#OccupyBoston: "This Is What Democracy Looks Like"

On September 17^th, a group of a few hundred protestors converged on New York City’s Zucotti Park. They call themselves #OccupyWallStreet, and their mission is to maintain their sit-in until they see a restoration of American democracy. Their message is echoed in the #Occupy protests cropping up in major cities across the United States, including Boston. Their goals are unclear, their leadership crowd-directed, and their long-term plan uncertain. Who are they? Why are they here? Where is this going?
Who are they?
Putting on my investigative journalism rainboots, I arrived Friday evening at Dewey Square for the first night of #OccupyBoston. All of the lefty protest clichés were present: the crowd included students, workers, activists, a healthy sprinkling of hipsters, and a small handful of older professionals in business suits. As at any protest, there were outliers and ultra-radicals: a large anarchist flag and a hammer and sickle shirt, a couple of chill-looking young people rolling joints in the grass, an older-looking activist whose clothes were barely visible under all of his political buttons.
As a whole, most of the protestors appeared to be no younger than twenty and no older than mid-forties. They represented students, activists, and – most prominently – workers, many of them unemployed. They described themselves as “The Ninety-Nine Percent,” and they are fighting against the small minority who hold the vast majority of American wealth.
Why are they here?
The protestors see the political process as corrupt, with both parties indebted to the corporations and wealthy individuals funding their campaigns. Discontented as they are with this imbalance of political power, they feel that civil disobedience and direct action are their only remaining options. Michael, one of the #OccupyBoston organizers, put it in stark terms: “The mainstream political solutions that are being presented to the people have been bought and paid for by moneyed interests.”
For many, this protest seemed to rise above the simple statement that “The highest form of patriotism is dissent;” they see this cause as directly linked to their understanding of American democracy. They view Wall Street’s influence on Washington as an affront to democratic principles, and see themselves as restoring the voice of the people – the ninety-nine percent. While their cause implicates other issues, ranging from Social Security reform to abolition of the Fed to a foreclosure moratorium, the concern with the state of their democracy is ever at the fore.
Many of the protestors also see their actions as a continuation of a tradition of American popular politics; they invoke Boston’s historical role in leading movements for change. One worker, camping out with a group of bicycle couriers in their mid-twenties, spoke of the city’s role at other moments in American history: “The Founding Fathers fought for our liberties on these very streets.” With their “Don’t Tread On Me” flags and references to the early days of the nation, one could almost mistake them for Tea Partiers with tattoos.
Where is this going?
The diversity of solutions to the problems of inequality might present the greatest challenge to the protestors. While they are all here because of their belief in this one core statement – “We are the ninety-nine percent” – they may bring too many different solutions to form a united front. The protestors come from a variety of different viewpoints, from the anarcho-socialists to the environmentalists to the simply angry and disenfranchised, and it is unclear where they go from here. Abolish the Fed? Tax the rich? Support the unions? Everyone has a solution, but a collective mind has yet to emerge.
This may not be the protestors’ fault, though: the lack of a strong American left leaves little for them to build on. Perhaps a consensus will emerge in the weeks to come, but for now their main goal is just to raise the issue of economic/political inequality.
More than anything, this movement is based on a restlessness, what the organizers describe as “a rage that’s been building for a long time.” They live on the stories of people like Sharon, a worker who lost her job after an injury and is soon to lose her home. She came from the New York sit-in Thursday and said she planned to stay the weekend at Dewey Square before moving on to DC. Why was she here? “I am the ninety-nine percent. I’m here to put a face to this, to get the word out… they just can’t ignore this many people.”
Will it work?
The next morning, the New England rain had taken its toll on the number of protestors. About a hundred and fifty of the original thousand stayed the night in tents, though they expect to see more later today. Meanwhile, in New York, the thirty-eight thousand-member Transit Workers’ Union has joined the protestors, as mainstream media organizations like Fox, CNN, and the New York Times send reporters down to Zucotti Park. It’s slow going, but the protestors feel the momentum growing. Will they tear down the Bastille today? No, but they just may be throwing the first stones.
photo credit: berkeleybeacon.com