Are you part of the 99%?
If you’ve been following the Occupy movement like we have, questions such as this have probably been on your mind a lot recently. If you have no idea whether I’m talking about a score on a statistics exam or larger systemic inequalities, HerCampus is here to let you in on the largest social movement our generation has seen yet.
Occupy Wall Street began on September 17 in Zuccotti Park in the Wall Street Financial District of New York City. The primary focus of the protests is to raise awareness of social and economic inequality, corporate greed, corporate power and influence over government, lobbyists, and how the 99% of Americans who are not benefitting from corporate profits are left to handle our current economic crisis without government assistance. Occupy Wall Street and its many branches around the country are protesting the various forms of injustice that have run rampant in American society for far too long.
Protesters have set up tents in the park that comprise a community of activists complete with a medical tent, food tent, media center, and logistics tent. The movement is leaderless, and has no official list of demands. It is dedicated to enacting “direct democracy,” which means the meetings are run using procedures that are entirely democratic. The meetings, or General Assemblies, use a form of decision making called consensus decision making, a democratic process during which everyone’s voice and opinion are given equal time to be heard and discussed.
The movement is very diverse, comprised of people from a variety of social groups including college students, the unemployed, veterans, labor union organizers, environmentalists, and people of various political leanings including anarchists, socialists, libertarians, and liberals.
Not surprisingly, many Brandeis students are involved in the Occupy movement. A group of students met on Thursday, October 6, 2011 on the great lawn for a Brandeis Occupies Boston Info Session. The gathering was quiet, verging on silent. Everyone was given the opportunity to express his or her opinions. Support was shown with silent hand gestures, and concerns were vocalized in turn, one student at a time. There was no shouting or speaking over each other. Instead, the meeting was a free space to express and discuss ideas.
Occupy Wallstreet is the first massive social movement of the Internet generation. No surprise, then, that the movement often is referred to by the Twitter-inspired name “#occupy.” The forum-like organizational structure of the movement also reflects the Internet’s influence on our generation.
Many students support the movement, but many others express concerns: But how will a group of people protesting by living on the street in tents will get anything done? Students who have seen the General Assemblies complain of how slow moving the meetings are––How is there enough time for every person to express his or her opinion? Direct democracy seems inefficient and disorganized. Don’t these protesters have other things to do?
Other students have expressed the desire to see a “list of demands” or “official explanation of what the protesters want” before deciding to agree or disagree with the movement.
Seth Grande, a senior who has been keeping up with the #occupy movement, explains that these concerns reflect the main misconception about #occupy: “The legacy of #occupy will be the exposure of concensus decision making and direct democracy to mainstream American society… #occupy is more than just a protest or a political movement, it is a radical experiment in democracy outside of the two party political system that we have been told is the only “appropriate” channel through which we can reshape our society.”
In other words, the point of the movement is to change the way we see the political process. The way the all-inclusive General Assemblies work is the goal, not the flaw, of the movement.
The awesome part of this model is that the power is in your hands: any Collegette could express her opinions at the General Assembly, and her thoughts would become part of the movement.
An “official list of demands” sent to politicians would go against the ideology of #occupy. The point is to enact change without appealing to the existing hierarchy. The movement does not want to see a list of demands drafted by a small group of leaders; instead it seeks to create a forum to discuss ideas of change.
For some students, the ideology of #occupy is freeing and inspiring. Yet others think the appropriate hashtag of the movement would be #firstworldproblems more than anything else––So many of us have it great here in America. Corporations aren’t evil; they help us maintain the quality of life we enjoy and value every day. Even the poorest of the poor here in America have a better quality of life than those people living in third world countries. The Occupy movement answers, yes, this is true, but it is not enough.
What do you think? Is America good enough the way it is? Or do you want to see change? Is #occupy the right way to enact change?
The only person who can answer these questions for yourself is you. And having concerns is legitimate! How you feel about #occupy is a very personal choice that only you can figure out.
The bottom line, then, is to stay informed. #occupy is as real as any past social movement you learned about in US History or Sociology class, and it’s happening right now. Read articles, talk to your friends, and visit the occupation settlement in Boston.
Occupy Boston is the local offshoot of Occupy Wall Street. Its base is Dewey Square Park near South Station in Boston’s financial district. This coming Monday Occupy Boston is encouraging Boston-area college students to walk out of their classes and rally at Boston Commons at 1 pm. If you don’t want to miss class, come by at any time you can; there are events going on all day. To learn more about Occupy Boston and to read their Schedule of Events, go to http://www.occupyboston.org/