what is "occupy wall street"

[lazydays]

I don't always keep up with the latest news. Can someone explain to me what all this "occupy" this city and that city is all about? Not interested in any hate politics, I just want to understand what is going on. Thank you.

[RgrF]

It's an umbrella protest under which anyone displeased with the state of the country or government can express their displeasure. It's an acknowledgment that traditional avenues of protest (voting, political activism, letters to the editor - name it) just don't work.

The primary thrust is at those who created the disaster that is the current mortgage loan problem, the banks and money movers on Wall Street.

A subset of complaints include the catering to the well-off through tax policy and the failure of government to hold any of the people who fueled the stampede that led to bad mortgages accountable to anyone for anything.

A few indictments and perp walks of responsible CEOs might have avoided the whole thing. Now it has a life of it's own and no one knows where it will go. If police are called in to start dispersing protesters en mass, it could get really ugly.

edit: to note that this is my understanding of it. I was attempting to be succinct. It's a Hydra with many complaints.

[OWC Jamie]

[mass] demonstration against financial greed and corruption.

[cbelt3]

Or in Rome, an opportunity to apply a little Pillage and Burn. There's always a 'good idea' behind movements. There's also usually a disruptive element that tries to hijack your movement.

[rjmacs]

cbelt3 wrote:
Or in Rome, an opportunity to apply a little Pillage and Burn. There's always a 'good idea' behind movements. There's also usually a disruptive element that tries to hijack your movement.

Have you seen any evidence of this happening with OWS and its associated occupations worldwide? As far as i can tell, these demonstrations are well-organized and self-governing.

I'm not arguing against the emergence of 'disruptive elements' in past movements, but you seem to be saying that this is imminent or inevitable here, and i'm not so sure.

[SDGuy]

straight from the source:

We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

• They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
• They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
• They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
• They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
• They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.
• They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
• They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
• They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
• They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
• They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
• They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
• They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.
• They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
• They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
• They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.
• They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
• They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.
• They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
• They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
• They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
• They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.
• They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
• They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.
  

To the people of the world,
We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

[Mac1337]

WHAT DO WE WANT?

We don't know.

WHEN DO WE WANT IT?

Now.

[RgrF]

[Mac1337]

Anytime you have to say you are not one of those, your opponents have won.

[lazydays]

That's a pretty long list of things to protest against.

My sister-in-law got caught in one of those crowds in NY by accident and was afraid of being arrested by mistake. She got out quick.

Is the main thrust of this movement in NY? I know our town had a protest but only 14 people showed up.