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What’s Next For The Occupy Wall Street Protests?
The Occupy Wall Street protests entered a new and potentially violent phase this week as protesters shut down operations at Oakland’s busy port in the latest demonstrations against economic inequality and police brutality. A small splinter group wielding makeshift shields broke off and roamed through downtown streets spraying graffiti, burning garbage and breaking windows. They were confronted by police who fired tear gas and bean bag rounds.
The protest by about 5,000 people fell far short of paralyzing the city but the port, the fifth busiest in the U.S., was shut down and will remain closed until officials determine that it is safe and secure.
The violence raises troubling questions: While support among Americans who share the protesters pain diminish. The Oakland protest, like most of them across the, has an amorphous leadership and the protests are ripe for further violence like the splinter group that not only battled police on Wednesday night, but jumped on and forced open the doors of TV news vans.
Meanwhile, Scott Olsen remains in an Oakland hospital in a stable condition. Olsen, a 24-year-old veteran of two Army tours in Iraq, was struck by a teargas canister fired by police on October 25.
Elsewhere, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told protesters he would take action if circumstances warranted, saying the encampments and demonstrations were “really hurting small businesses and families.”
In downtown Seattle, about 300 rain-soaked protesters blocked the street outside the Sheraton hotel where Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of the biggest US bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co, was speaking at an event. Earlier in the day, five protesters were arrested for trespassing after chaining themselves to fixtures inside a Chase bank branch.
In Los Angeles, several hundred protesters marched through the downtown area in solidarity with their Oakland counterparts, while in Virginia protesters bought alarm whistles at their encampment in a public park in Charlottesville because women were concerned about their safety overnight.
12 Responses to “What’s Next For The Occupy Wall Street Protests?”
Oh at some point the dirty hippies will head off to Burning Man or some other festival and forget about Wall Street. It’s all a result of Jerry Garcia dying back in 1995. You’d have never had the anti-globalization movement, the (ridiculously named) “battle of Seattle,” or these ragtag ragamuffins causing public disorder if the Dead were still touring. Garcia’s death was doubly tragic. He was in my opinion the best musician and bandmaster of our times, and Dead shows were dirty-hippie-magnets, getting them off the streets and into concert halls where they were rendered harmless and un-annoying and inoffensive to those of us who bathe regularly and/or who understand economics, finance, law, history and politics.
Just like health care issues, this one isn’t going to go quietly away, hippies or no.
I personally believe it’s high time we recognized that the wealth and income inequality in this country is damaging to both the economy and representative democracy, and to that end I salute people saying enough is enough.
One brief reading through Ron Suskind’s “Confidence Men” has opened my eyes to the kinds of corruption that has become standard fare over the last three decades. I think many more than just the smelly hippies will begin to rethink this “other people’s money” canard.
A sense of freedom is of primary importance. But equally so, a sense of fairness will continue to dominate the discussion so long as 20% own 80% of the wealth in this country.
Bloomberg: Violence in the name of Families will occur.
Once a Republican, always a Republican. Violence reaps violence and ye shall reap your reward Mr. Bloomberg.
Gotta love the “dirty lazy-unemployed dead weight” labels.
I am employed at the level of team lead, I am also pursuing a PhD full time, I make a good salary, and I have helped about 20 people find good jobs in the last 2 years.
I have participated in Occupy DC, Boston, NYC. These camps are organized and the people are highly motivated.
“these hippies will leave” is more a wishful denouncement than a rational thought. We have been told we were going to leave already many times by now.
The laptop view of #OWS probably looks like smudges on an otherwise clear starbucks store window. Look closer — usually around 7PM the general assemblies are the clearest picture of democracy this generation has ever seen.
Oh good lord, enrolled in a PhD program? I’m guessing it wasn’t engineering at MIT, that would impress me. Lookit, the last thing the US needs is another deadbeat PhD in womyn’s studies or some bs from a fifth rate state U, where people like me have to pay taxes to subsidize a bunch of faux scholarship.
Seriously, go study something half-useful and then get a socially e.g. economically useful job. And “general assemblies,” “general strikes,” gads you people sound like jerk-offs.
As long a violence can be used to “re-energize” the protests, some in the protest will seek violence. The irony is that neither excessive police tactics nor actions of splinter groups of protesters change anything about the issues involved. However, this fact too often seems ignored.
MN How many DeadHeads caused a housing bubble or traded in derivatives/credits swaps? The Dead spanned generations, the 1960 hippies were different from the July 2, 1995 twenty somethings in Noblesville. Give me a Wharfrat over a Wall Street banker…
McNuckols-
No Massachusetts institution of higher learning, but MIT, impresses you?
1. All of MIT grads impress me, maybe only 30% of Harvard grads manage that, and zero % of Smith grads. Go figure. 1. My original post was written largely tongue-in-cheek, I’m surprised nobody picked up on that 3. Hey, the Dead were a great band. And you’d be surprised how many secret deadheads there are on wall st.
Was so over the top, had to be T&C. Dead were great, but Jerry needed to be a WR, not for band but his extended family. Moe. going grate without it’s version of Spinal Tap involving keyboards…
McNuckols-
Well I’m glad to see you backing up, but you will never get out of the driveway safely with your backup lights not working properly.
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