We are Students, We are the 99%

Today I went to D.C. to run a couple errands. I parked in the Investment Banking parking garage and right away realized I was out of my element. I realized businessmen, security guards, surrounded and that these were some of society’s wealthiest. It obviously occurred to me that I hope to strive to work in an environment like this. I was walking among “the 1%.” I walked outside of the investment building into a dreary, miserable day. It was pouring down rain and was cold. I turned the corner and soon encountered the Occupy DC camp in Freedom Plaza. I was complaining about how wet and cold I was, but here these people are sleeping under tarps, which I can imagine is not the idle form of shelter. This then led me to want to research what more then stand for. I am aware that they want to reform corporate and government power, but there has to be more driving them.

Below is a picture I took today of the Occupy DC camp:

Reasons People Occupy Wall Street Through Pictures

Above is a site a came across. It has few words, but explains and evokes so much emotion. This site shows fourteen pictures of different people and each detailed with an individual story of why they have joined the Occupy Movement. One girl is holding up a post card that quotes “I haven’t been to the doctor in 8 years” another one says, “My mom lost her job 5 yrs ago. I survive on food stamps and random gigs. I have a masters degree and no job prospects.” Although these are just two examples, these are two situations that a lot of Americans today face.

Part of this movement that has affected me personally, and will affect me in the long run is life after school. I am one of the fortunate people who have been fortunate to be put through college by my parents and have zero in student loans. However, I have many close friends and family members that find themselves in situations that are not as fortunate. My cousin is a Georgetown University graduate, which is a top ranked University. She was on both academic and athletic scholarships, but still has much over $50,000 worth of student loans that she must pay back. Here is an article about why so many young people are joining the movement: Occupy Wall Street College Students

Not only are student students in a large amount of debt with loans when they graduate from college, but many are unable to put their degrees to use. With the condition that the economy is currently in, the unemployment rate has risen, and the number of job opportunities is minimal. How is it that recent college grads are expected to get jobs with little to no work experience, when adults that have masters degrees and a lot of work experience can’t even find a job? It’s a relatively new stress that not only college graduates are dealing with, but also a lot of Americans are. The American dream is described as achieving “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,” but its hard to obtain all three when you can’t even support yourself or your family with the shelter, food, and even in some cases water.

The Occupy DC movement has engaged a lot of people from all age groups. Many of these people are current students and recent graduates because of the ideal location that DC offers and the close vicinity to many schools. There is a valid reason that these people are sleeping and staying while even the weather is miserable. They are doing it for us, for America. This movement has brought attention to the fact that the economy and unemployment rate really is a problem and something needs to happen soon. I am a college senior, in a couple months I will start my search for a job. This thought is already lingering over my head and has created unnecessary stress when I should be enjoying my final year. After reading about peoples personal stories and even looking into my close family and friends, I realized I am the 99%.

For further reading click here: Facts about Student Loans

A Clear Message: Occupy DC's Declaration of Frustration

This past Wednesday, November 30, 2011, the protestors of the Occupy D.C. movement reached a consensus and published a Declaration that represents their specific beliefs and issues.

This document first introduces the Occupy DC movement, a “diverse” community that is troubled by the increasing disenfranchisement of the 99 percent. Then, the document outlines the specific set of grievances that the people of this movement have. These include, but are not limited to:

• exploitation by the 1 percent (those who have “40 percent of the nation’s wealth”);
• the need for campaign finance reform;
• polarization of our two political parties;
• continuous discrimination on race, religion, sexual discrimination, etc.;
• unwise, short-term decisions of financial institutions and corporations;
• failure by governmental authorities to protect peoples’ rights;

as well as the fact that all of these have led to the worsening of the quality of life of the 99 percent and therefore the American people as a whole. At the end, the General Assembly urges the people of America “to collaborate and share available resources” and “join your voice[s] with ours.”

This document is very important to the movement for multiple reasons. First, the document is clear evidence that the movement does have a purposeful message. Second, it articulates the grievances that are most important to Americans, since it was documented through a democratic process. Finally, the issues it discusses are real and, now that they are on paper, cannot be easily pushed aside or ignored.

One of the complaints about the Occupy movement in general is that it doesn’t have a clear message. Allen Weiss, a professor of marketing at USC Marshall School of Business, said that “Occupy Wall Street never had a really clear message – mostly energy.” [link] However, the Occupy DC movement now has a document with specific complaints, and calls us to action and to “re-conceive ways to build a just, democratic, and sustainable world.”

