Occupy Wall Street

 

 

 

On July 13, 2011 the activist Vancouver-based magazine Adbusters released a call for people to gather on Wall Street to peacefully protest wealth inequality, corporate greed, social democracy and corporate influence of government.  The idea quickly gathered steam and the first Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protest began on September 17, 2011 in the heart of New York's financial district.  By October 9th the protest had spread to 70 major cities in the U.S and has since spread to 900 cities around the world. Their slogan "We are the 99%" refers to the share of annual total income going to the top 1% of income earners in the U. S..  In an interview on the "Early Show on Saturday Morning"  Michael Daly, reporter for Newsweek magazine who is not surprised at the size and scope of the protests, summed up the movement:

"The one thing that runs through all of them is that a feeling that there is just a fundamental unfairness. From their point of view, the very people who almost wrecked the U.S. economy on Wall Street continue to get wealthy while working people are struggling to pay their bills. I mean, it comes down to that."

On October 15th OWS protesters marked a global day of action with over 1500 events in 82 countries.

 

To find out more about Wall Street, corporate greed and wealth inequality, check out these books: