I learned that Occupy Wall Street is a reform movement, as it "attempts to change limited aspects of a society but does not seek to alter or replace major social institutions." Social movements, according to Newman, arise when people feel that resources like power, education, wealth, or justice, are not being distributed equally (Newman 2010). In Occupy's case, the resources are predominantly wealth. In fact, their slogan, "We Are the 99%," refers to the difference in wealth between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the country.
A social movement must have an ideology. This refers to the group's values, which allow people to view the movement as morally "good" and become more likely to take risks for the cause-- arrest or financial setbacks, for example (Newman 2010). I've heard news commentators say that the Occupy movement doesn't have a message. The issue seems to be, however, that the message isn't one simple demand. The protesters believe that Wall Street was reckless and caused the 2008 recession. They believe that the government was wrong to bail out irresponsible corporations. They are also protesting the collapsing environment, corruption in government, housing policies, and labor standards. I found an article by Douglas Rushkoff for CNN that explains another aspect while addressing the opinion that Occupy has no message:
"Anyone who says he has no idea what these folks are protesting about is not being truthful. Whether we agree with them or not, we all know what they are upset about, and we all know that there are investment bankers working on Wall Street getting richer while things for most of the rest of us are getting tougher. What upsets banking's defenders and politicians alike is the refusal of this movement to state its terms or set its goals in the traditional language of campaigns. They mean that there is an inappropriate and correctable disconnect between the abundance America produces and the scarcity its markets manufacture."
(Here's the rest of the article, if you're interested: http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/05/opinion/rushkoff-occupy-wall-street/index.html)
According to Newman, the movements that are successful are very organized. I couldn't find an article that spelled out the structure of the movement, but this is what I gathered: Occupy Wall Street's decision-making group is the mainly The New York City General Assembly. It is lead by a committee, and there is no single leader. About seventy smaller organizations contribute to the movement's operation. They have nightly meetings that are open to the public. I'm not sure that this type of organization is like the successful model Newman talks about, but it seems to be working.
The future of Occupy Wall Street remains to be seen, but I can't imagine it will be going away any time soon. The movement is encouraging to me-- I'm glad that people still believe that change for the better can be accomplished, even when the situation seems dismal.
Newman, David. Sociology. Ed 8. 2010.
Rushkoff, David. "You Think Occupy Wall St. is a Phase? You Don't Get It." 5 October 2011. Online. http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/05/opinion/rushkoff-occupy-wall-street/index.html
There's no country's economy in the world that would prosper if corporations and billionaires evade tax. Tax is the only major source of revenue for any country. I want to sound more economists than a sociologist in waiting because the issue and cause of the Wall street protesters affects me and you. The unfortunate thing about the debacle is that some of these wealthy few are ready to pay their fair share but are being prevented by politics! politics!! and politics!!!
ReplyDeleteMuch of the blame for the Wall Street unrest goes to Washington DC’s elected officials on Capitol Hill. They have been engaged in enriching themselves through their close link with the lobbying community. Once elected these so called “representatives of the people” realize just how lucrative their position is. It doesn’t take long before their own self-interest is a driving factor in many of their decisions. I feel that Senators and Representatives should have limited terms just like Presidents. Eight years and they should be out!
ReplyDelete