Occupying Wall Street: Making a Change For the Better.

            Response #6

             
 I’m sure most have heard about the recent protests/encampments given the name “Occupy Wall Street.” This protest originally started In NYC on Wall Street, but has begun to spread not only into other cities in America, but up into Canada and other countries over seas as well. The main purpose for these protests is not only to point out some of the major problems occurring in America, but to ask for some major changes for these problems as well. Problems such as economic inequality, corporate greed, along with the power and influence of corporations, particularly from the financial service sector. According to Roberto "Múcaro" Borrero of the United Confederation of Taíno People, “There needs to be an end to the cycle of colonialism and greed.”
Though these are considered to be mostly peaceful protests, there is indeed some chaos going on as well. Chaos not caused from the protesters, but from the police officers instead. This can be considered something bittersweet though. Bitter, because the police are obviously taking advantage of their positions, which is causing pain upon the protesters. Sweet, because it has brought this country, along with other countries together in a wave of support for the Occupy Wall Street movement. According to Justin Wedes, an organizer with Occupy Wall Street, “New York City police have arrested people for peacefully demonstrating and exerting their free speech rights. The reaction has been—and I think the whole world sees it now—that every time that you try to silence peaceful protests, you just get an explosion of new support. And I think that’s what’s happened. And it really bares sort of naked the truth about who the NYPD serve and protect. And if that’s not the people… then we have a problem.”
On msnbc’s The Last Word with Lawrence O‘Donnell, Lawrence announces that “Everyday in America, police are too tough. Everyday in America, police cross the line and abuse citizens. Everyday in America, police get away with that.” He then shows numerous video clips of police officers stepping over the line; literally and figuratively. One clip shows a policeman actually reaching across the orange boundary line, only to drag an innocent woman across the ground to the other side, and handcuff her for no reason at all. Another clip depicts a police officer abusing his ability to carry pepper spray, catching a woman in the eyes, yet again for no apparent reason at all. Policeman are obviously taking advantage of this situation, using brutal and unnecessary force for no logical purpose what so ever. As O’Donnell points out, they do so only because they know that they can get away with it. They realize that the media will not cling on to the attack stories unless someone gets seriously injured or killed. They also realize that their department will neglect to serve a serious investigation on their manners. It makes me sick.
Occupy Wall Street isn’t just about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. It is about much more than that. It is about people finally raising their voices and taking a stand against the mistreatment the American people have gone through. It is about making a change for the better over all.

Works Cited

"Democracy Now: Special Broadcast on the Occupy Wall Street Protests, October 11, 2011." Dialogic. Blogger, 12 Oct. 2011. Web. 18 Oct. 2011. <http://dialogic.blogspot.com/2011/10/democracy-now-special-broadcast-on.html>.

O'Donnell, Lawrence. "MSNBC on NYPD Police Brutality during Occupy Wall Street Lawrence O'donnell with "The Last Word" - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Msnbc, 26 Sept. 2011. Web. 18 Oct. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgr3DiqWYCI>.