Here's the story: Using social media like Twitter and Facebook, protest organizers hoped to incite a mass occupation of Wall Street. The plan was to quickly descend en-masse on September 17th. They called it "The Day of Rage". They were hoping for the kind of crowds that erupted in Egypt earlier this year. Unfortunately Twitter and Facebook aren't the most private places, so the NYPD was more than prepared with metal barricades to herd the protesters into "protest zones". On a side note I think the whole notion of a "protest zone" or "free-speech zone" is bullshit. Free-speech exists everywhere. Limiting where we can express ourselves is just as bad as not letting us do it at all.
The group's main focus is the 99% vs. the 1% problem. Specifically they're outraged that apparently about 1% of Americans control most of the wealth of the country. To them the banks of Wall Street represent that 1%, so what better place to occupy?
They've been there for about 11 days now, and show no signs of leaving. The major news outlets aren't documenting everything that happens at the occupation, but if you spend enough time on Youtube, Imgur, Reddit, or even 4chan you can get a good look into what's going on. The organizers have set up a website which you should visit, https://occupywallst.org/
Now I'm not an economist, so I'm not even going to attempt a fix for the job market. I am however a pretty close student of history. Most revolts, uprisings, and revolutions start when those struggling to get by just absolutely lose it. Plain and simple. Tensions boil over and everything goes to hell. People take their rage and frustration out on whatever they can get their hands on. Just look at what happened in the U.K.
What I'm curious about is how the Media, Police, and Government will continue to handle the situation on Wall Street. By now I'm sure you've seen the clips of the women who were corralled and then maced by an NYPD officer. I've seen the clips from different angles, but honestly I don't understand the officer's actions. True, I didn't see what happened before, but in the clip the officer walks in, sprays mace everywhere, and then walks away. All this seems unprovoked to me. A large portion of what we see comes out via Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr. It'll be interesting to see if any forms of control are exerted over these outlets. I wouldn't be surprised. Zuckerberg already has access to everything we post...ever.
Be careful where you get you facts. It's not like watching Egypt erupt on the other side of the world. This is happening here. This is an American problem. Watch closely, and be careful.
A very small step takes us from this:
To This:
If you haven't seen either of these images then we clearly have a problem.
~n
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