Also, if nothing else, the process of drafting the document was indeed democratic. According to the movement’s website, the Declaration was drafted using “a range of over 200 submissions to a box made available to the public.” The Declaration Committee, which was “open to the public and consist[ed] of several dozen people,” then met numerous times over the course of more than a month to draft the document from these submissions. The General Assembly looked over the Declaration three times before reaching a final consensus. The Occupy movement has also been criticized for being hypocritical by not being a ‘democratic’ and unified movement, though it criticizes society of being the same. The Daily Show, though comedic, even had a segment that exposed divisions and hierarchy within the Occupy Wall St. movement. However, the Occupy DC branch of this movement has figure out how to work together to come up with a cohesive document. This process, as one can see, is what democracy at its core is all about. This Occupy DC Declaration was drafted, as famously stated by President Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg address, “of the people, by the people, for the people.”

This document, by clearly addressing its qualms, has also brought to light specific issues facing our society today. One of the most important of these is corporate influence in government. Now, I am not saying that the idea of corporations is an inherent evil: however, when they use their power and influence to make as much profit as possible to the detriment of others and society at large, then we have a problem. There are numerous examples of former lobbyists and company executives who are elected to Congress or who now hold political offices. Just one example is Michael R. Taylor, who is currently the Deputy Commissioner for Foods at the Food and Drug Administration. Before working at the FDA, Taylor was the vice president for public policy at Monsanto, a multinational agricultural corporation. [link] We realistically cannot expect that none of the government officials like Taylor will be unbiased or completely removed from the interests of their former companies, especially if these companies have funded their campaigns or helped them in other ways. And, unlike Supreme Court justices, politicians do not recuse themselves. This “purchase of political power” is just one of the issues that the Occupy DC movement’s Declaration has now put on the table, and in written form.

Read the full Declaration here.

Why Have An Occupy Movement in DC?

While the Occupy Wall Street protests were some of the original and most media-documented of the “Occupy” protests, DC has become an important and central part of the movements. Several blogs, historical analyses/academic journals, and official ‘Occupy” websites have allowed me to further explore this topic and cite several keys reasons as to why an Occupy protest in DC is crucial to the success of the overall movement. Having numerous governmental, business, and other national and international groups headquartered in the city, Washington DC becomes a target city for protestors to make their voice heard. Further, the Occupy DC protests are not geographically far from the Occupy Wall Street protests, allowing cross organizing and movement efforts. Perhaps the most emotional appeal would also be the historical relevance of having a protest in Washington, DC.

With Washington, DC being one of the major political capitals of the free world, it only makes sense that there would be people marching and protesting on behalf of or in the same vain of the Occupy protestors far and wide. Numerous organizations have their headquarters based in the District, thus making it easier for Occupy protestors to target a wide range of groups that they wish to open a dialogue with. Some of the organizations, political bodies, and other groups that have been target include, but are not limited to: the United States Congress, the Presidential White House, Bank of America, the United States Chamber of Commerce, and the Ronald Reagan Building (in protest of the Keystone XL oil pipeline planned to stretch from Canada to Texas). With so many different organizations based in the District the Occupy movement can more quickly and easily reach these organizations. (WashingtonPost.com)

Washington DC is also relatively close to the original Occupy Wall Street movement, thus allowing easier coordination, movement, and intermingling between the DC group and the NY group. I have several close friends who have done this and reported that they made great connections with other members of different protests, increasing communication between the numerous groups. There are numerous inexpensive ways to get from DC to NY and back; bus, train, and organized carpooling are just a few. This allows people from the two groups to more easily make it to different events in the two cities, furthering the idea of “power in numbers”. More and more the two groups have been coming together to plan events and increase their media presence on the eastern seaboard.

Our nation’s capital has also acted as the staging grounds for numerous historical and revolutionary movements that forever changed our social and governmental system. Having an Occupy protest in DC allows protestors to be activists in the same area as people such as Martin Luther King and other freedom fighters once stood. Numerous famous activist marches, such as the Civil Rights March, the Kent State/Vietnam protests, the Levitate the Pentagon, and other historical protests have all occurred in DC. Thus when the Occupy DC protests stage their events, they are often conjuring images of revolutions past, greatly appealing the pathos of the American people. Having strong imagery such as the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the current Occupy DC protest exists to bring light to the broken economic system that currently exists in the United States. The official movement website states that, “We are here because massive financial, political, and societal inequality is not sustainable, and threaten the country’s ability to thrive. We are here because we are the 99% and the economy is ours too.” (OccupyDC.org) Washington DC acts as a perfect historical, political, and social area for protestors to have their voices heard by the lawmakers, business executives, government officials, and America as a whole.

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Below is a link to a video that was created by the Occupy DC protestors explaining why some of them chose to occupy our nation’s capital.

http://october2011.org/blogs/margaret-flowers/october-2011-occupy-dc-why-are-we-here

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Sources:

OccupyDC.org

October2011.org

Tsesis, Alexander. We Shall Overcome: A History of Civil Rights and the Law. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-300-11837-7

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-buzz/post/occupy-dc-nova-protesters-march-on-key-bridge-what-you-need-to-know/2011/11/17/gIQAVlk7TN_blog.html