last post is something called "corporate personhood". Because I can't find any non-bias sources for you besides the unreliable wikipedia, I'll let you do the research yourself.
I think we all can agree that the last thing America needs after the Halliburton and Lehman Brothers fiascos is corporate influence in our politics.
It's not my parade; I'm not demonstrating. I too wish they were more articulate and precise with their message. I also agree that unified and clarified intent helps create solutions. My sense is that the over-reaching point is simply to be present in order to raise awareness, and I do think they are succeeding in that. They also seem to be coming together in order to have the conversation about the state of living today, what the collective grievances consist of, and what has lead to it. I think that the more time they spend together raising awareness and having the discussion the more that the collective message will coalesce, and various actions towards manifesting their desires will present themselves for following. It looks like a process in motion but only just beginning to find its feet and some sense of direction. It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds, as they aren't showing any signs of dissipating.
It seems that a united statement has emerged:
http://occupywallst.org/forum/specific-demand-and-action-list-for-washington-dc/
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