Guardian UK: The Occupy movement has lit a fire for real change

[marmar]

The Occupy movement has lit a fire for real change
Establishment praise for the Occupy protests reflects anxiety at public anger – which needs to be turned into political pressure

Seumas Milne
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 19 October 2011


It's not hard to see why the Occupy Wall Street protests have gone global. What kicked off a month ago in relative obscurity – drawing inspiration from this year's Spanish indignados occupations and the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia – has now spawned protests in more than 900 cities around the world. The only surprise is it didn't happen sooner.

Three years after the banks that brought the west's economies to their knees were bailed out with vast public funds, nothing has fundamentally changed. Profits and bonuses are booming for financial oligarchs and corporate giants, while most people are paying the price of their reckless speculation with falling living standards, cuts in public services and mounting unemployment.

Coming as this crisis has done – at the end of an era of rampant deregulation that has created huge disparities of income and wealth, concentrated in the hands of the top 1% and secured by politicians bought by corporate interests – a backlash against those actually responsible was well overdue.

The occupation slogan "We are the 99%" exactly reflects the reality in the crisis-hit Anglo-Saxon economies in particular – just as the protesters' call for systemic change has far stronger echoes in US public opinion than its captive political class would have anyone believe. A majority of Americans are sympathetic to the protests while a recent poll found only a narrow majority thought capitalism a better system than socialism – in a country where the term is as good as a political swearword. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/19/occupy-movement-fire-for-change

[brooklynite]

1. What's changing?

I'm still waiting for a specific demand to be made by "the movement" (I've heard plenty of individuals state what the demands should be) nor have I heard an explanation about how they'll come about absent involvement in the political system (arrest the bankers? You need the Justice Dept; restore Glass-Steagal? You need approval of Congress; overturn Citizen's United? You need a Constitutional Amendment or a change in the Supreme Court)

[leftstreet]

2. Class consciousness, hopefully

That's all you should expect at this stage

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Identity of class

Not something that is easy to explain, that's what changed. You still asking for leaders... Not the nature of this. And they have issued a statement of principles...the demands are couched in similar language to the declaration. Re-read it, a few times if you need to. But here is one "demand" economic justice.

[Missy Vixen]

4. Of course, rallying people in 900 cities around the world means nothing

unless there are a readily-available set of demands.

:eyes:

It seems somewhat obvious that those participating in Occupy Wall Street (and their rallying cry, "we are the 99%",) have had enough of the 1% destroying the financial health and personal lives of millions around the country, does it not?

Thanks for your concern.

[Johonny]

6. Probably eventually the political system

to me the only collective thing in common with the various groups the are inside the movement and outside the movement is that all feel the current political system is not responding to the needs of 1) the people 2) the country. Most feel the political system does respond rapidly to the needs of the corporation. The American people feel this has lead to a huge disconnect between the political apparatus and the varying fate of the American populous. This isn't a liberal thing as many Republican voters feel the same way. Now different political camps have different solutions. But right now our political system doesn't appear to be trying any solutions. Few even address the real problems faced in every day American lives. At this moment there is a call for politicians to become more respondent to the people that vote for them. As the politicians remain clueless and totally unresponsive I imagine the situation will not become better for the current elected politicians.

[WilliamPitt]

7. You're right. I give up.

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. Unless the rulers feel/are threatened nothing will change.

It's drum players & call and repeat, no threat/ no change. The media has already written this off & are waiting for the weather to turn cold so that they will all go home.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Don't get how this works.