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I’ve been reading about the movement and how it has been transforming itself from a simple protest/demonstration to an organizational oppositional movement. It is not simply great numbers of protesting people, held together by the common bond of speaking against the rigging of the system for the benefit of a select few. It has now developed into a process with clear avenues of protocol. There are two General Assemblies held every day where the people’s microphone is used to make sure that everyone can hear and be heard. Broad communications are done here, there are specific committees for all different types of functions. The social media committee, the accessible food committee, the health care committee, the sanitation committee, the lodging committee,they have also established a publication, Occupy Wall Street Journal.
This level of organization implies that the protestors understand that in order to really make a difference they need to go beyond simply protesting and waving signs. They need to create a process with political, economic and social contexts and weave it into an organization. Their mission statement available online for those who are curious, clearly states all the grievances that have rallied everyone together.
This is not a movement to be taken lightly, I have an old friend who is completely against them, calls them the flea baggers, doesn’t believe in what they are protesting. That is my old friend’s opinion. I do not share it, I have been against the GOP since the day President Reagan was inaugurated in 1981. I, even back than, didn’t believe in trickle down economics and that deficit spending for wars, military build up and tax cuts was okay, and I still don’t believe it. I have always believed that our societal structure should look like a sphere, a small slice from the top for the wealthy, a huge slice in the middle for most of us and the smallest slice being the really unfortunate, instead of the pyramid of ours where the top-tier controls 70% of the wealth of our nation and the two-thirds bottom part of the pyramid scramble for the rest.
When Wall Street does well, it does well for itself and the wealthy who have enough to actively invest and make their money work through the short selling and speculating of futures in commodities and the futures of companies profits. A strong Wall Street doesn’t mean a strong Main Street and a lot of average people, I don’t think, realize that. Since the stocks are valued by future performances, it is not looking at the ratio of capital between labor and productivity, the labor could be minimum wage and productivity top notch so the profits are going to company at the expense of labor. High profit margins also don’t take into account environmental costs, Main Street suffers often as Wall Street profits, because the environment has been degraded in favor for higher profit.
We are also seeing at this movement, an extremely diverse population and this should be something that we really focus on because the atmosphere for the past 3 years has been so divisive that compromise has become a loaded word for all parties involved. The General Assembly is bringing back the true democratic process and I think that this point is being lost in all the discussions.
I will continue to follow this movement closely and it gives me hope for change and for a new dialogue in this country.
laurieanichols 