There has been a lot of conversation concerning ‘Occupy Wall Street’, ‘OWS’, and a set of demands from the protesters. Traditionally, protests have been centered on central issues with a commonly accepted solution, or list of demands, that when met satisfy the protesters entirely. Viewing OWS in this fashion is a fundamental misunderstanding of the movement and undercuts the actual driving force behind these now global solidarity protests.
Even though the ‘Occupy’ protests have been gaining popularity among American citizens, there are currently still millions upon millions of individuals who or are either misinformed, unaware or simply waiting for some reason to dismiss the movement entirely. This has been a large obstacle for OWS participants and will likely have a great effect on the future of the protests. It seems that in reality, providing a unified ultimatum would only serve to allow critics a means of systematic dismissal of the entire process. A set of demands would only make these protests the same as every other previous demonstration and likely be the death of the movement.
Many critics are calling for such a feature of OWS because it is what is expected of those who protest. Without this apparently essential structure of a movement, some truly do not know how to react and are unwilling to do research to see what the protesters are angry about. It is difficult to truly dismiss something, like the ‘Occupy Movement’, which springs up organically and does not follow the traditional ‘guidelines’ of a movement or protest. ‘Occupy Wall Street’ may be hard for some to fully understand, but it is proving to be impossible to ignore.
Instead of viewing OWS as a protest towards one goal, a broader prospective needs to be taken in order to understand that it is truly a movement towards everything; towards a fundamental shift in the daily lives of American citizens. If anything, OWS is spreading awareness that perhaps individuals really can make a difference and all the separate voices can be heard. After all, it is the people who hold the true power within the United States, some just have to realize this once again. Policies and elected politicians are not permanent, but rather malleable and highly subjective to change and progression. The Occupy movement is giving people a glimmer of hope and restoring a sense of pride and unity among highly diverse individuals. It could be argued that the a true demand of OWS is to ‘wake up’ America and show citizens that they can change the way things are, nothing is unalterable.
Occupy Wall St. is changing the conversations within the United States and getting citizens and politicians alike to take notice. Congress is already starting to examine the issues of the people once again, such as student loans and the vast mortgage crisis, which shows that no matter how hard they try to dismiss the protests, they are listening and they are getting nervous. The biggest threat to an oppressive and dysfunctional governmental system is an educated, angry and driven population. Individuals are starting to exercise their Constitutional rights and realizing that the people have to ability to overthrow the government when it fails to uphold to the standards of the citizens themselves.
The government should constantly support a political discourse that appeals to the needs of citizens, and not just those who can afford to pay a lobbyist. The Occupy protesters have begun to point out that the ‘everyday’ individuals have been ignored by Congress for too long and it it is time for change. It is important for those involved to start changing the conversations on all levels, including personal, local, regional, state and national. When individuals being to talk about these issues, some start to take notice and eventually demand changes as well.
It is in this way that the Occupy Wall Street protests are not merely a political movement, an election campaign or an ordinary group of protests, but rather an organic movement that is attempting to restore unity within America and fundamentally change the way in which citizens view and respond to their individual relationships with the government and country as a whole.