Politics & Government

Jolly Roger: Occupy Wall Street

Drake paper looks into Occupy protests going global.

At The Jolly Roger Corner, you get a glimpse into Drake's oldest high school newspaper The Jolly Roger. Check out more articles, photos, reviews and insight into our local school at drakejr.com.

BY SAM MCLAUGHLIN

Whether you’re with them or against them, you can’t ignore the Occupy Wall Street protesters. Beginning as just an idea on the internet, the Occupy movement has become a global phenomenon.

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The Occupy protesters have no specific demands, but their main message is clear: they believe that corporate influence in governments and growing economic inequality is dangerous, unjust, and should be addressed.

“Their message is relevant and powerful,” said senior and Drake Politics Club president Willa Murphy. Along with other members of the Politics Club, she attended Occupy San Francisco in October.

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There have already been occupations in major cities of over 80 countries, and the movement shows no signs of slowing.

It’s been nearly six months since the Adbusters Media Foundation, a Canadian activist group, first proposed a non-violent occupation of Wall Street. According to the Vancouver Courier, Adbusters suggested the idea in one of its email newsletters, and internet activists quickly latched onto the notion.

On Sept. 17, the first protesters moved into Zucotti Park in lower Manhattan.

Similarly structured Occupy protests quickly began springing up in cities across the United States. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Washington D.C., and Houston all saw Occupy protests in late September or early October.

 “I think it’s getting bigger and bigger, and more people are supporting it,” said Murphy.

Most of the U.S. protests have avoided violence, but there have been incidents of conflict between some protesters and police. On Oct. 25, members of the Oakland police force marched into the Occupy Oakland camp. Their stated intention was to remove protesters due to poor sanitation at the protest site, but a confrontation occurred and police officers began firing rubber bullets and tear gas.

Although the majority of the protesters escaped unharmed, ex-Marine and Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen, 24, was hit in the head by a police projectile. Videos of an Oakland police officer intentionally throwing a tear gas canister at the people trying to help Olsen and of Olsen being carried from the plaza bleeding and unable to speak quickly spread on the internet.

Olsen is currently hospitalized, but expected to recover. Oakland’s mayor Jean Quan backed down on the evictions following this incident, but now Oakland police are again serving the protesters with eviction notices, raising fears of a second confrontation.

Senior Kiara Owens thinks that the violence in Oakland may be a preview of what’s to come, and that such violence could escalate if politicians don’t start paying attention to the movement. “The peaceful part of it is going to stop soon because they’re getting so little response,” she said. “I think Oakland is the forerunner of that trend.”

Despite the continually increasing size and spread of the Occupy protests, there has been no significant reaction yet from U.S. politicians. Polls have shown that the U.S. public generally supports the movement, but no congressional actions have resulted from the demonstrations.

“It’s hard to believe that they’re going to get anything done because they’re not asking for anything specific,” said senior and Politics Club member Claire Asselstine. “They’re just angry. They have to say, ‘We want this to be passed.’”

Senior Justas Reskevicius, who attended Occupy San Francisco, thinks that the impact of the protests may not be felt immediately. “I think because of the protests, [economic inequality] will be a lot more relevant in the next election. It’ll come up a lot more. It’s being brought to the forefront of issues,” he said.

Murphy agreed that the movement could have a significant influence on the next election cycle. “It’s going to develop… My hope is to see Occupy candidates, just like the Tea Party had Tea Party candidates,” she said. “It’s good that this is happening.” Nice.

What do you think of the Occupy movement?


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