Occupy Wall Street

{{uspolitics}}
'''Occupy Wall Street''' is a grassroots (meaning not [[astroturf]]ed)<ref>Everyone knows the [[George Soros|Soros]] Bucks are just rolling in: [http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/14/us-wallstreet-protests-funding-idUSTRE79D01Q20111014?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews Soros: Not a Funder of Wall Street Protests], Reuters</ref> protest movement that began on September 17, 2011, initiated by the [[Canada|Canuckistani]] culture-jamming group [[Adbusters]].<ref>[http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/occupywallstreet Adbusters' OWS page]</ref>  Protesters occupied the street at Zuccotti Park (formerly ''Liberty Plaza'') in [[New York City]] (and other locations across the [[United States]] and around the world) as a way of demonstrating against the financial powers mostly responsible for the [[banking crisis|economic crisis of 2008]], the vast, increasing wealth gap between the rich and everyone else (hence "We are the 99%"), and corporate power, with particular emphasis on corporate control of the government and government policy.

==Origins==
The primary target of the movement's anger was the mishandling of the [[economy]] over the past few years, most especially the {{wpl|Wall Street bailout}} but also the bailout of the auto industry and the broader [[deregulation]] movement that dominated politics of the past decade and, to a lesser extent, the 1990's (ironically, while the Tea Party and the Occupy movements are generally viewed as being at opposite sides of the political spectrum, both cite bailouts as major motivating factors for protests).

[[Anonymous]] had some involvement in spreading the word about the movement prior to the start of the demonstrations;<ref>[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/occupy-wall-street Occupy Wall Street] at Know Your Meme</ref> given that OWS was mostly organized over the internet, this is not surprising.

As its name suggests, Occupy Wall Street began in the United States, but its tactics were used by protesters in many other major financial centres around the world by what has become the Occupy movement, with varying results. A more comprehensive list can be seen at [http://directory.occupy.net/ the Occupy Directory.]

==Media coverage==
Unlike with its right-wing [[astroturf]] equivalent the [[Tea Party movement]], most mainstream [[news]] organizations opted ''not'' to cover the movement initially, perhaps thinking it wouldn't last.<ref>http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/police-clashes-spur-coverage-of-wall-street-protests/</ref> Initial media coverage of the movement was limited to the left-wing press, but when police officers were caught on camera being extremely aggressive against peaceful protesters,<ref>If you haven't heard of [http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Casually+Pepper+Spray+Everything+Cop Casually Pepper Spray Everything Cop...]</ref> the mainstream media sat up and took notice — after which the protestors came to feature prominently in the news.

This would tend to suggest that the mainstream media does not actually have a [[liberal bias]], as [[conservative]]s over the years have claimed (the left-wing press, very much in contrast, was reporting on Occupy Wall Street ''before'' it started) — although it might be slapped with that label just for showing that level of concern for the protesters' civil liberties.

==Criticisms==
Criticism of the movement largely focused on the [[tone argument|character of the protest]], or on the protesters themselves, rather than the substance of the message. The lack of any official spokespersons for the movement, however, meant that while one can point to areas of consensus, there was no official platform for the movement.

===Dirty hippies===
The standard criticisms against this sort of mass movement have been trotted out, with the Occupiers characterized as a gaggle of jobless, parasitic [[hippie]]s.<ref>[http://twitter.com/#!/StephenAtHome/status/136664836636557312 Some asshole on Twitter]</ref> While Occupy Wall Street had indeed drawn the usual [[crank]]s and ''alte kaempfer'' out of the woodwork,<ref>In Oakland, for example, there was a touch of unpleasantness involving "black bloc" [[anarchist]]s who had associated with the Occupy movement there. [http://truth-out.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=6510:black-bloc-the-cancer-in-occupy] [http://truth-out.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=6574:activists-and-anarchists-speak-for-themselves-at-occupy-oakland]</ref> particularly among the protest's dedicated movers and shakers, they were joined by quite a few ordinary people, who had felt the pinch of the economic recession and attributed their troubles to the large amount of wealth held by the [[Social_class#Upper class|upper class]].  And their [[evidence]] is massive.<ref>http://www.alternet.org/occupywallst/152811/the_shocking,_graphic_data_that_shows_exactly_what_motivates_the_occupy_movement_/?page=entire</ref><ref>http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/nov/18/joe-biden/biden-says-middle-income-earners-lost-ground-reces/</ref><ref>http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2011/oct/07/checking-claims-occupy-wall-street/</ref><ref>http://www.oecd.org/document/40/0,3746,en_21571361_44315115_49166760_1_1_1_1,00.html</ref><ref>http://www.politifact.com/personalities/occupy-wall-street/</ref>

