Occupy Wall Street group should look to Anna for inspiration

Self admittedly inspired by the ‘Arab Spring’, America’s new social movement Occupy Wall Street continues to gain traction across the US in cities like New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago and Providence. The campaign, whose members describe themselves as “We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%” started off as a dozen college students last month protesting against corporate greed in Zuccotti Park, in New York’s financial district. [caption id=“attachment_98191” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Protesters hold signs at an ‘Occupy Los Angeles’ demonstration. Getty Images”] [/caption] Like the recent protests in the Middle East and India’s own Anna movement, it’s about civil society locking horns with authorities who cracked down on the placard carrying, slogan chanting, protestors. But unlike Anna’s civil society movement in India which had a very definite objective, the “occupy wall street” group has no stated political strategy or goal other than to rally against big corporations and inequality issues. The group has highlighted issues of inequality, global warming, gas prices and everything that affects the middle class, but have no clear demands on as to what it is they want the government to do about it. Anna Hazare’s civil movement on the other hand was very clear that it wanted Parliament to introduce a strong Lokpal bill that would hold government officials accountable for acts of corruption. They had definite demands,their own version of a draft bill, and a clear plan of action. Wall Street protesters claim however, that their aim is to bring about a true democracy. “It’s about democracy; it’s about everyone here has a chance to speak and be heard,” Justin Brown from Brooklyn, who joined the protest a week ago, told ABC News . On Saturday 700 Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested on Brooklyn Bridge, in New York by the city’s police department. The arrests took place on Saturday after protesters carried out an impromptu walk over the East River to Brooklyn. However, most of the arrested were later released . About 2,000 people marched to New York’s police headquarters on Friday, to protest against arrests and police behaviour. And, earlier on 25 September, some 80 people were arrested during a march. The striking thing about the Occupy Wall Street protests is that it isn’t just “jobless hippies” – as some commentaries have dismissively described them. As a blogger on ZeroHedge points out, they are being led by middle-class families that are struggling – pilots, US Marines, old grannies, and young unemployed people. The group’s rallying slogan has become “We are the 99 percent.” That’s a reference to a grim statistic that points to deepening income disparity, particularly after the Wall Street bailouts of 2008. The group claims on its website that 1 percent of America’s population – the richest – account for 99 percent of the money. While the movement is a result of social angst amongst the middle class, the loath of the public towards corporations enjoying profits and bailouts even as the US’s public debt of $14.79 trillion increases and a staggering unemployment rate of 9.1% for August 2011 , the movement may just lose steam faster than it gained publicity. Reason being an unclear strategy. While it remains to be seen if this public outcry and disillusionment will amount to very much, there’s no doubt that for that to happen, there has to be much more than sloganeering. There has to be listening. A commentator on the group’s Facebook page, Joyce Katzberg, said: “This birthing a new world can be messy stuff. The labor is long and hard…Today’s meeting was exciting (and frustrating) and tomorrow’s will probably be that way too. Those of us who showed up are a passionate lot - I just hope that we will make more effort to engage in radical listening.” Watch a slide show on Occupy Wall Street Protests [fpgallery id=255]

Occupy Wall Street group should look to Anna for inspiration

Inspired by the ‘Arab Spring’, America’s new social movement Occupy Wall Street continues to gain traction across the US in cities like Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago and Providence. But, what they need now is a solid strategy.

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