“Occupy Wall Street” For three months now, a movement known as “Occupy Wall Street” has swept the U.S. and has spread throughout the world. Their goal is to end social and economic inequality and they have taken over the attention of the media. Due to all the attention it has drawn, it has definitely been a success so far and who knows how long it will continue to grow despite all of the non-believers. People cannot sit back and judge this movement from the outside when the idea behind it is a very serious one. The movement known as “Occupy Wall Street” began on September 17, 2011 and has been the cause of a lot of talk due to the violence and arrests that have resulted. It all started in Manhattan where these angry citizens from all over the country set up tents and protested in areas where they could not get arrested. Their slogan, “We are the 99%” states their claim that there is a growing difference in wealth between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the American population. They have put forth a lot of demands that would head us towards a more egalitarian society which shows they are left-wingers. Throughout this three-month span, a lot of wild events have occurred such as the arresting of 700 angry protesters who blocked the Brooklyn Bridge on October 1st. According to Stephen Foley in “Support for 'Occupy Wall Street' protest boosted by mass arrests” protesters have said that the police lured them onto the road where they proceeded to arrest them (1). There seems to have been a trend in stories involving the mistreating of protesters by the police which has, in turn, increased support. Despite this fact, the movement is still growing and has not slowed down. Gaining attention is one thing Occupy Wall Street has done perfectly and it has helped them greatly with gaining support. There are three main reasons for this with the first being how much it has spread since it has started. Occupy Calgary, which started in the middle of October, is the first movement out of the country. It is, however, different than Occupy Wall Street because its more peaceful-like nature as said by Damien Wood in “Activist plan Occupy Wall Street protest north of border.” (3) He also says that these protesters, like that of Occupy Wall Street are still willing to take some pain for what they believe and they are very adamant about what they are doing (3). The second reason for this attention is the fact that their main goal is to fix pieces of the economy and society which is an extremely important thing. A lot of people are in financial crisis’ and when they see that these people are trying to fix the economy they are willing to jump on the bandwagon and support them. The third reason for the attention is the amount of violence and arrests that have been made. All of the conflict that has happened is a media persons dream. This attention is propelling the Occupy movement into becoming a big threat.
For most people, the Occupy Wall Street movement is a pure waste of time. They have no leadership and organization and a lot of people do not even know what their main goal is. Their decentralized nature has come with little official demands and most of the time they are asking for ridiculous things such as a minimum wage of $20 an hour which is almost $13 more than it is now. The movement, although quite young, lacks structure and someone who can stand up and speak for everyone. Dan Gainor in “Occupy Wall Street – More Than Just Another Loony Protest Movement From the Left” says the protesters are “mostly young, rarely bathe, and chant a lot.” (4) People against the movement say this is a sign of a weak protest and one that should not even be looked at. They are merely judging it and before they know it, this could turn into something major. According to Joe Pompeo in his article “The “Occupy Wall Street”
Occupy Wall Street Essay Over the years, there has been a separation of classes in the United States. This separation has caused those with money to become in charge of those who do not have money. This separation spurred a movement called the Occupy Wall Street movement. Though it may seem obvious as to the way people may feel about the issue, there are two different sides to the way people feel about it. Louis René Beres and Jonathan Zimmerman have differing viewpoints on the reasoning behind…
Occupy Wall Street Movement Alana Robinson Dr. Antony J. Jacob Business Ethics 309 July 29, 2012 Discuss the moral and economic implications involved in the movement. Ethical behavior in business is consistent with the principles, norms, and standards of business practice that have been agreed upon by society. Society is unhappy with greed and corruption of wealth inequality prevalent in the U S. The wealth of the United States people…
Amro Saber Occupy Wall Street On September 17th, 2011 a group labelling itself as occupy wall street took to the streets. Motivated by the Arab Spring and sickened by the division of wealth in the United States, this movement aimed to show the world that they were not going to stand by while 1% of the country controlled the rest. Although nowhere near the amounts of protesters that were in Egypt or Tunisia, a few hundreds took to Zuccoti park and still tried to get their demands taken seriously…
Occupy Wall Street Bus 309 October 27, 2012 Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street was a passionate peaceful protest that began in the financial district of New York City’s Zuccotti’s Park. This movement stemmed from issues such as social and economic inequality, government corruption, and corporations influence on government decisions. The OWS slogan is “We are the 99%,” which addresses the growing income inequality…
The Occupy Wall Street Movement: Building a better America Janeal Pope BUS309 July 23, 2013 The Occupy Wall Street Movement The economic recession, which ended in 2009, revealed some major flaws in the United States economy. Major corporations took excessive risks in the name of profit maximization, which weakened the entire economic structure of the United States. This paper will examine the ethical implication of various aspects of social demonstrations referred to as…
Madeline Reguera L. Eppich English II PAP Pd.8 20 November 2011 Occupy Wall Street Movement The Occupy Wall Street protestors are protesting because they are unhappy with the economic situation. The Banks tricked them into buying mortgages that they could not afford and they are now in even more debt than before. These people are all a part of “the 99 percent” (Greenhouse 2). The 99 percent are the people who are considered middle or…
Occupy Wall Street Protesters: Friend or Foe By Daniel Orio November 17, 2011 marked the two month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street it also marked the Day of Action. On this day all the remaining protesters would walk a Victory March around New York City’s financial district but the police soon intervened arresting more the 250 people and subduing the rest by beating them and barricading them inside Zuccotti Park.1 In the beginning of September thousands of people traveled to Wall street to participate…
Occupy Wall Street has been a part of society since the first protest movement on September 17, 2011. The protest movement is of a occupying nature. They stand and occupy a certain area in protest of usually social and economic inequality. In the Occupy Wall Street movement, economic and social inequalities are the main issues being protested for. There slogan that most people who keep up with the media know is “We are the 99%”. This represents the growing income inequality of the 1% of the richest…
1. What does a Functionalist consider when studying a phenomenon like the Occupy Wall Street movement? c. How the movement contributes to the stability of society by offering the discontented a safe, controlled outlet for dissension 2. What is the largest difference between the Functionalist and Conflict perspectives and the Interactionist perspective? d. The first two perspectives address large-scale issues facing groups, while the last examines more detailed aspects. 3. What role do secondary groups…
The Occupy movement is an international protest movement against social and economic inequality, its primary goal being to make the economic and political relations in all societies less vertically hierarchical and more flatly distributed. Local groups often have different foci, but among the movement's prime concerns is the belief that large corporations and the global financial system control the world in a way that disproportionately benefits a minority, undermines democracy and is unstable.[8][9][10][11]…