Two weekends ago, on what must have been a whim, I hopped a 5:30 AM bus out of Dover, Delaware to New York City. My aim was to scope out the latest in the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests, but not having been to the Big Apple since before my thirteenth birthday, I wasn’t really sure what I was in for.
We were dropped off at Macy’s in midtown Manhattan, and worked our way down to Brooklyn to see a friend who was living in one of those artist/musician hives off of Flushing Avenue. We saw people in V-necks and Weimar Republic military jackets sipping soy chai lattes in a coffee shop on a bombed-out looking street. They were listening to weird post chamber music involving cellos and cymbals and theremins, hunching over pdf’s of heady postmodern philosophy.
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In need of caffeine ourselves, we walked in to the hipster watering hole, skipping over the network of MacBook powercords that lay entangled across the hardwood floor. The barista asked me what I wanted, and I said, “An end to corporatism, the beginning of true participatory democracy!” She smiled and told me that I needed to go back across the East River to Washington Square Park where a general assembly was being held that afternoon. It was Saturday, October 8.
“Now,” she asked, “What do you want to drink?”
“Just a small coffee, please.”
“No problem. That’ll be three dollars and seventy five cents.”
So, when we arrived at Washington Square Park it was already mobbed. There were people thronging in all directions, marching, chanting, blowing whistles, and waving signs with statements that ranged from knee-jerk anarchism to well-considered critiques. The city of New York prohibited the use of any form of loudspeaker by the protestors, so they developed their own innovative call and response form of self amplification, called “the people’s mic.”
For some people, the assembly was an opportunity to express three years of pent up frustration, people still in the throes of the 2008 housing bubble burst, the foreclosures and bank repossessions. Others bemoaned the ballooning debt of students and college graduates. There were calls for healthcare reform, critiques of corporate destruction of the environment, the corporatist exploitation of the poor, the elderly, the sick, children, soldiers… and, of course, for some people, the assembly was really just an excuse to trade anti-authoritarian quotes over a lightly-strummed acoustic guitar and a pipe filled with something that is not even legal to smoke medicinally in the state of New York.
Regardless of the malady, the slogans pointed to one common enemy; the “corporate elite,” the faceless, vaguely evil suit and tie wearer with dollar signs for eyes who would sell his grandmother if only she could be made into a liquefiable asset. This image burned in effigy in the twinkling eyes of the protestors, the self-proclaimed ninety-ninth percentile of America not working for Wall Street.
And yes, as has been repeated ad infinitum on nearly every major media platform, left and right, before and since my trip, there is no single message or coherent set of demands these protestors are articulating. But that is primarily because they are still in molten form.
From the standpoint of the movement’s organizers, or what is the closest thing the movement has to an organizational voice, The Occupied Wall Street Journal, this lack of “talking points” is a strength, not a weakness. Framing the movement as a narrative with many voices, the OWSJ wears its lack of a list of demands on its sleeve, claiming in this October 8 editorial note that “the exhausted political machines and their PR slicks are already seeking leaders to elevate, messages to claim, talking points to move on. They, more than anyone, will attempt to seize and shape this moment.”
While this may be a pithy critique of the way our country’s media-political machine functions, this should not stand in the way of actually getting some smart people together to craft some real, tangible goals. And by that I don’t mean abolishing private property or reanimating Karl Marx.
Well-intentioned writers like Chris Hedges fill our heads with high-minded revolutionary rhetoric, which was sexy in college, but now, well it’s almost as baroque as the financial system we’re all currently trying to decode. He writes in a brief titled “THIS REBELLION WILL NOT STOP” featured in the October 8 OWSJ:
“The goal to us is very, very clear. It can be articulated in one word—REBELLION. We have not come to work within the system. We are not pleading with the Congress for electoral reform. We know electoral politics is a farce. We have found another way to be heard and exercise power. We have no faith in the political system or the two major political parties. And we know the corporate press will not amplify our voices…”
For those of us who are not insiders like Mr. Hedges, whose word we must go on, this language seems strangely nihilistic, needlessly cynical and melodramatic. We have a financial system, it can work, it just needs reform. We have a justice system, so why not use it on the so-called “criminal class” of Wall Street? If the movement refuses to acknowledge the system, then how does it expect the system to take it seriously? Then the movement really will be everything that Fox News is making of it.
For many commentators on the right, take Bill O’Reilly for instance, the protesters are merely “anti-capitalist.” Ann Coulter has gone so far as to compare the protesters to the Nazis, making Occupy Wall Street the left’s Nuremburg Rallies.
“This is always the beginning of totalitarianism,” she said in her trademark waspy drawl on Fox Business News earlier this month.
