Occupy Wall Street: True or False

Protesters in Santiago, Chile.
 Photo by AP Photo/Aliosha Marquez

About a month and a half ago, nobody had every heard of the Occupy Wall Street movement.  Now, next to Greece's financial problems, and the vague disastrous forecasts of the collapse of the Euro as a economic force,  it's probably the most talked about subject in the news and media.  And it's second to none in it's power to polarize opinions, people, and the entire webverse.  

The two main opinions are as follow: For the 'Pro-Occupists', the Occupy movement is a wondrous thing. A crusade against greed, against flawed governments systems, against poverty, against unemployment. The thought of a darker element being involved, whether it be a communistic approach or a criminal element, is for the most part be denied as simply an attempt to undermine the movement.

For the 'Anti-Occupists', the Occupy Wall Street movement is at the least a serious pain in the pants, and at the more extravagant end of the spectrum, a serious threat to democracy, with the ugly head of communism raising its head. It's a movement that demands the hard working people give their money to people who don't want to work at all. Each occupation seems to be a dangerous hotbed of potential criminal activity. The fact that the movement has no real consolidated message seems to back up the thought that it's just a bunch of people who are gathering to anarchy like moths to a flame. It seems to be composed of irresponsible, lazy teenagers and tweenagers who are in it for adventure, free sex, chaos, and drugs.  The common theme of thought at the start of it all was that they would all leave as soon as they stopped getting sex, and it rained or snowed.  

The truth, however, is somewhere in the middle.  

The truth is, that there are in fact hard working people involved in the movement, people who believe in the causes that they are personally representing. There is truth behind the statement that greed has put our world into the hole it is in. If you are a Christian, as I am, that should not  be shocking in the slightest. There is truth also in the argument that this world could be a better place. It is true that our governments are inherently corrupted, to degrees that vary depending on the government.  

The truth is, is that there are upright people who have been involved in these protests, with legitimate concerns, and moral issues that they are worried about. At least some of these people believe in what they are standing behind so strongly, that they are willing to live on pavement in a tent for as long as it takes. The fact that the occupation in New York has continued for more than a month speaks to this, and the weather hasn't been peachy the entire time either.

However, it is also true that there is a darker, more insidious, nature to these protests. There are people who do go for the sex, the chaos, and the drugs. One reads about the shenanigans at the city-owned parks; of how people have died, how policemen have been bitten (I mean, come on), and how one City worker had urine poured over him, and one cannot help but wrinkle his/her nose in disgust. And for a movement that is trying to defend their rights, they tend to pick silly things to take stands on. Like not allowing the City workers to clean up city parks, that were paid for by the city as well as other taxpayers. The fact that the protesters have been cavalier with other peoples’ well-being and property only undermines their movement, and their stand.

And no matter which way you look at it, there most definitely is a communistic element.  The concept of the wealthy, (the majority of which have arrived at the wealth they have by hard, and real work,) being forced to give to the not wealthy is communism in its most basic form. Finally, the origin of the Occupy Wall Street movement can be directly traced to Adbusters Media Organization, a self-declared Socialistic organization. [1]

But let me tell you what grasps my attention the most. The simple fact that there are over 900 occupation movements worldwide.[2]

That should stun you.

The truth is, that no matter how you feel about  the Occupy Wall Street movement, it has become a worldwide phenomenon, with people protesting in over 80 different countries.  This is simply astonishing. We're used to demonstrations in China (thinking back to the Tiananmen Square incident of 1989 [3]), in the Middle East, (thinking about the recent governmental upheaval in both countries within the past year), and any other number of places. We're even used to demonstrations in the West. But what we aren't used to is all of the various races, creeds, and religions getting behind one single movement. No other movement has ever managed it. Even the people howling about the environment haven't managed it.
I suggest to you that we are looking at a potential revolution. The question is, what kind of revolution might it be? A peaceful revolution?Or something more dangerous?  Something like the French revolution, perhaps.[4]

There is definitely potential for both.

A protester wearing a Guy Fawkes mask look on as a
 police vehicle burns in Rome.
Photo by Reuters/Stefano Rellandini

1. http://www.adbusters.org/

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_Wall_Street
3. http://articles.cnn.com/2004-06-01/world/tiananmen
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution