On September 17th, activists across the United States are planning on meeting on Wall Street and a couple of other locations across the United States to protest against capitalism. On the surface, the event seems like a grass-roots gathering of liberal protesters from across the United States. On the US Day of Rage web site, organizers list partners such as “European Revolution” and “Take the Square” which don’t seem to have billionaire backers behind them. If you do a little digging, you will find that the Tides Foundation is an indirect supporter of this event.
Groups Behind the September 17th Event
While there is another event planned for October 6th in Freedom Plaza in Washington DC that has received more press by people such as Glenn Beck, the same people are involved in planning the September Rally on Wall Street. Organizers from Occupy Wall Street, US Day of Rage, and Adbusters are all making plans to “peacefully” occupy Wall Street on September 17th, which happens to be a Saturday when the Stock Market is closed. While they plan on arriving when the markets are not open, they intend on staying on Wall Street for an extended period of time: if need be, they plan on staying on Wall Street for a couple of months. In addition to organizing for the September event, the US Day of Rage web site includes contact information for local groups such as US Day of Rage Florida and US Day of Rage Hawaii, who are making plans to send protesters to the Washington DC event.
Funding for Adbusters
While it is quite likely that the majority of the organizers that are planning to occupy Wall Street are volunteers, some of the organizers are most certainly getting paid. Adbusters, in particular, are not a group of amateur volunteers. Adbusters is a group that would like to put an end to our society’s materialism, even to the point of getting rid of television, automobiles, corporations, and refrigerators. Their organization receives money from their bi-monthly, $7.95 magazine, a book, and even a line of tennis shoes. They also have received more than $170,000 from the Tides Foundation since 1996.
What is the Tides Foundation?
The Tides Foundation is an organization that gives money to other charitable organizations, such as Adbusters. Other places that have received grants from the Tides Foundation include George Soros’ Open Society Institute, the ACLU, the ACORN Institute, the NAACP, Planned Parenthood, the National Council of Churches, and Human Rights Watch. George Soros is one of the major donors to this foundation. Donors who give funds to the Tides Foundation often advise the charity of where they want their money to go.
While Adbusters does receive revenue from their magazine, book, shoes, and donations from smaller donors, the connection that it has with the Tides Foundation cannot be discounted. As Occupy Wall Street is currently one of their major campaigns, surely the Tides Foundation had some input into their involvement.
Sources:
Adbusters. ActivistCash.com
Adbusters Web Site.
Occupy Wall Street.
Tides Foundation. Discover the Networks.org.
US Day of Rage.
US Day of Rage Hawaii. Facebook.com
US Day of Rage Nevada. Facebook.com.