But this is hardly the case. Sure, there are people out there who are saying some pretty wacky, ill-considered things, and naturally this makes them vulnerable to the conservative media’s grist mill, which wants nothing more than to make this movement an object of ridicule. The following day, for instance, when I made it over to Zuccotti Park, the original epicenter of the protest, Fox News was present, their camera taking in hour after hour of the cacophonous drum circle’s semi-intoxicated antics. Meanwhile, on the other end of the park, there were people holding symposiums on bank regulation, private sector reform, and strategies to keep American jobs from ending up overseas. I never saw Fox try to interview any of those people, and if they did, their reporters would have discovered that these activists found the drumming to be pretty counter-productive.
At its best, the spirit of the movement is collegiate, empowering, and inspiring. At its worst, Occupy Wall Street is a lot of frustrated, exhausted unemployed people blowing off steam, making fools of themselves, and, worst of all, failing to get any closer to an understanding of the financial system purportedly responsible for their plight.
However, what is more unsettling than anything else is that those who do understand our financial system on the nuanced level required for effective reform—the bankers, the politicians, and the President himself—are incapable of coming to anything resembling an agreement. Just today, congress failed yet again to come to a bi-partisan solution to lowering the national deficit.
Regardless of whether the majority of the people involved in the OWS protests are actually unemployed —the Wall Street Journal found today that only 15% are actually jobless—this movement exists for a reason, and that reason is to draw attention to our flawed and dysfunctional economic and financial system. So, if a message more coherent than that can emerge from this chaotic whirlwind of leftist rhetoric, then so be it; then a productive dialogue between OWS and the press can truly begin. Until then, what we have is a major class war on our hands that isn’t going to stop any time soon.
Simon Kelly is a graduate of Gunston School and earned his BA at Guilford College in 2010.
Sarah L. says
Simon’s gone Gonzo!! Well done, Mr. Kelly.
Mary Wood says
What a lively report. Thanks for getting up at 5:30 and telling ,a grandmother,( in danger of being sold if only I could become a “liquifiable asset.”) what it is like up where the action is. I hope the messages from the 99% will be heard by members of Congress who seem determined to keep anything from happening to move our country forward.
I congratulate you for a good piece of writing.
Cecily Lyle says
Nice work Simon. I’m looking forward to your next piece of fine writing.
Bennett Price says
Great reporting
Joan Smith says
An excellent report. Well done. As Mary says, we hope someone in Washington is listening.
Andrew Thomas says
Well done Simon, It’s refreshing to read some unbiased reporting. There is a lot of good that can come from this, but it needs to become a completely different entity than what it at this point. I agree with you, they do need to have one central point that everyone can agree on and focus its energy on that. Right now the OWS protestors are just coming across as an argument, not a cause. As with any assembled group, you will have your crazies, and it’s not conducive to what this cause could and should be. The messages of these loonies are getting intertwined with the good coherent messages that could make this an impactful protest. Also, I again agree with you that most of the protesters don’t have a rational understanding of our financial system. As with most issues in our country, people aren’t willing to educate themselves about what is actually going on. I can sympathize with the protesters, and agree with some of the points I have heard coming from OWS movement. I won’t pretend to have the answers, but something has to be done.
dlamotte says
Enjoyed this Simon. I can understand the ambiguous messages OWS movement has. After all, there
are many contributing factors to the mess we are in. I would say, though, at the least they all have a
desire for our country to be a democracy once again. That is, an equal voice/vote in how our nation is
governed and the direction we are going.
gerry maynes says
Hi, It seems to methat these folks far from influencing any one with their silly antics are only wasting time. I have only seen or read anbout stements from rich little children going to expensive schools on their parents doal, or fol;ks who seem to be on leave from some mental institution. I will begin to worry when I see a middle class person walking about with a picket sign ( not some guy paid by his union to picket) . Remember the current congress was elected to stop President Obama and hold his administration in check to the next election. So, what is the problem?
A bunch of crybabies can!t handle a loss of and election WOW! Just the argument that the confederates used to
set up shop! How that work for them? Here is a much better idea GROW UP!. If you do not like the way that your goverment is acting, joiun a party become a commiteperson, help nominate candidates and work for them. Oh yes show up and vote.
Oh and for the reporter of this article thanks for the effort. But , how do your readers know that your political views haven!t tainted your point of view? By you pointing out FOX and not mentioning MSNBC and others makes me a bit suspicious.
gerry maynes says
Hi Again, The folks misbehaving in Ny claim to represent the 99% of us that arent rich. Since When? Was there and election that I missed? Oh! I guess they represent the less then 1 percent of the population that can!t figure out how lucky they are to be Americans. The 98% or so of s that do are to busy working, rasing our kids. or looking for a job to take time to sleep in a park and impede on the rigths of the folks who live and work in the area that they are picketing.
