BlogOccupy Wall Street!Posted November 3rd, 2011 by Thomas Norman DeWolf
Over the past year the world has witnessed the less-powerful rising up in more than a dozen countries in what became known as Arab Spring. Regimes have toppled in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. Protests have now sprung up across the United States as mostly-peaceful protesters rise up against a system they conclude does not represent their interests and well-being. Over the past three years Sharon and I have visited twenty-six states, Washington, DC, and Tobago as we researched and wrote Gather at the Table together. We’ve witnessed the impacts — past and present — experienced by the less-privileged, the disenfranchised, the 99%. As Sharon wrote in Special Delivery, our most recent drive in her Jeep took us to Boston to deliver our manuscript to Beacon Press. Upon our return to New York on October 25, we parked near her son’s home in Harlem and took the subway to Zaccati Park. We wanted to check out Occupy Wall Street for ourselves. What we found bears little resemblance to the negative media reports we’ve seen. We encountered a multicultural, multi-generational group of people that are passionate about a variety of interconnected issues. First Amendment rights have, in the past few decades, been increasingly restricted by more and more government regulations about when and where and how loud and how long people can protest. Yet Occupy Wall Street continues. Several friends, upon learning that Sharon and I planned to visit Occupy Wall Street, asked me if I could find out what the protesters want. There’s no singular voice, no clear list of demands, no real organization. What I believe is that the eclectic, unorganized nature of this organization is its greatest strength. They don’t fit a “mold” that is easily understood by older generations of people raised to respect “order.” I think we’re going to have to get used to the discomfort. I don’t get the sense that most protesters want to end capitalism. Rather, they want justice and equity that have been sacrificed in the name of greed. As Nicolas Kristof pointed out in “Crony Capitalism Comes Home” in the New York Times, Wall Street tycoons are capitalists when they are raking in the dough, and socialists when everything crashes and they happily rake in government bail-outs.
It will be interesting to see how Occupy Wall Street evolves as protesters are faced with winter’s rain and snow, increased anxiety from local government officials and police, and a presidential election year. Support is growing in two sectors that some may find surprising. Military veterans are increasing their presence and profile. Thousands of wealthy people have joined together as We are the 1%. From their website:
The Occupy Wall Street movement is directly related to our Gather at the Table effort to live the model of healing embodied in Coming to the Table; to understand and acknowledge the truth of history, to make connections with others, to heal our collective damage, and to take action together. We are the 99%. (For additional perspective, read “Gandhi’s Wings: Occupy Wall Street and the Redistribution of Anxiety” by Robert Johnson; formerly Senior Economist of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, Chief Economist of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, and founder of the Move Your Money campaign) 2 responses to “Occupy Wall Street!”Leave a Reply |
Blog FunctionsCategories
Awards
Book Tour Books British Empire Children Civil War Eastern Mennonite University Endorsements Gavin genealogy Genealogy Grandchildren Harlem Book Fair Healing Movies Oklahoma history Olympics Peacebuilding Phillis Wheatley Book Award politics Post Racial Society Publicity Queen Elizabeth Race Race Relations Racism Reader Comments reconciliation Reviews Road Trip Slavery Summer Peacebuilding Institute The South Trauma Tulsa race riot Uncategorized World affairs Writing Most recent posts
Standing in Ferguson where Michael Brown died
Pull Back the Covers Working with Corporate America on Issues of Race Give Gather at the Table for the Holidays, SAVE $$$ & Support a Great Cause! Gather at the Table authors recite Gettysburg Address for PBS site Gather at the Table Paperback coming THIS WEEK! From a Reader: thoughts on Gather at the Table GREAT deal on the last of the Gather at the Table hardcovers from Beacon Press Gather at the Table called “brave and compelling” in new YES! Magazine review Gather at the Table is #1 Most recent comments |
Thanks for sharing your experience!
[…] I recently wrote at the Gather at the Table blog, I believe that income inequality, and the impacts that result from it, rest at the core of […]