#occupy<insertlocalehere>

[woob]

So, has anyone been following the growing movement in the US, and now trickling abroad, inspired by #OCCUPYWALLSTREET?



Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_Wall_Street
Website: https://occupywallst.org/
AdBusters: http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/occupywallstreet

I admit, when I first heard of this, I figured it would fizzle out after the first few days and be forgotten in a week or two. Just the opposite seems to be occurring and the movement appears to be getting stronger by the day, growing to other cities in the US, with reports of it trickling across the pond to London, Spain, Chile.

There has already been celebrities, business people, and other prominent types weighing in to support this movement. There has been police brutality on the peaceful protesters. There has been champagne toasts by the rich bankers/finance types to mock the Wall Street protesters.

Would love to hear people's thoughts, idea, opinions on this as I think it is an excellent topic to discuss. With the movement still working on their 'demands', it will be interesting to see what kind of impact it will have, if any, in the long term.

[Ozy_Flame]

Not a new idea by any means, people have been using Twitter to organize protests for a few years now. The RNC in 2008, Egypt and Moldova in 2009, Tehran in 2009 and the Arab Spring this year were largely social-media orchestrated.

More importantly, it's about cleaning up the crap on Wallstreet and the fat cats who work there. I can always get behind that.

[woob]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Not a new idea by any means, people have been using Twitter to organize protests for a few years now. The RNC in 2008, Egypt and Moldova in 2009, Tehran in 2009 and the Arab Spring this year were largely social-media orchestrated.

More importantly, it's about cleaning up the crap on Wallstreet and the fat cats who work there. I can always get behind that.

Yes, it was inspired by the Arab Spring. Not a new idea by any means (orchestrating via social media) but will a country like the US allow this to continue before they essentially go in and snuff it out? I am 100% behind it and will be doing some research this weekend on how I can contribute to the cause (food, medical supplies, what not) but I also feel like this is a huge David vs. Goliath situation, given how entrenched corporations are and the influence they have on politics in the US.

[Bane]

I'd be tempted to occupy a strip club, but since Misty's is long since closed what's the point.

[sclitheroe]

I'm siding with the man on this one.

[shermanator]

I would like to #occupyemmastone

[valo403]

It would be great if these idiots could occupy without making it incredibly difficult for regular people to simply get on the subway and go to work. Unless the plan is to use the hippy stink to shut down the NYSE I don't really see the point.

[Daradon]

Some of the points the make are worthy (though they've obviously been talked about many other places) but without a central message or mission it's hard to get excited about or behind.

[jammies]

What SHOULD people be doing to protest the way these companies not only manipulate capitalism for the benefit of insiders and the wealthy, but do such a piss-poor job of it that they often need the gov't (read: the middle-class taxpayer) to bail them out?

Oh right, apathy is the answer. Or accepting that the game is rigged and therefore your ambition should be to transform from a player (sucker) into an agent of the house.

[ResAlien]

Originally Posted by jammies

What SHOULD people be doing to protest the way these companies not only manipulate capitalism for the benefit of insiders and the wealthy, but do such a piss-poor job of it that they often need the gov't (read: the middle-class taxpayer) to bail them out?

Oh right, apathy is the answer. Or accepting that the game is rigged and therefore your ambition should be to transform from a player (sucker) into an agent of the house.

I thought capitalism's goal was to benefit the wealthy and insiders? At the very least those that were able to manipulate the system. What's the problem?

[username]

I was in New York over the weekend and these guys aren't really causing much of a stir. To be honest all the New Yorkers that were walking by the park were just shaking their heads - as was I.

What a waste of time.

[Thor]

So sad to see all this apathy.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Thor

So sad to see all this apathy.

There's a difference between apathy and finding this protest to be ridiculous. These people are largely just hanging out, they aren't doing anything constructive. They're literally just sitting in a public space. Quite the accomplishment. The only people being impacted are those who live in the area and now have to deal with the trouble of negotiating this village to get themselves to work and back, unless of course you go to work before 9 since these warriors on the front line like to sleep in.

