Sorry but I do not have a local occupy event here.... just following the one in NYC.
I attended my first local Occupy protest and I must say it was a very interesting event. There was over 100 people at our Occupy event. It was pretty quite with no civil disruptions.
I met people from various racial groups - Blacks, Whites a few Hispanics and atleast one individual of Arab decent.
There were people of all economic demographics in attendance. I met a few college students; some still in school, others who had their degree but still couldn't find a job months after graduating. There were a few house wives in attendance, as well as a couple of working moms. Most of the men were gainfully employed; however, I did meet one older gentleman who claimed to have recently been forced into retirement and was angry about it. As he put it, "he was caught up in the numbers game". There was even a guy who claimed to be a retired Wall Street trader who made it clear "the (stock market trading) game is rigged!"
As I walked around getting to know my fellow protestors, I was surprised to hear folks clarify the movement's position
not as an anti-capitalism movement, but rather as an anti-corruption movement. I know I've mentioned this in my posts before, but I was surprised to hear people actually say it. I think the movement is starting to clarify its voice.
After marching and showing our signs to passers by and motorist, we broke up into groups to discuss why we supported the movement in greater detail.
The college students were upset 1) because they couldn't find jobs to put their degree to work; and 2) because it costs so much for them to go to college in the first place. Many feel the government should either provide student-loan forgiveness or provide a longer time period before they have to start repaying their government loans.
The employed had a host of issues to discuse ranging from stagnant wages/wage disparity to the higher cost of healthcare and retirement contributions.
The unemployed clearly focused on jobs period! Most put the blame squarely on Republicans for playing politics and not moving faster to bring about job growth even in the short-term under the President's jobs plan.
The elderly worried about their Medicare and SSN benefits being drastically reduced or taken away. I can't blame them on this one as most of them acknowledged the worked and earned these benefits and felt that politicians had no right to steal from Social Security (again) to balance the federal budget or drawn down the national debt.
There were a few environmental enthusiast in the crowd, too. Let's just say I gave the "tree huggers" their due respect; I listened but wasn't as passionate for their concerns though I do understand their perspective on cruelty to animals and misuse and/or abuse of our natural resources. But I'll save that for another debate.
One thing we all agreed on was how Wall Street greed and our national politic are inter-linked. Lobbyist working for corporate interests "pay" politicians via their campaign contributions to write or stir legislation toward their "interest". The biggest complaint, of course, was how the banks got bailed out only to ignore the fact that it was the taxpayers who saved their butts. And now that these very same taxpayers are demanding jobs, it seems nobody's listening. And folks are pissed off about it!
People are tired of verdicts being handed down like the Citizen's United case that now allows corporations to make large, multi-million dollar donations in secret to whomever they please to stir public opinion in any direction they want. Everyone in attendance saw this decision as I do - that all it did was stack the deck against the people who don't have the financial clout to pay for expensive TV and radio advertising to counter the half-truths these SuperPACs can generate. Most of use saw this as wealthy corporations stiffling or drawing out - effectively silencing - the voices of the dissent.
Some people were educated on federal economic policy since the Nixon and Reagon eras few knew about, i.e., how the U.S. dollar was placed as the world's reserve currency or how financial services was purposely placed ahead of manufacturing and how such jobs were outsourced abroad as a result. We even had a few people who had heard about the movement stop by just to listen to what people had to say whether they agreed with the movement or not. A few even joined the movement which I thought was cool. Those who might have held a different opinion on some issues were treated respectfully and encouraged to stick around to discuss the issues further. A few people who attended actually had plane tickets for flights leaving for NYC the very next day.
No one harrassed anyone else if they disagreed with their point of view. We all sat or stood around holding mature, rational discussions. The local media showed up, took pictures, conducted interviews. It was very rewarding, informative and unifying experience. I can't wait for the next Occupy meeting.