It’s no mystery why the Occupy Wall Street and related protests are capturing the country’s attention. Americans are furious about the state of our nation, and they’re right to be. Millions of people are out of work because of Wall Street’s recklessness. Millions more have been thrown out of their homes for the same reason. Meanwhile, the federal government fails to take obvious steps to address these problems because of the outsized influence of the very Wall Street firms and giant corporations that caused our economic problems. The country is past due for a mass protest movement demanding justice.
Occupy Wall Street has been criticized for not offering a clear set of demands. In fact, the protesters have been eloquent in rejecting the idea that they produce “one demand,” and also in articulating in broad terms what they want. More to the point, it’s not for a lack of ideas that the country is in crisis. Put the unemployed to work retrofitting energy-inefficient buildings, teaching children and meeting other unmet needs. Invest in a green energy revolution. Impose a financial speculation tax , and increase taxes on the wealthy and corporations (and make them pay). Put in place a single-payer, Medicare-for-All health care system. Undo NAFTA-style corporate trade agreements – and don’t enter in any new ones. Force banks to renegotiate mortgage terms, and let foreclosed upon families stay in their homes as renters. Overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United with a constitutional amendment and reestablish the principle that corporations exist to serve the people, not the other way around.
The country’s problem is not the lack of a policy agenda. It’s not even winning strong public support for the policy agenda – the public does support these ideas. The problem is translating the popular anger about the nation’s state of affairs into a political movement strong enough to overcome the corporate opposition. We can only hope that Occupy Wall Street serves as a spark to that political movement.
Public Citizen stands in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. We thank the protesters in New York and at Occupy protests around the country and world for their courage, commitment, creativity and leadership.
Occupy Wall Street Media – For Those Keeping Track « The Road To Nowhere
[...] Article – Occupy Wall Street: Americans Are Furious [...]
October 6, 2011 at 5:24 pm
Chris
How would I go about getting permission to repost this article in tact with link back to this site?
October 6, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Jeanne Raymond
Bring the troops home. End the wars. Spend the $120 Billion per year that is spent on war and spend instead on jobs at home.
October 7, 2011 at 4:07 pm
Ron LeDuche
I hate to say this, but behind “the 1″ is alot of 0′s, and the more 0′s there are, the more of us there will be.
it is not, and never has been viewed as 99% to these people, we are, and will always continue to be just 0′s to them,
face reality, make yourself the 1 and see what happens.
October 7, 2011 at 6:42 pm
Kevin Shlosberg
I was wondering how long it would take Public Citizen to recognize the importance of the Occupy Movement. Thank you for doing so!
October 13, 2011 at 6:45 pm
Sharon Callaghan
Please tell me there is a group occupying K Street in DC. It is THE HEART OF ALL THE CORRUPTION — the arm of Wall Street, the Banksters and Multi-National Corporations. The lobbyists write the bills at their Corporate bidding, then buy off Congress to pass them. Occupy that Street and yell “Shame” at every lobbyist who passes.
October 24, 2011 at 7:38 pm
Will C
Why not recommend that the OWS’ers form a new Third political party, put up a platform, and and use the real power (the Vote) to in 2013 populate Congress and the White House with people who can make things right again? To only put pressure on politicians in hopes that they will eventually come around and pass new legislation that will right the situation, isn’t that a bit pie-in-the-sky when you consider that politicians for certainly the past three decades have a habit of writing legislation that seems to favor the military-industiral-governmental-corporate-financial-lobbyist complex rather than the average citizen?
October 30, 2011 at 3:27 pm