Social Awareness reading response: Occupy the World

Members of a movement/protest called Occupy Wall Street camped out in Zuccotti Park in Manhattan near Wall Street to protest economic inequality.  The protest followed similar protests that took place around the world including the protests in Arab countries and Israel and Spain.  The Occupy Wall Street protestors have come together to complain about how banks, the stock market and rich people are said to be only 1% of the population but, control and influence our government and economy.  They believe that the other 99% of the population, which includes middle income and low-income people, has no say in our government.

While I believe that everyone should have the right to freedom of speech, I think that some of the methods the protestors use are not efficient and nor well thought out.  The protests are not efficient because there are no real leaders or specific goals to be accomplished.  The protestors say that corporations are bad and have too much power. But, the protestors do not really offer any solutions or alternatives to large corporations.  It almost seems like they are out there protesting just to protest. This is different than the protest in other countries. For example, in Egypt the protestors were demanding that the president step down and for an election to elect a new president.  I also think that camping out in Zuccotti Park caused problems for many of the people that the protestors said were being hurt by the 1%.  Businesses around the park were laying off workers and closing because customers did not want to have to deal with the protestors.  When the protestors tried to close the Brooklyn Bridge and the subway it made it hard for other workers to get to their jobs or go home. Despite these problems, I still do believe people have a right to be heard and their frustration recognized because a few people have a lot of power while many others do not. 

The social issue that the Occupy Wall Street protestors are angry about is global and affects people’s lives every day.  Now that the police have broken up the camp and do not allow the protestors to bring in tents, sleeping bags and generators, what will become of the protestors?  Will they just rant on the internet?  Will their ideas and excitement die out now that they are not seen on TV every day?  Or was their protest in Zuccotti Park the beginning of a social movement that will lead to a revolution that fixes our economy and creates economic equality?  Time will tell how much impact the Occupy Wall Street protests have on our lives.

Sources:

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/o/occupy_wall_street

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/business/occupy-wall-street-has-plenty-potential

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/protests-illustrates-dire-economics-aniety