Be Heard, Occupy The Streets!
Jeff Moses
Thousands of disenfranchised Americans have taken to the streets and began a domestic occupation of many of America’s biggest cities.
Starting with the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City, occupations have been springing up throughout the country in cities including, but not limited to, Phoenix, Houston, New Orleans, Jersey City, Seattle and Los Angeles.
The participants in the protests are calling themselves the 99 percent, a title they chose because 1 percent of the population of America is controlling a majority of the wealth and assets.
The movement stands against the corporate greed which protestors believe drives the will of America’s politicians.
“It almost felt unreal,” Anne Marson, one of the 99 percent who has spent time at both protest on Wall Street and Liberty Square, said. “I’ve heard people talk about it, and I’ve watched a good amount of documentaries addressing (the complaints of the protestors), but I never expected anyone to do anything about it at least not for another five or 10 years, but it’s so crazy to feel the energy down there.”
The Occupy Wall Street movement, though noble as it may seems, lacks direct agenda, or a main goal, which is one of the big criticisms from ultraconservative news organization Fox News as well as other denouncers of the occupation.
One thing universal within all of the occupations is general dislike of the perceived close relationship the United States Federal Government has with some of America’s biggest corporations, and the tactics said corporations used to become so successful.
“The housing crisis was a setup, I am absolutely convinced of that,” Chaz Fertal, a graduate of the University of Tampa, said. “The banking industry trapped people into ridiculous loans where they’re saying you can buy a nice house, you can live the American dream because that’s what they’re selling … You can buy $150,000 house with putting $100 down and having payments of $250 to $300 a month, and they guarantee that for six months, maybe if they were nice, if they were doing the extra sale. But then after six months, I did loan modifications a little bit (in) my senior year, I talked to people, who had interest rates of 12 or 13 percent, who were paying $250 to $300 a month, then it ballooned to over $3000 a month.”
Fertal is both employed and a homeowner, but still finds himself aligned with the occupation, finding it hard to stomach the shady business practices of the mortgage industry.
Fertal plans on attending the Occupy Phoenix protest that will be commencing with a march on Oct. 14 at 3 p.m. at 424 N. Central Ave. in Phoenix, and then the beginning of the occupation on Oct. 15 at 201 W. Washington St.
“There (are) a million reasons why I’m down here (Philadelphia City Hall),” Conor Byrnes, linguistics major at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pa., said. “The big two for me is I’m getting ready to graduate in December and I’ve got a bunch of student loans and no chance of paying them back anytime soon because there’s no job. Nobody is hiring. Companies are recording record profits, but can’t afford to hire people.”
“I also have a younger sister with down syndrome,” Byrnes said. “If we defaulted on our loans, my sister won’t be able to collect Social Security, I think that’s pretty messed up.”
Byrnes spent a weekend from Oct. 6 to Oct. 9 occupying Philadelphia City Hall, even sleeping there with estimated 70 people.
“I’m in it for the long haul,” Byrnes said. “I’m going to be there everyday, every minute that I don’t have school. The mayor of Philadelphia came down at 1:30 in the morning on Thursday and said, ‘Whatever you guys need from me just let me know. I want to work with you guys.’ “
The occupation is literally a coast-to-coast movement.
“The crowd keeps getting larger and more organized everyday. Unions from around the state are arriving this weekend, supposedly bringing thousands with them. These people are not stopping anytime soon,” Seattle record store owner Megan Darling said about the occupation at West Lake Park in Seattle, Wash.
Even the hacker group Anonymous who took credit for taking down the PlayStation Network and the Bank of America’s web site has spoken out in favor of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
The movements can be followed on Facebook and Twitter where they originated and are updated akin to the Arab uprisings in the spring.
