Yesterday, Thursday, November 17, Occupy Wall Street
celebrated its 2 month anniversary. Several thousand New York protesters marked this “Day of Action”by attempting to shut down Wall Street , storming the subways, and marching across Brooklyn Bridge. By the end of the day about 275 protesters had been arrested and 7 police sent to the hospital.
Since it was the anniversary of this wonderful movement I thought it would be nice to reminisce a bit about how it all came to be.
It all began with a little Canadian magazine called Adbusters. This self avowed anti-capitalist, anti-consumerist, anarchist publication explains itself best in it’s mission statement:
”We are a global network of culture jammers: writers, artists, designers, rabble rousers... hackers, philosophers, pranksters, poets and punks who believe that mental environmentalism is the defining social struggle of our era. We vow to change the way information flows and to shake up the production of meaning in our society. Our aim is to catalyze a sudden, unexpected moment of truth – a mass reversal of perspective; a global mindshift – from which the corporate/consumerist forces never fully recover.”1
In July, Adbusters put out a call on its website to "flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades, and occupy Wall Street." 2 The idea was a success and on September 17 the movement began with a small group camped in Zuccoti Park near Wall Street.
Many people, tired of the poor economy and lack of jobs found the idea attractive, and "Occupy" protests popped up throughout the United States, Italy, France, Canada and other countries around the world. Even Arab nations joined the protests and cries for the end of Wall Street were mixed with "Kill America"
People from all walks of life joined the protests and advocated everything from “sustainable stars” to the forgiving of all debts ever incurred. Corporations, banks, and anyone with a better job or more money than they had were immediately targeted as the bad guys.
Speaking of jobs, one of the main complaints among occupiers is the high unemployment but when jobless protesters were offered applications to all manner of businesses, only two out of over 3 dozen people accepted. One application to Disney, and the other to Solyndra. You can watch the astounding video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69Jvnww7wDw Below is another video of a totally clueless occupier. If you want to see more of these videos, You Tube is full of them.
Even after two months it is difficult to understand exactly what it is these "occupiers" want, but it seems to me to be some form of anarchy where everyone is given everything their heart desires. In other words, these protesters want a kind of utopian society. In the meantime however, they are making life for those who have to live and work near the demonstrations, anything but a utopia. There have been several murders, drug overdoses, and suicides in the larger city protests and at least six reported rapes. In two cases of rape, the victims were urged by friends to stay silent about the attack. Robberies and assaults have also run rampant. In one case three women asked a man to stop selling cocaine to the protesters. As an answer he attacked them. In another incident a 78 year old woman was shoved down a flight of stairs. In one city protesters blocked doors with small
children. During a protest in Oakland, the first camp to be cleared out, a female reporter was threatened with murder and called racial slurs. There have been numerous accounts of anti-Semitism. In New York city 31% of those polled said that violence would be justifiable if it advanced their agenda.
Problems with the Occupiers have also spread to businesses. In San Diego occupy members vandalized two food carts with blood and urine after the owners stopped giving them free handouts. According to humanevents.com,
"Stacey Tzortzatos, the owner of a Panini & Co. store near Zuccotti Park, says that she has “had to put a $200 lock on my bathroom because [OWS protestors] come in here and try to bathe. The sink fell down to the ground, cracked open, pulled the plumbing out of the wall and caused a flood. It's a no-win situation.” Another nearby businessman has had similar problems: "They want to use the toilet, the phones, we give them free water and free ice,” says the frustrated restaurateur. “They sit here and don't buy anything, but they recharge their phone batteries with our plugs, and I tell them, 'Hey, if you guys are going to come, I need to do some business here. We are suffering, too!' And then they start with their own words, going against you." 3
As bad as it has been here in the US, riots have been far worse in other parts of the world. The Associated Press reported, “Clad in black with their faces covered, protesters threw rocks, bottles and incendiary devices at banks and Rome police in riot gear. Some protesters had clubs, others had hammers. They destroyed bank ATMs, set trash bins on fire and assaulted at least two news crews from Sky Italia.4
It seems Occupy Wall Street is becoming exactly what its founders, Adbusters envisioned. This is a quote from a recent Adbusters article called "The Politics of Post-Anarchism"
"Therefore the appearance of social movements on a global scale suggests the attempt to constitute an alternative political space, a new body politic: no longer the body of obedient citizens who respect the formal democratic mandate of power, but rather a rebellious, dissenting body – citizens who do not obey and who refuse to recognize the authority of those who represent them, thus breaking the bond between the subject and the state. Therefore the anticapitalist movement challenges not only the hegemony of neoliberal capitalism but also the symbolic claim of the “democratic” state to speak for its citizens."5
During my research for this post I came across a comment on the Occupy Wall Street forum. For me it puts everything in perspective.
"You do not represent 99% of the population... I have not come across one person in my city/county that supports your movement. Most see you as anarchist and crazy...You are asking for a fair advantage an equal slate but friends we all have the same advantages... That 1% I promise at some point started off just like you... Now some may have inherited money but somewhere down the line someone worked hard for what they earned and was an average citizen just like you... You have the opportunity to become successful in this country I mean if you do not believe that look at Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg. These people saw a dream and took action... If you can not find a job that "you want" then invent your job... market yourself... you can become successful. If this doesn't work and you need money to live and still can't find a job then swallow your pride and become a janitor, work at a fast food chain, there are always a job out there it may just not be exactly what you want or expect. The truth of it is, you feel miserable because of your perspective...You see the world as unjust and unfair because things haven't worked out like the fairy tale you hoped it would be... This isn't kids sports where you get a trophy for just coming out... you have to work to be on top.. if you really want to make a change then change how you view the world you live in... Appreciate the things that matter like family and love... Appreciate the world around you... again to be in America is something people from other countries long for ... you really have no idea how good you have it"6
Occupy Wall Street protesters have noble goals, a perfect society where everybody does what they want and gets what they need. If that goal was plausible I think everyone would be in favor of that kind of utopia. The problem is, this is reality. Someone will always have more money, a nicer car, or a better job than you do. Life isn't fair. Instead, focus on what you do have. We live in a country where everyone has equal opportunity and can become successful if they are willing to do what it takes. So quit blaming other people for your problems and take advantage of your freedom to succeed on your own.
~Addie
“Simply put, you believe that things or people make you unhappy, but this is not accurate. You make yourself unhappy.”
~Wayne Dyer
1 http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/help-us-translate.html
2 http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/11/adbusters-occupy-wall-street-victory-nypd
3 http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47519
5 http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/97/saul-newman.html
6 http://occupywallst.org/forum/stop-calling-yourself-the-99/
Addie, Glad to see you back to work on your blog.
I like this piece.
Papa
Posted by: Yeager | 11/24/2011 at 07:37 PM