I'm all for reform, I think it's needed and selfishly it would be beneficial for my career, but this camp out is ridiculous and achieves nothing.

[Weiser Wonder]

I'm behind them 100%. If I was an athlete, 110%.

[Muta]

I think the idea for the movement is interesting in theory. If that documentary Inside Job is accurate in what it says, most of those responsible for the 2008 economic crisis are still in power today. I'd be very nervous if that is the case.

[woob]

Originally Posted by valo403

There's a difference between apathy and finding this protest to be ridiculous. These people are largely just hanging out, they aren't doing anything constructive. They're literally just sitting in a public space. Quite the accomplishment. The only people being impacted are those who live in the area and now have to deal with the trouble of negotiating this village to get themselves to work and back, unless of course you go to work before 9 since these warriors on the front line like to sleep in.

I'm all for reform, I think it's needed and selfishly it would be beneficial for my career, but this camp out is ridiculous and achieves nothing.

Largely just hanging out couldn't be further from the truth. They have setup a functioning camp within the park with designated areas for signage, kitchen, first aid, sleeping area, etc. They have a schedule for events through out the day, be it general assembly, marching to other venues to demonstrate, holding open forums, and the like. Pretty good organization for 'just hanging out'.

Also, are they really achieving nothing? Just merely referring to a point in your post where you discuss people in the area having increased difficulty of navigating the area. This, I'm sure is spawning complaints as people who go through this tell co-workers. This in turn spreads awareness of the movement as some people who hear their co-worker complain probably heads to the Internet to research what is going on. This then leads to conversation as that person heads out to drinks with friends and brings up the subject to discuss. This ultimately leads to the underlying point of all this, and all the other #occupy movements popping up in other cities - If anything, what needs to happen is discussion about the issue. As more and more people talk about this the more chance we have of bringing about change to a system which clearly needs it.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by woob

Largely just hanging out couldn't be further from the truth. They have setup a functioning camp within the park with designated areas for signage, kitchen, first aid, sleeping area, etc. They have a schedule for events through out the day, be it general assembly, marching to other venues to demonstrate, holding open forums, and the like. Pretty good organization for 'just hanging out'.

Also, are they really achieving nothing? Just merely referring to a point in your post where you discuss people in the area having increased difficulty of navigating the area. This, I'm sure is spawning complaints as people who go through this tell co-workers. This in turn spreads awareness of the movement as some people who hear their co-worker complain probably heads to the Internet to research what is going on. This then leads to conversation as that person heads out to drinks with friends and brings up the subject to discuss. This ultimately leads to the underlying point of all this, and all the other #occupy movements popping up in other cities - If anything, what needs to happen is discussion about the issue. As more and more people talk about this the more chance we have of bringing about change to a system which clearly needs it.

Yeah there's plenty of conversation, largely around 'thanks for making it more difficult for me to simply get to my job you a-holes'. Real progress there.

And I'm sorry, but playing model UN counts as hanging out to me.

[THE SCUD]

God, what a waste of time in a developed, democratic country. All you're doing is inconveniencing the plebs trying to get to work.

#firstworldproblems

#iamtheman

[woob]

Originally Posted by valo403

Yeah there's plenty of conversation, largely around 'thanks for making it more difficult for me to simply get to my job you a-holes'. Real progress there.

Haha, too funny. I will have to satisfy myself with the fact that you don't give two craps about the matter and are not that educated on the finer points of it. No worries, not everyone cares and I totally respect that. Plenty of people are happy with the status quo and not rocking the boat.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by THE SCUD

God, what a waste of time in a developed, democratic country. All you're doing is inconveniencing the plebs trying to get to work.

#firstworldproblems

#iamtheman

Non-violent and passive civil disobedience is effective.