===Incipient anti-American Reign of Terror!===
Then there were those who viewed Occupy Wall Street's message as anti-American and generally evil.<ref>http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/09/cain-calls-occupy-wall-street-protesters-anti-american/</ref> [[Rush Limbaugh]] called them "stupid idiots and tools",<ref>http://www.politicususa.com/en/rush-limbaugh-occupy-wall-st</ref> while [[Glenn Beck]] said "They will come for you and drag you into the streets and kill you...they're [[Marxist]] radicals...these guys are worse than Robespierre from the [[French Revolution]]...they'll kill everybody."<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/10/glenn-beck-occupy-wall-street-kill-everybody_n_1004016.html</ref> 

The U.S.'s income distribution, as measured by the {{wpl|Gini coefficient}}, is more unequal than most OECD countries. In addition, the Stars and Stripes draped quite a few of the tents during the (US) protests <ref>http://www.opendemocracy.net/anthony-barnett/long-and-quick-of-revolution</ref> This suggests that, contrary to sweeping claims of anti-Americanism, many of those sympathetic to the movement and at least a fair number of those who participate generally considered protesting their patriotic duty.

===The 53%===
{{main|We are the 53 percent}}
RedState.com started a counter-movement/[[meme]] to the "99%" called the "53%", referring to the percentage of U.S. citizens who make enough money to pay income [[tax]]es.  The movement's main Tumblr site<ref>[http://the53.tumblr.com/ We are the 53%] on Tumblr</ref> shows individuals with their picture and a handwritten note about their place in America (similar to those involved in the 99% movement<ref>[http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/ We are the 99%] on Tumblr</ref>), usually to the effect of "Suck it up, you whiners!" and "I never asked for a handout!"

Some of the 53%-ers' assertions are actually evidence that those individuals are in [[denial]] about their own place in America and the role of the [[government]] in their lives.  Counter-counter-movement sites were created<ref>[http://not53.tumblr.com/ We are not the 53%] on Tumblr</ref><ref>[http://actuallyyourethe47percent.tumblr.com/ Actually you're the 47%] on Tumblr</ref> to call out those who ''say'' they are the 53%, pointing out that the content they provided suggests otherwise (for example, someone who attended a [[public education|public university]], benefited from safety regulations, or served in the [[United States Armed Forces|military]] clearly depended on the government for ''something'', regardless of what their confirmation bias might lead them to believe).

This also completely ignores the reason ''why'' certain people pay no income tax: i.e. they make so little that any further reduction in their paychecks would push their quality of life even further beyond the poverty line to the point that ''any'' good would become unaffordable, even the very essential ones. This is including welfare transfers, which should really say something about the level of pay (or lack thereof) for lower to middle class Americans. The simplest solution to getting these individuals to pay income tax without further harming them would be to raise their wages, but of course that's freedom-hating communism, so it's clearly evil in some way. 

Of course, the inventor of the term was a guy named [[Erick Erickson]], [[wingnut welfare|who makes his living by telling other people (who may or may not already be employed) they should "get a job"]], so it's because of Occupiers that ''he'' has a job.

===The 1%&mdash;kinda===
The 99% movement also spawned a sister movement online, similar to the "We are the 99%" site, which features self-attributed members of the 1% who believe that the economic inequalities in the U.S. should be assessed.<ref>[http://westandwiththe99percent.tumblr.com/ We stand with the 99%] on Tumblr</ref>  Many of the entries finish with "Tax me more, I can afford it!", which suggested [[altruism]] is not the outmoded concept that some would like to think it is. 

Perhaps the most notable example of an adherent to this is billionaire Warren Buffett, who has so strongly advocated for a fairer tax system that [[Barack Obama]] named his tax proposal, the Buffett Rule, after him.

===The real 
4%
 1%===
Another criticism is to [[not as bad as|put the protest in global perspective]], characterizing its goal as "making privileged Westerners more equal in status to other privileged Westerners, which downplays the plight of those in the [[Third World]] who are in ''real'' poverty". In other words, dismissing economic inequality within the developed world as a case of [[first world problems]], with the American [[working class]] still, in their assessment, better off than 90% of the world's population and therefore part of the elite themselves, not realizing just how good they have it. Occupy Wall Street supporters generally treat this as a [[red herring]] calculated to divide one group of oppressed people from another group of oppressed people, while downplaying the plight of working class Americans. Considering that the only thing<sup>[what?]</sup> keeping the fate of the US's working class from the situation faced in developing countries is slowly being diminished, said Occupiers may have had a point.

===The risks of populism and the 1%===
The now-famous "We are the 99%" slogan, some can argue, is both a significant strength for Occupy and a major weakness, which goes into the limitations and risks inherent in populism. The 99% vs 1% dynamic, for all its inclusiveness, has within it the temptation of reducing politics with all its compromises and finer dynamics into simplistic moralism,<ref>[http://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/cas-mudde/nothing-left-in-search-of-new-social-democracy Especially since this can mask divisive issues ''within'' the 99%.]</ref> if not devolve into endless blame games on both sides. In such a framework, the 1% and any symbol or institution associated with them (e.g. Wall Street) can make for convenient scapegoats on the part of Occupiers, something that can be easily taken and abused by cranks and conspiracy theorists. For both critics and supporters however, this can be countered by actually getting to work on finding practical solutions while acknowledging that pinning down the villainous powers-that-be is pointless when just about ''everyone'' is (somewhat) at fault.<ref>Something that Freakonomics author James Altucher [http://freakonomics.com/2011/09/30/dear-occupy-wall-street-are-you-sure-youre-in-the-right-place/ brought up] as a response to the interminable scapegoating.</ref>

===Is this what Democracy looks like?===
This point goes back to the aforementioned "lack of any official spokesperson" drawback. Occupiers made much ado of their movement's general style of direct democracy and lack of hierarchy. While these did provide a very inclusive platform (at least on paper) in that anyone's voice can be heard, in practice it made voting on common issues long and prone to interminable discussion that could dilute the message or even derail it at the last minute. At the same time, critics including those involved in Occupy itself pointed to other drawbacks such as tendency of said leaderless nature to mask an unaccountable hierarchy or elite that denies itself as such.<ref>A point echoing Jo Freeman's [http://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm The Tyranny of Structurelessness]</ref> Consequently, this also made it harder to rein in outlying elements (the aforementioned cranks and conspiracy nutters) and actually sustain the movement in the longer term. While this by itself did not compromise Occupy at its beginning or cause it to automatically devolve into mob rule, it increasingly became evident later on as factionalism grew within the movement.

===Occupy...now what?===
Another common criticism of Occupy is tied to the very nature of the movement itself and its plans, or rather a lack thereof, when compared (ironically enough) to the Tea Party. For Gene Sharp, the man whose ''How to Start a Revolution'' has inspired—directly or otherwise—various protests around the world (that even Occupy supporters credit him), it didn't have much of a conceivable plan or strategy to really make it work beyond the rhetoric.<ref>http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/12/201112113179492201.html "The [Occupy] protesters don't have a clear objective, something they can actually achieve. If they think they will change the economic system by simply staying in a particular location, then they are likely to be very disappointed. Protest alone accomplishes very little."</ref> While supporters at large took pride in its "We are the 99%" inclusiveness, slogans and lack of an official platform as a strength, they could only go so far before more pragmatic problems entered the picture. This sense of vagueness wasn't helped by the tendency of cranks and more radical groups to project their various revolutionary and utopian visions on the movement, further adding an impression of "preaching to the choir" introversion rather than inclusiveness. It's no surprise then why some people found it harder to take Occupy seriously as time went on.<ref>The ''[http://www.villagevoice.com/2013-05-01/film/occupy-love/?utm_source=feedly Occupy Love]'' indie-documentary in 2012 for instance frames the movement, the Arab Spring and European protests among others into a rather rosy and vague narrative of global love revolution and consciousness-woo.</ref> To counter these criticisms, one Occupy group formed a plan to buy up, and then cancel, the personal debts of everyday Americans. As of November 2013, fifteen million dollars of debt has been written off in this way.<ref>[http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/11/13/occupy-eliminated-debt/ Check Out How Occupy Eliminated 15 Million Dollars Of Personal Debt For Americans]</ref>

==Woo and Crankery==
While including plenty of legitimate, justified protesters and sympathizers, the Occupy movement was such that there's bound to be people there just to make a mess and generally paint a bad impression of the protests as a whole. The radical fringe and cranks however took it one step further and used Occupy as a platform to promote their groups and/or the woo of their choice.  
 
===The ''real'' 0.001%===

While Occupy was a largely leftist movement, its big-tent populism meant that leftists were not the only ones who took part in it, with many on the [[Far right|fringe right]] also using the banner of Occupy to promote their own beliefs and worldviews. Conspiracy theorists like [[Mark Dice]], [[David Icke]], and [[Luke Rudkowski]], who subscribe to the idea of the [[Illuminati]] ruling the world, have argued that the real enemy of the movement should be the Illuminati 'Superclass', equating to 0.001% of the world's population. These individuals and with others of similar interest attended Occupy movements expressing these sentiments. Libertarians and supporters of [[Ron Paul]]'s 2012 presidential bid were also a fixture, his opposition to the [[Federal Reserve]] meshing with Occupy's opposition to the financial system more broadly. Along similar lines, [[Alex Jones]] tried to jump onto the bandwagon by holding an "Occupy the Fed" rally in 2011<ref>Claybough, Raven. [https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/item/9746-first-occupy-wall-street-now-occupy-the-fed "First Occupy Wall Street Now Occupy the Fed."] ''The New American'', 7 October 2011 (recovered 24 November 2019).</ref>, as did the [[Oath Keepers]], a [[Militia movement|right-wing militia group]], though the Oath Keepers later turned against Occupy and called it a radical leftist movement. Even a minority of [[Tea Party movement|Tea Party]] activists expressed sympathy for Occupy, though the majority of them were antipathetic and dismissed it as socialist.<ref name="farright">Sunshine, Spencer. [https://www.politicalresearch.org/2014/02/23/the-right-hand-of-occupy-wall-street-from-libertarians-to-nazis-the-fact-and-fiction-of-right-wing-involvement "The Right Hand of Occupy Wall Street."] ''Political Research Associates'', 24 February 2014 (recovered 24 November 2019).</ref><ref name="farright2">Sunshine, Spencer. [https://www.politicalresearch.org/2014/02/13/20-right-occupy "20 on the Right in Occupy."] ''Political Research Associates'', 13 February 2014 (recovered 24 November 2019).</ref>

[[White supremacy|White supremacists]] and [[Antisemitism|anti-Semites]] also took part out of a belief that the Jews controlled the big banks that Occupy was protesting, with [[David Duke]], [[Greg Johnson]], and the ''[[Liberty Lobby|American Free Press]]'' enthusiastically championing the movement. An organizer at Occupy Kansas City promoted ''[[The Protocols of the Elders of Zion]]'', a schoolteacher who attended Occupy Los Angeles was expelled from the event after going on an anti-Semitic rant on camera<ref>[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/patricia-mcallister-fired_n_1020252 "Patricia McAllister, LAUSD Teacher, Fired After Airing Anti-Semitic Views."] ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', 19 October 2011 (recovered 24 November 2019).</ref>, Occupy Indianapolis saw so much antisemitism and far-right activism that the Hoosier Anti-Racist Movement lodged a protest with its organizers, and Occupy Tallinn in [[Estonia]] was pretty much dominated by right-wing nationalist groups. Other far-right leaders, however, were more suspicious of Occupy, with the National Socialist American Labor Party and the National Socialist Movement both seeing it as a far-left communist movement filled with "[[degenerate]]s".<ref name="farright2"></ref> Adbusters' own troubling history of playing footsie with anti-Semites under the guise of [[Neoconservatism#A Jew and a neocon walk in to a bar...|opposing "neoconservatism"]] didn't help.<ref name="farright"></ref> [[Jason Kessler]], the [[alt-right]] activist who led the notorious [[Unite the Right]] rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, also started out as a left-wing Occupy activist who advocated attacking police officers with bricks and Molotov cocktails.<ref>[https://wina.com/news/064460-jason-kessler-participated-in-occupy-says-another-activist/ "Jason Kessler participated in Occupy, says another activist."] ''WINA'', 2017 (recovered 24 November 2019).</ref>

And of course, [[Lyndon LaRouche]] was all about Occupy, because why wouldn't he be?