Steve Payne says
Great Report, I wish I could have gone and shot some video. I think Mayor Bloomberg has handled this situation well. I can understand their anger at the situation we find ourselves in even though I prefer to continue to look for work myself.
Frank Geber says
@Gerry, these folks have definitely figured out how lucky they are to be Americans.And they are doing somthing about it. They are exercising their right to free assembly. I for one am grateful for Simon’s efforts to bring this report to us. His perspective is the only one he should be writing from.
Gerry Maynes says
Hi, and what babout the rigths of the people who live in that neihborhood? Or those who have small shops, delis, etc. They don!t have any rigths ? If these folks decided to occupy downtown Chestertown, some of these same supporters would be yelling Bloodly Murder!. What is more subtract the paid union bums,school kids, just plain bums. assorted nuts and homeless people, what you have left is a handful of folks that are well meaning.
But since the corporations that they are upset with are located in places like Arkansas, it is having little effect. The congreess, the supreme court and the White House are located in Washington DC. So, Have a good time, picket, sing silly songs, keep the street nuts fed and busy. But donT do the one thing mthat would change the country VOTE.
join a party, work for candidates of your choice. Silly me thats work!
Roland Arnold says
Hey Gerry,
Nice idea re: the vote but this system is broken too. I voted for CHANGE, some democrat or other but he turned into a black Bush by prosecuting a useless war against a non-existent army in Afghanistan. More of the same. We are not represented and won’t be as long as it takes millions to get elected to congress. Let them frack your aquifer, let them plant GMO’s all over the Eastern Shore, let them erect WalMarts in your neighborhood. Keep voting and telling yourself how great you are to support this world destroying empire and that we are assorted nuts for wanting a thoughtful nation instead. Picketing and singing silly songs (wasting our time) shouldn’t be met with pepper spray and riot police, but it has been. We must be close to the truth or the status quo would not be afraid of us. And the Fox reference is valid as it is a well known dispenser of lies and misinformation. Cheers!
Joe Diamond says
COPIED FROM Raw Story 1/16/2012
Occupy protesters kicked off bus on way to Washington
By Muriel Kane
Sunday, January 15, 2012
195
Topics: Donald Ainsworth ♦ greyhound bus ♦ Washington
A group of Occupy protesters from California, who were heading to Washington, DC to participate in the Occupy Congress protest on January 17, were kicked off their Greyhound bus on Saturday night and left stranded in Amarillo, Texas.
The driver, Donald Ainsworth, allegedly called the Occupiers “you people” and told them they were not welcome in Washington or anywhere else. It is not clear whether there had been any precipitating incident.
According to an account posted at Reddit by Road2CongressOSD, “Donald Ainsworth immediately began yelling at all passengers in the lobby. Once he realized 13 passengers were with Occupy he began making personal and rude comments towards members when boarding with tickets. No one responded. Once the bus was boarded he began shouting ‘Sit down and shut up! Anyone standing is getting kicked off the bus.’ Several passengers, not just Occupants, began addressing the driver’s conduct. He left the bus, and locked all passengers within for over an hour. He made a lengthy phone call and before too long the police had arrived. The officer came on the bus and spoke with us, stating he knew Don’s attitude was poor but he had the right to remove us.”
The account goes on to say that the police offer and the driver then walked through the bus together “and Don asked every passenger ‘are you with Occupy?’ To the 13 of us who responded yes, the police ordered them to exit the bus. Then Don said ‘Anyone else support Occupy? You can get off too!’”
The Reddit post concludes by saying, “Also, a few random acts of pizza would be nice:)” According to Crooks and Liars, pizza did arrive from a local Papa John’s, and by Sunday morning the protesters were back on another bus and on their way. They say, however, that Greyhound has so far refused to offer any compensation for their inconvenience.
There does not yet appear to be any published explanation of the driver’s conduct or comment from Greyhound management. It is also not clear whether the driver would have been within his legal rights to order the protests removed without cause or whether his actions were in violation of anti-discrimination laws.
Greyhound’s own regulations specify that “carriers reserve the right to refuse to transport a person under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs, or who is incapable of taking care of him/herself, or whose conduct is such or likely to be such as to make him or her objectionable to other passengers or prospective passengers, or who refuses to comply with any lawful rule or regulation of the carrier.” Nothing in what the occupiers have said indicates that they were in violation of any of these criteria.
This video was posted to Youtube on January 15, 2012 by occupy17.
Joe