#Occupy critics missing the point?

18 October 2011 | 10:22 - By Matthew Hall

A friend complained on Saturday night she was irked by the Occupy Wall Street protests. I was intrigued and puzzled. The reason? One, she explained, was that the protesters were against capitalism before adding that they also appeared to be for saving whales, the environment, and pro abortion rights.

NewYork_wallstreet_protest_111016_B_aap_1160648841

Protests have spread from New York to other cities around the world. (AAP)

 

I could understand the confusion over some of the issues so, for the sake of the discussion, gave Wall Street a free pass on its role in the fate of water-friendly mammals, trees, and the pro-or-otherwise life movement.

But 'capitalism'? This was the reason, she said, that immigrants came to the United States. The C-Word. This was an interesting perspective particularly because versions of capitalism saw this particular friend thousands of dollars in debt for her university education, working countless hours to make a livable wage that includes enough money to pay her parents' rent after a bank repossessed the family home. She also needed enough money to pay the family medical bills and chip in a little change after the father's lifetime business went bust.

This was not an impoverished family that was struggling to escape housing projects but a hard-working immigrant family, trying to eek out a middle class existence in the leafy suburbs of New Jersey. When Wall Street crashed in 2008 so did their world. But the American Dream is still alive - if a little wheezy.

But it turned out she wasn't necessarily against the issues, just the point of protesting against a behemoth. The protests wouldn't change anything, she said, and the big corporations would continue to screw the little guys for profit.

Sigh.

Maybe Citibank's weekend highlights the frustration people feel. On Saturday a group of protesters entered a Greenwich Village branch of Citibank and demanded to close their accounts. What exactly happened next remains somewhat disputed but bank employees dialled 911 to summon police. Not just that - doors were locked, trapping customers (and protesters) in the bank. Police made arrests. Citibank copped a massive PR fail and released a statement blaming police, not the bank, for throwing their (former) customers in jail. Call me old-fashioned but when you dial the emergency number and call for the cops, serious stuff usually happens next. Blaming the police is a little disingenuous.

You can see a video of the protest and the arrests here.

Then, on Monday, Citigroup announced a profit of $3.8 billion. According to analysts, that's a 74 per cent increase in profit from a year ago. This is the  same Citigroup that copped two bail outs from the federal government a few years ago. It claims to still be struggling - but I can think of some people in New Jersey who would take a $8 billion profit. The comparison is off the mark on paper but not in the mind.

Occupy Wall street. What’s the point, indeed. But, then again, as people on the street continue to stay out and get arrested while attempting to shut their bank accounts, some people are not suffering in silence. Which is the point.



 

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Comments (7)

19 Oct 2011 11:07 AEST

Paul

From: Darwin

Dear Fred Nerks (Derf Skren)

I would have thought that to get the point of the protest you should have an understanding of what it is about. And my comment regarding it being a bunch of people living in a comparatively weak economy looking for a scapegoat is my opinion on it's genesis. Further, if these people really hated capitalism they wouldn't be unhappy about the ills the big corporations are going through. Or they'd be volunteering in a third world country.

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19 Oct 2011 7:37 AEST

Tony James

From: Toukley

Mr

If anything offered by "All Watched Over By Machines" has any credence, even if its just the credits,then most of if not all of us should be doing some occupying ourselves.Bill Clinton may feel that by not having specific demands Occupy Wall Street has no power.What he and other politicians may like to consider is that an iceburg is only one tenth out of the water.Their is a deep and unspoken feeling about those doing the Wall Street Shuffle and its not likely to melt away soon .

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18 Oct 2011 22:50 AEST

Saul

From: Melbourne

So the point is they aren't suffering in silence against the big 'C' word.

Too much Capitalism does not mean too many capitalist but too few, especially if it is corrupted in form & ruining society. It's obvious the democratic process has been hijacked by corporate 'donations' to the extent that this bohemoth is by hook & crook croni-capitalism in the service of corporate financial interest to the exclusion of all the people which it was really supposedly serves. They are protesting against the ultimate outcome of this debasement of the middle class which is feudalism.

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18 Oct 2011 19:11 AEST

Derf Skren

From: Newcastle

Missed the point... again?

Nice work Paul. You managed to miss the point of an article about missing the point. In some ways that made my day, in others it made me very depressed.

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18 Oct 2011 12:55 AEST

Paul

From: Darwin

ThThey didn't have a problem with capitalism when they had jobs

This is just a bunch of people from an economically weak and jobs poor country looking for something to whine about - effectively looking for a scapegoat for their ills. That's one of the reasons it's been underwhelming over here - we have jobs to go to and therefore can't 'occupy' public space. It's interesting however that even those who are camping out aren't too far from creature comforts like their ipads etc.

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18 Oct 2011 11:54 AEST

Brandt Hardin

From: Clarksville

Stand Up

We live in a country no longer represented by the people but by the interests of major corporations and the money they use through lobbying to pay off our elected officials. These politicians no longer voice the opinion of the voters who put them in office but instead speak for the special interests which pay them more and more money to turn a blind eye to the destruction of our environment and the extinction of the middle class. How long will the occupations have to last before a SINGLE gover

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18 Oct 2011 11:30 AEST

Ira Goldman

From: New York City

Let me guess?

I'm guessing you love the Tea Party movement then, right? They represent the 53% (those who actually pay taxes!) and want bloated government and crony capitalism gone.

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About this Blog

Matthew Hall presents a first-hand look at world events from a different angle.

Matthew Hall New York-based writer Matthew Hall has chased fugitives across Texas, been shot in outback Australia and has lunched with Liza Minnelli.

 
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