Too much Occupying, not enough Protesting

The Occupy Wall Street movement is a headless monster that is lumbering about at will. It has no direct goal, no unification, no plan. It simply is. It is a diverse group ranging from the old to young, educated to uneducated, white to black. There is one thing that this group does have in common: discontent.  The “occupiers” are not happy with this country, and more importantly they are not happy with how the issues are being addressed.  Although they share discontent, they disagree on how to handle the situation; how to restore the country. This is the reason the movement has had limited success so far.

Now as not to completely discredit the movement as a whole, they have experienced some success. If one were to say “I am a 99 percenter” it can now be looked upon as a badge of honor, recognized as an actual phrase as opposed to the ramblings of a crazy person. More importantly, they are there, there are people out on the streets, voicing their opinions, picketing and holding clever signs. Seemingly like Herman Melville’s Bartleby who demanded nothing his mere existence irked those around him. That is the success of the Occupy Wall Street movement so far. Often the movement has been criticized for having no clear cut goals and no leader. Many analysts and others believe the movement will soon wither and dissipate entirely. Yet how long have the dissenters had such talk? Although the movement does not have a specific outline of goals and is a hodgepodge of people from all creeds they seem to be persistent. In the end, people have an opinion on the Occupy Wall Street movement, whether they agree or disagree, they are still talking about it.

Now as a college student, I feel obligated to be rebellious; historically college kids have always been the ones who stage the sit ins, the demonstrations, the marches, the protests. In that light I would love for the movement to gain some steam, to make some real changes. And by real changes, I mean getting me a damn job, getting my friend a job, getting the kid picking his nose next to me a job (yes, even him). As previously stated, yes the Occupy Wall Street movement is being talked about, but unemployment is still very high. Many college kids are graduating with a degree that serves better as kindling for a fire than for finding a job (okay maybe it’s not that bad). But as far as I have seen, the movement has so far been little more than a fad, a shiny new toy beginning to dull. This is an unfortunate truth and it will not be changing unless the “occupiers” form a plan and consolidate.  The powers at Washington seem unperturbed by all this “occupying” and I can guarantee that the “1 percenters” rest easy at night. Maybe once the media labels the movement “Going Apeshit on Wall Street” the protests will begin to produce real results. Until then, they can “March on Washington” all they want.