eastern issues of inequality I have been discussing the in past. To begin with, Occupy
Wall Street is an ongoing series of demonstrations in New York City based mainly in
Zuccotti Park, in the core of the city. The protest was originally called for by the
Canadian activist group Adbusters, as reported in the Wall Street Journal; this is similar
to the Arab Spring movement we discussed in class and that I will be elaborating on in a
future column, more specifically the Tahrir Square protests in Cairo, which initiated the
2011 Egyptian Rebellions .
People who take part in the event are mainly protesting against social and economic
inequality, corporate greed, and the influence of corporate money and lobbyists on
government, among other concerns. They usually go on through October, and similar
demonstrations have been held in over 70 cities in the United States and have also
spread globally, collectively to the Middle East.
This leaves liberals and democrats to contemplate their next move and reactions toward
the Occupy Wall Street movement. The main conflict among liberals is the fact that
democrats and liberal organizations have begun to support the protests. Occupy Wall
Street is an major symbolic movement, and many of its current members are very
driven, but the harsh fact remains that it may go nowhere. But liberals and mainstream
organizations can help shape the movement into a positive result. A conflict remains
that many protesters are involving themselves, but to not necessarily know what they
are fighting for in the first place, nevertheless, I believe that this movement will go down
in history.
As reflected in the Wall Street Journal, Republicans are in a high point now in the sense
that these radical movements benefit Republicans more than Democrats. In the United
States, conservatives are not as dedicated and active as other parties. Mainstream
Liberals are feeding into what is being shown in the media and what technology has
brought to the movement, although most of what is being protested contradicts the use
of mainstream media and its hold on consumers, no matter what party you are affiliated
with.
It appears that the Democratic Party is suffering the most with the economy. Voters see
them as enemies on the same level as those in Wall Street, and Wall Street sees them
as hostile and potential threats to their motives. Republicans have successfully directed
their economic intentions away from those who challenge it, this gives more power to
politicians and where Wall Street will end up in the eyes of both parties.
If the protests are to play a positive role, it will either refocus the public attention on Wall
Street, and re center political views in general. The Occupy Wall Street movement will
essentially organize itself around progressive ideas, although they may lack political
support. If people stick to their cause, and protesters fight for what they truly believe in
and dismiss popular ideas, there will truly be change.
The writer has a good grasp of what's going on in NY - and shows that she has done some excellent research, too.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be more powerful to simply state - in this piece - the commonalities between the two movements, if the writer thinks they are there.
The content is good, but the execution via typography makes it very difficult to read. One suggestion is to fix the dangling sentences and paragraphs so it looks more tidy.
As published, I would wager it was written in a word processing program and then pasted into place.
That's fine - but needs to be fixed before the next column is written.