What is Occupy Wall Street?
Occupy Wall Street is a protest movement which began on September 17th, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City’s Wall Street financial district. The main issues that the activists protest against are social and economic inequality, as well as what they perceive to be greed of employees who work in the financial district of New York. Occupy Wall Street activists call themselves the 99% which addresses the growing income inequality as well as wealth distribution within the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population.
Occupy Wall Street’s 1st Anniversary
Yesterday marked the 1st anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Occupy Wall Street has grown extremely quickly within the past year, perhaps more than many were prepared for. A few hundred activists gathered in New York’s financial district yesterday, but police kept them as far away from the New York Stock Exchange as possible. So far, the NYPD has been successful in stopping the activists from occupying anything. While there has not been any known reports of violence, more than 180 protestors were arrested by early Monday evening, mostly on disorderly conduct charges. The marchers have not been easy to deal with, and made several attempts at getting closer to the Stock Exchange. The Occupy Wall Street activists are truly fearless, they began splitting up into smaller groups, and heading in different directions all in hopes of distracting police officers. Surprisingly, the crowds were far smaller than those who took part in the marches last year. The Occupy Wall Street marches that took place last year quickly evolved into a 2-month long occupation of Zuccotti Park in Manhattan. What seems even more bazaar is that in time, commuters appeared unfazed by the crowds that began forming shortly after 7 a.m. on a plaza across the street from Zuccotti Park.
Is The Occupy Wall Street Movement a Fad?
There seems to be multiple reasons and supporting evidence as to why The Occupy movement has fizzled, and lost a good amount of activists. One main reason as to why less are getting involved in the movement is because it has failed to adopt a political platform, and a particular candidate has not backed the movement in this year’s election. Robert Nicholson, who works on Wall Street, said “They have yet to come out with a policy statement, and now, who are they disrupting? People, who are working, people who are trying to pay a mortgage or put their kids through school.” Additional supporting evidence which has been pointed out by many other columnists is that its mission was too vague, and leaderless.
Personal Thoughts
I believe that politicians will begin listening to the beliefs and opinions of the Occupy Wall Street activists once it becomes clear as to what their ultimate goals are by continuing to protest. Also, many are beginning to notice that the movement is dominated by misfits who choose to chant about corporate greed and inequality. I am a firm believer in one standing their ground, and fighting for what they believe should change, but it is difficult for me to consider backing the movement due to its lack of structure. In order to recruit new activists and encourage people to take part in the protest, there are a good amount of changes which should be made in order for The Occupy Wall Street Movement to grow and be taken seriously by politicians. Share your thoughts by using #OccupyWallStreet on Twitter and Instagram.
