Occupy Wall Street: Movement of "Ne'er-Do-Wells" Is Catching On
"Wall Street Protest Spreads," says the WSJ. No, it's not, says the WSJ's op-ed page, sticking its tongue out at the "collection of ne'er-do-wells" demonstrating in New York. The standard schizoid tension between news and opinion? Only if that opinion is battier than usual.
By any reasonable standard, the Occupy Wall Street uprising centered in lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park is gaining strength. Smaller rallies have occurred in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington and other U.S. cities. In Canada, similar protests have started or are planned in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa, Vancouver and Newfoundland, while around the world the movement is in various stages of incubation in cities such as Melbourne, Prague, Tel Aviv and Tokyo.
Um, Newfoundland? With all due respect to that lovely part of the world, when rage against the financial machine erupts that close to the Arctic Circle, you know you've got something.
The WSJ's op-edniks also claim the protests have struggled to get a "media quorum." Wrong. Exhibit A is the aforementioned front-of-site story at WSJ.com, not to mention the live video feed that the paper's broadcast kin, Fox News, recently set up to record the drama in Liberty Plaza. Exhibit B is the media quorum assembled to cover Occupy Wall Street.
A wire search brings up thousands of stories by the U.S. and foreign press. The latter includes coverage in such bastions of radicalism as the BBC, the FT and French business daily Les Echos, along with many other outlets, such as Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Irish Independent and Le Monde, just to name a few.
Free radicals
And exactly who are these "ne'er-do-wells" causing all the ruckus? Scary subversives like these:
- Jackie Fellner, 32, a marketing manager from Westchester County, said: "We're not here to take down Wall Street. It's not poor against rich. It's about big money dictating which politicians get elected and what programs get funded."
- On Sunday, a group of New York public school teachers sat in the plaza, including Denise Martinez. The 47-year-old Brooklyn resident works at a school where most students are at poverty level. "The bottom line is the feeling that the financial industries here on Wall Street have caused the economic problems, and they're not contributing their fair share to solving them," she said of her reasons for camping out Sunday.
- Corrie Garnet, a licensed practical nurse in Gill, traveled more than two hours to reach the protest. She said she doesn't have health care because it would cost $600 a month, almost as much as her rent. "I have been really frustrated with the situation in this country," she said, working in the medical tent, wearing a scarf adorned with peace symbols. "I know people who are graduating as nurses now who cannot find a job. That's really sad."
- "The thieves are in their palaces, counting their loot. But now the people are hammering at the palace gates," said celebrated writer Salman Rushidie on Twitter. "The world's economy has been wrecked by these rapacious traders. Yet it is the protesters who are jailed."
The Occupy Wall Street protests are not guaranteed to change anything, of course, let alone lead to concrete financial or economic reform. More social crusades fizzle than sizzle. But there's no denying this movement's impact on -- and reflection of -- the zeitgeist.
That, too, is no surprise, given the country's grim mood. That sentiment will not easily be assuaged. In terms of income inequality, the U.S. today ranks behind countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, Iran and Yemen. Evidently, these nations have lots of ne'er-do-wells, too. It may be October, but spring is breaking out all over.
Thumbnail and image by David Shankbone via Wikimedia Commons, CC 3.0
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