Although I don't have the time I would like to follow popular media, I have been doing a moderately good job keeping up with reports on the "Occupy Wall Street" protesters. I found it interesting that the majority of the people participating, according to various polls, including one I viewed in New York Magazine, flat out don't know about what they claim to be protesting against. They don't know the names or terms of certain economic policies influencing their "area of attack," they know hardly any economic terminology, and most did not vote in the most recent mid-term elections. And yet, they are out on Wall Street and in cities across the United States and the world fighting for change. It is my opinion that if you are going to give up an indefinite amount of your time to literally just wait around outside (think of all the other things you could be accomplishing), then you should...at the very least...take a little more time to do some research about the subject of your protest!
I don't mean to make this post a pure rant. I'm sorry I don't have specific articles to offer (I have been quite sick all week, so I'm a little behind in my work and reading and there are too many out there for me to sort through now), but I do think this would be an interesting topic to look more into. What are the specific economic issues the occupiers are attempting to address? Is it purely about too much intervention into the economy by the financial sector? If so, what specific evidence exists to suggest that the financial sector is who we should really be targeting with our complaints?
The bottom line for today is this: I don't claim to know the answers to all of the questions I just posed. But I am also not occupying Wall Street right now. It is my belief that if you ARE going to bring attention to an issue, you need to have an understanding of that issue.
First off, love the title of your post.. Now on to the #Occupy movement. It began with a few hippies marching on wall street in mid September and has since morphed into a miniature revolution. I don't think the protesters are directly campaigning against wall street, but more so what it is representative of. I think the protestors should be protesting the Federal government, not private enterprise currently making our economy run as it should... the initial protesting and desire for change and increased benefits for those needy, disabled, poor - or any other plausible reason for government handouts - turned into a trendy, burgeoning cult following and mini revolution. Do I agree with all of the protestors methods? No. Do I agree with everything they are protesting for? No. But I do respect the hell out of em for protesting over an extended period of time, for something they truly believe in. I believe it is actions and movements like this that help build and strengthen political discourse in our country.
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