Why I Support Occupy Wall Street, and Why You Should Too

I’ve wanted to write about this movement since I became involved, but did not know where to begin. I’m not a writer. However, I am a fighter and I believe that the attacks on Occupy Wall Street movement from the press and some politicians are without base – therefore I am writing this piece in defense of a movement I’ve been waiting most of my life for.

“What is this movement about anyways? They have no leadership, no set goals, no proposals, nothing.”

In two words, economic inequality. That is the heart of the protest – I am baffled as to why the political pundits and the media and the politicians do not seem to understand something so obvious. Everything that is being protested is secondary to and often a byproduct of economic inequality.

The lack of leadership is important, although there are many in the movement who disagree. While the pros of having a leader include a more concise message and a charismatic figure to rally around (think Obama or Palin during the 2008 elections – most of their respective bases were charmed by their charisma), the cons in my opinion outweigh them. By having a leader, the media conversation is moved from talking about the issues to talking about the leader. It is tough to behead an already headless snake. By not having a concise message, there is more conversation about how to solve problems. More people are attracted to a movement that is inclusive via an open atmosphere than to a movement that has a hard set of principles and a more ideologically exclusive atmosphere (such as the Tea Party).

The movement however, does have unofficial proposals written by an OWS supporter, and you can read them and vote on their importance here. Due to the nature of the movement, they are not concrete solutions but rather ideas to be built upon.

By having a leader you are talked down to. By having no leader you speak up. That alone is revolutionary.

“The 99% are mostly over privileged, whiny, upper middle class college educated white kids with trust funds – I have nothing in common with them, I’ve been poor my whole life!”

While some of the movement is this, most aren’t, see below. The powers that be want to keep the poor and the middle classes divided – and they have done this since the French Revolution.

By misinforming the public, the people in power seek to create class division – because divided we fall, united we stand. Divide and conquer is the oldest military strategy in the book. The second the poor and rich band together is the second that those who have wealth and by extension, power, get really scared. If most or all of the 99% in this country come together - those in power have a bubbling revolution on their hands.

The mere fact that the OWS protesters have realized that we are all in this together and the dividing line between the have-a-littles and have-nots has blurred – they are absolutely terrified. With unity there is strength, and with strength there is power to do anything… including breaking out the guillotine and having the super rich run for their lives. (Not that I’m advocating this! Nonviolence gets shit done!)

“They’re protesting capitalism and greed, meanwhile they’re filming and photographing it on expensive cameras, fiddling with their iPhones, and blogging on their MacBook Pros. Hypocritical much?”

No. Just because one protests economic injustice doesn’t mean they need to go back to the pre-modern technology age. Just because one has the means to buy expensive equipment does not mean they are suddenly too privileged to protest – and they will use all of the available tools at their disposal to do so.

“Maybe if you stopped protesting, you would have time to find yourself a job!”

The root of all misunderstanding of current events is this. People would not be protesting if there was gainful employment. For example, the 1999 Seattle WTO protests did not gain steam after the WTO meeting ended, partially because we were at the height of an economic bubble.

When people have money, they are too busy working and buying things to protest en masse about injustice of any kind. In fact, many of the protesters have jobs, or are not currently seeking one due to other responsibilities. Many more protesters are protesting the fact that job security has vanished, among other things. They are protesting that they have to work three jobs now instead of one to survive.

 “They are a bunch of dirty hippies / bored white trust fund kids / over privileged students / anti-Americans / the fringe of the fringe of the left wing / Obama lovers / communists / anarchists / people looking for handouts / ect.”

No, they aren’t. Yes they are. It’s true, there are some dirty hippies, bored white trust fund kids hopping out of Mercedes Benzes, over privileged students, people who should get a job, fringe people, people who don’t support what America has become, Obama supporters, a handful of communists and anarchists, and a few people looking for a handout (like a guy who wanted to charge me $10 so I could learn how to talk to Fox News).

But, there’s also everyone else. The cancer survivors who have become destitute due to their medical bills, the students who work three jobs to support their education, the poor who never had a fair chance at chasing the American dream, let alone go to any college at all. There are the teachers, the nurses, the construction workers, and the unions. There are the 1%ers who support the cause and wished for a better world for all. There are democrats, republicans, tea partiers, independents, and people of all political persuasions. There are the capitalists seeking more regulation. There are anti-capitalists who say the root of all evil today goes back to capitalism. There are environmentalists, anti-war protesters, and LGBT rights supporters there. All walks of life are there, except for bigots.

“They are all white! They are anti-Semitic!”

Again, they are not. I’ve been to the movement a handful of times (starting October 5th), and slept over the night before Bloomberg threatened to “clean” the park. Sometimes Liberty Square was more white and young than anything else, but most of the time it was not.

I have seen almost every single skin color, age group, gender, and religious identity that exists in New York City. Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Arabs, Indians, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, whites, and people of mixed race. I saw Muslims and Orthodox Jews there. I saw a Buddhist monk there. I saw a Catholic priest there.

I saw babies. I saw the elderly. I saw crusty punk kids. I saw men in nice suits in solidarity with the less fortunate. I saw the chronically and historically underrepresented. I saw average college-aged kids there. I saw LGBT people wearing pride accessories. I saw people who in any other given circumstance would not associate with each other, talking.

I did not see hate.