Monday, October 10, 2011

Occupy Wall Street - some more opinions

I was chatting to a friend about the whole Occupy Wall Street movement last night and he said the following to me: "I will go there tomorrow, when all of the non-professional protesters have gone home.". Professional VS non-professional protesters? The whole point of a social uprising is that a large portion of the population is complaining that it is unhappy and that people want change, no matter where you come from, what colour your skin is, what you earn and where you earn it. It's about coming together as a group with one message.
Elitist protesting? That's about as hypocritical as it gets, no?
Yes, there are people who started the movement, and who have been there since Day 1. These people may or may not make political actions and protesting part of their daily life. There are also people who have joined halfway and are getting involved and helping. But there are also people who are hanging out on the fringes, trying to understand what is going on, interested but a little scared. This is NORMAL. There is always going to be a mix of people with different attitudes, characters, goals and faces, but in the end, the more people who come, the more people who join and the more people who state their interest make for a larger and more popular movement. The more people, the louder the voice.

Last night I was reading this blog post HERE. There is only one point that I slightly agree with (the need for a goal), but I completely disagree with the rest of the points. I know that I am further left than most people I know, but I really wouldn't consider demonstrations without permits, occupying a space to protest, not resisting arrest and being non-violent "anarchist". Far from it, it's actually organised and super smart! And... Democratic. I feel that people tend to label others as anarchists or communists way too easily in this country. That said, I do not want to bash the person who wrote the blog I mentioned - she has her ideas and is very eloquent in providing her opinions and thoughts. It was good to read something that helped me confirm my own opinions even more.

Discuss. Or just go down to Wall Street to see what is happening.

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