By Blair Donald
Round Table broadcast producer
Occupy Wall Street started on September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park in New York City’s Wall Street financial district. The movement was to call attention to the corruption on Wall Street and the uneven distribution of wealth in the country that the government is doing seemingly nothing about.
It is getting harder to be a middle class resident of the United States, especially for college students who are graduating with a ton of debt and not a lot of job opportunities. People are angry and demanding change, but they are not as organized as they should, and possibly could, be.
That isn’t to say that the protesters are unorganized in their protests. Occupy DC has a food system, tents set up with street names (for example, one man told me that I could find him at 113 Malcolm X Ave.), and has started their own newspaper (the Occupied Washington Times). However, it’s their message that needs work.
One young lady is there because she thinks the environment needs more protection. Another woman is there because she wants better healthcare plans. A Vietnam War veteran is there because he wants improved wages and better job security. An Iraqi war veteran is there because he thinks that the government has taught its soldiers to dehumanize people. One man described to me his solution to fix the hugely uneven distribution of wealth. He told me that he wanted no classes, that everyone should be equal. I don’t think he realized that he was a communist, but someone will let him know eventually.
There are so many problems and issues that people are angry about that it makes it hard for any sort of message to get through. The protesters have a veritable soup of complaints, and because of that things get jumbled and lost in the chaos. Because no one problem has been identified no one solution has been suggested, and nothing will get fixed. The government will carry on corrupted as usual and not much will change, except for the economic situation getting worse and a lot of chilly protesters come Christmas.
The protesters need to get their act together. They represent a myriad of groups and aren’t getting any sort of message through. We know that things need to change, but that isn’t going to happen with a protest that can’t figure out what it’s protesting.
Another problem with the protest is that the people involved are so used to society that they are recreating it. If I was in charge I’d have them all read “Animal Farm” or “1984”, because none of them seem to realize that a utopia of equals is impossible with individuality and that they are slowly becoming what they hate.
Everyone is selling something, and no one wants to buy anything. Maybe not something that can be physically held or seen, but they are advertising organizations and projects, and everyone is selling an idea.
“Go to my Facebook page and like it!” “Follow me on Twitter!” “Call my radio station!” Everyone is giving away ideas. Whenever someone is asked why they’ve joined the protest, he or she will respond with general ideas and complaints about the system, but no one really has any substantial ideas on how to fix the identified problem.
Then there are the homeless of DC. They were at the protesting site on K Street before all these 20-somethings showed up to complain about being poor. They live there and are becoming outcasts in their own homes. They are not the favorites of the protesters and are usually described as “weird”.
The DC protest may be very different from the others, I don’t know for sure. But from my personal experience, the protesters are confused about a message, far away from any sort of solution and don’t know that a utopia is impossible. The protest may one day have an effect on society, perhaps when people in theUnited Statesare more informed and knowledgeable about politics, or maybe when the politicians and political parties change, I don’t know. For now though, the protest is jumbled and not as effective as many had hoped it would be.
