The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement has been gaining momentum for the past four weeks, with Saturday’s New York and Washington base camp plazas being so full they resembled Tahrir Square in Cairo. People from all walks of life have come together to peacefully protest and demand change, including a corporate lawyer holding a sign reading “Raise My Taxes”. Right-wing commentators in the corporate-controlled media have labeled the protestors as “crazy, dangerous, anarchist hippies” who “don’t know what they want”. However, the crowds have only grown in size, anger, and diversity, rallying around the slogan “I am the 99%”.
The OWS movement has its roots in the same economic hopelessness that sparked the Egyptian uprising earlier this year. Millions of young people were unable to find jobs or feed their families, while the privileged ruling class controlled the economy. The message of the OWS protestors is simple and resonates with the Tea Party movement: “I am the 99%”.
The US Congress has ignored the 99% for four decades, raising millions to fund television adverts to keep their jobs. These funds came from lobbyists, corporations, and banks, who then demanded their “pound of flesh” and received it. The 2008 financial meltdown exposed the lack of oversight, with Wall Street and the big banks gambling with the 99%’s earnings on bad derivative products. Despite the treasury bailing out these banks, the money went directly into the pockets of those responsible as bonuses, and no one has been arrested or convicted for their actions. The media has blamed those asking questions, rather than the politicians and business owners who created the mess. It is clear that the 99% are not going to remain silent any longer.
On Saturday night, protests were underway in 1,012 US cities and towns, as the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement gained momentum. Former Congressman Alan Grayson earned a standing ovation on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher for his explanation of the movement’s goals, while PJ O’Rourke and Nicole Wallace snidely played Republican apologist, calling OWS ‘dirty hippies’ and wondering ‘where they went to the bathroom?’. This critical mass has prompted the mainstream media to pay serious attention.
The movement is reminiscent of the 15 February 2003 protest, when 21 million people in 665 cities around the globe took to the streets to protest the impending Iraq invasion over so-called weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Bush Press Secretary Ari Fleischer dismissed the protestors as a “focus group”, claiming “the White House does not respond to focus groups”.
In Amsterdam, 120,000 people descended on Dam Square in central Amsterdam to protest the US-led invasion. This was the largest protest since the government decision to base Trident nuclear missiles in The Netherlands was overturned by the will of the people two decades earlier. Ex-pat Americans Against War in Iraq (AAWI) marched side-by-side with a group representing 50K Iraqi exiled in Holland.
Omar Hamilton, a documentary film-maker in Cairo for Egypt Unshackled, described Tahrir Square as having a “festival feel”, where even his 80+ auntie joined the protestors. The Dam Square had a similar atmosphere, with Dutch and American Grandma’s, students, businessmen and workers all united in their worry for the future of their children.
The 99% remain under attack and the Occupy Wall Street movement is a wave of young and old united in their desire for a better future. If the Democratic Party think they can ignore OWS, they do so at their peril, as Einstein said, “they’re doing something about this evil” and it is wise to listen.
