PROTESTERS. Either you’ve seen them, or you’re one of them. And if neither applies to you, chances are very likely that this will change. And soon. Because they’re everywhere. On your TV, at your city hall, at the White House, your nearest bank, and, of course, Liberty Square in New York City. It’s Occupy Wall Street, a movement that just about doubles in numbers every day and spreading like an unstoppable hurricane in just about every major city in America.
So what exactly is Occupy Wall Street? The rhetoric used to define the movement range from class warfare and anti-capitalism to sheer anger. According to OccupyWallStreet.org, it essentially boils down to money; who has it, who doesn’t and who should. Occupiers accuse Wall Street of stepping on the necks of legislators in Washington to implement policies solely in their favor. These policies tend to hurt the pockets of the average American during a time when they need the most financial help to remain afloat. Participants of OWS have coined a now universal phrase, “We are the 99%.”
The 99% refers to the non-wealthy, presumed working class of the United States. These protests have attracted a diverse sampling of the American people. Among the Occupiers in New York City, many of them are unemployed parents, homeowners, college students, underemployed Americans, and members of the one percent, who believe the political influence of Big Business is fundamentally wrong.
Providing the silent majority with a megaphone on Wall Street is by no means surprising. Remember what happened around this time three years ago? The global financial crisis put Congress on edge, which caused them to intervene with the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. When the federal government bailed out a number of financial companies to preserve America’s rapidly failing economy, the general public either strongly supported the idea or adamantly rejected it. The Pew Research Center reported 57% of Americans in late 2008 were in favor of federal government intervention on Wall Street. However, opposing Americans took to the streets, protesting that major financial companies should lie in the bed they made.
The financial argument generated by American taxpayers eventually became a prevalent concern during the 2010 congressional elections. When President Obama took office, the odds were in his favor; the Democrats had won the majority in the House of Representatives as well as the Senate. Fast forward a year later: the complaints of the conservative American tax payer had gone from a soft rumble to a roaring, influential political machine. Known as the Tea Party, members and supporters restored the political majority in Washington to Republican legislators.
Political pundits suggest that OWS is the liberal version of the Tea Party. To an extent, this can be understood, since the majority of OWS demonstrators support initiatives implemented by the Democratic Party. It is worth mentioning, however, that OWS is a grassroots movement for the people and, in the most literal sense, by the people. It is a movement without a designated leader, comprised of just about everyone. For some, this leaves the message a bit unclear.
The message is two-fold: big businesses should be held accountable for their corruption and financial mismanagement. Furthermore, since these companies remain standing on the American people’s dime, OWS deems it only fair that bailed out companies invest in the 99% through employment opportunities and financial relief.
Who knows? OWS just may become an entity that doesn’t need a leader to win this battle. The Tea Party, after all, has proven that the old-fashioned, democratic civic freedom to protest just may be enough to overturn economic policy.
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