===Freeman on the land===
[[The Guardian]]'s "Comment is Free" section became host to a handful of [[Freeman on the land]] articles in late 2011,<ref>Such as [http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/nov/15/welfare-education-law-occupy-london this one].</ref> which essentially amounted to [[pseudolaw]] with an anarchist veneer. Needless to say, these did more to help discredit Freeman ideas in the UK than anything else, with lawyers and professionals subsequently grilling those articles.<ref>[http://judiciary.sut1.co.uk/docs/benchmark/benchmark_feb2012.pdf "Nonsense or loophole?"] (Benchmark #57, February 2012, p 18)</ref>

===Occupy Evolver===
David DeGraw was one of the people responsible for coining the term "the 99%" even before Occupy and subsequently was involved in the protests. On the other hand, he considers the protests as being at the forefront of a [[spiritual evolution]] of consciousness.<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-degraw/occupy-evolver-realize-yo_b_2232413.html These] [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-degraw/46-trillion-reasons-to-ev_b_2271919.html articles] pretty much explain themselves.</ref> Unfortunately, his vision infuses enough techno-utopianism, [[New Age]] woo and shaky understanding of economics into the mix that it almost seems like something detractors would make up to discredit the Occupiers, if it wasn't taken seriously.

==Accomplishments==
===Policy===
Policy accomplishments are not all that clear, especially in comparison to social movements of the past, like the Civil Rights Movement.  It is possible that the movement pushed the Democrats, and specifically Obama and Biden, to the left on economic issues during the 2012 election cycle.  This can't be proven, and it's not technically policy.

In the wake of the movement, progressive economists have become more organized and more vocal in demanding progressive policy, and it could be that they have felt empowered by the people who took to the streets. Maybe this could one day be proven (if we just ask them). Again this is not technically a policy accomplishment, though it ''may'' translate to such in the future.

===The Public Mind===
OWS certainly gave Americans something of a class conscience, which was seriously lacking and still is.  As well, OWS really highlighted for the American people the issue of big business's influence on the government and policy.  To this extent, Occupy has been credited with giving rise to the 2016 presidential candidacy of [[Bernie Sanders]].

===Disaster relief===
Occupiers throughout the states of New York and New Jersey organized Occupy Sandy in 2012 in the immediate aftermath of [[Hurricane Sandy]]. Their efforts helped thousands of families at a time when FEMA was (it still is) crippled in terms of funding and resources. (For all their lack of supplies, the FEMA workers themselves were really enthusiastic and passionate about their jobs and were by and large happy to work with the Occupiers).

Occupy helped out in the aftermath of the Tornado in [[Oklahoma]] in 2013.<ref>[http://opokrelief.net/ Here is the website if you want to help]</ref>

Occupiers in Boulder, Colorado organized Occupy Boulder Flood Relief during and after the flood in 2013. They changed their name to simply "Boulder Flood Relief" as more organizations got involved, but very many former occupiers participated and the organization stayed true to the same organizing and leadership tactics and principles as Occupy did, and is still doing so today.<ref>[http://boulderfloodrelief.org/ Here is the website if you want to help]</ref>

===Sticking it to the banks and helping a brother/sister out===
Occupiers throughout the United States have helped to prevent or delay numerous foreclosures.

With the aforementioned debt cancellation campaign (first it was called "Occupy Student Debt," then it was called "Strike Debt," then it was called "Rolling Jubilee", and now it's called "Debt Collective"), Occupiers and anonymous donors have helped to relieve thousands of Americans' education and medical debts. Basically, they pay off defaulted loans, meaning banks get pennies back on the dollars they gave out.<ref>YAY!</ref>

There are efforts underway to establish the Occupy Money Cooperative, which will be a credit union focused on providing FDIC-insured financial services to the economically disadvantaged. Things are moving way ahead of schedule because donors have been rather generous. Granted, this is not yet an accomplishment as the creation and activities of the cooperative have yet to occur.

In the new SEC rules currently before Congress, Occupy the SEC's 325-page letter is cited 284 times.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/12/11/the-volcker-rule-cites-the-occupy-movement-284-times Take that, Erick Erickson!]</ref> Needless to say, the dirtbags in the Congress are doing all they can to gut those new rules before they vote on the bill.

==See also==
*[[Social democracy]]
*[[Democratic socialism]]
*[[Socialism]]
*[[Anarchism]]
*[[Anonymous]]

==External links==
*[http://occupywallst.org/ OWS Website]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdVODFombco A pretty good Al Jazeera documentary on why the hell this happened]

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}

[[Category:Financial crisis of 2007 to 2009]]
[[Category:New York]]
[[Category:Political movements]]

Categories: Financial crisis of 2007 to 2009, New York, Political movements