As a supporter of the #OWS movement (from afar, only via the Internet), I figured it was high time for me to see it for myself, and today seemed like the perfect day. The weather was great, and my curiosity was piqued when the NYTimes this morning published this, an article in which a handful of Wall Street bankers give some pretty unflattering opinions about the protesters.
In case you haven't already read the piece, here's the rundown: Behind closed doors, many Wall Streeters dismiss #OWS as "fringe," "bitter," ungrateful, and "unsophisticated."
So the girlfriend and I hopped on the downtown 6 train, hopped off at the City Hall stop, and walked south to Zucotti Park to judge for ourselves if these disparaging views of the protest and its adherents are accurate. Please follow us below.
Now, just a little background on me: I'm a 42-year-old white divorced father, so from a strictly gender/age/race demographic, I should be voting Republican. I'm not the kind of guy who's going to sleep out in the park night after night for ANY reason, I have a low tolerance for manufactured controversy, and I expect a lot from political discourse. Needless to say, I was hoping against hope that at least some of the charges levied against #OWS weren't true, but I wasn't too confident.
Here's what the gfriend and I found, and I'll take the myths one at a time:
The protest is disorganized. FALSE
First of all, go to the #OWS website. Totally professional, very well done, always up-to-date. And who paid for it, I'd like to know? These are people working on a shoestring, so they HAVE to be organized.
In person, Zucotti Park feels like a small CITY. There's a small functioning hospital and comfort station. There's a very well-ordered sleeping area. You need food? You eat at #OWS for FREE (donations are accepted, of course). Within the kitchen, volunteers were preparing and serving meals and even DOING DISHES.
We met a volunteer named Kevin who called himself a "de-escalation" specialist. His job is to get between protesters and police and calm the situation. The movement has its own self-government structure, its own press mouthpiece, and even a bank account. It's nothing if not organized.
#OWS is a bunch of dirty hippies. TRUE and FALSE
There are some hippies there, I admit. Plenty of dreadlocks and burning sage. But the percentage of "radicals" or "fringies" -- if you'll allow me -- is actually pretty low. Lots of retired teachers, union workers, research scientists, medical professionals, straight-laced parents counterbalancing the corps of more seasoned protesters.
And I only say this to give you the facts. I'm not casting aspersions. Some of my best friends are hippies!
But dirty? NO WAY. The park has never been this clean. There wasn't a speck of litter on the ground, and you'd have heard a hue and cry go up if anyone tried it. At one point, a protester needed to throw something away, but his hands were occupied holding his sign, so he called out: "Sanitation!" Seconds later, a lovely volunteer in her 60s came over with a broom and said, "I'm with Sanitation, can I help you?" I was floored. She took the empty water bottle from him and put it in the trash. Sometimes you don't even get that level of service in a three-star restaurant here in Manhattan!
The protest doesn't have a coherent message. FALSE
As with any protest -- hello, Tea Party -- you're going to get some unfortunate messages tagging along with the main thrust of the movement. We saw a couple conspiracy theorists ("9-11 Was An Inside Job!") and your requisite Ron Paul libertarian kook, but all in all, the group remained VERY much on message.
Corporate greed is really the main (and only) grievance here. There is some disagreement about how one goes about ERADICATING this greed: Some calling for the Fed to be abolished, others saying break up the banks, a merciful few saying "socialism really works, people!" But everyone's in agreement: Enough is enough, crony capitalism must be reformed, Wall Street's been playing fast and loose with the law for too long, and leaders who ignore this do so at their own political peril.
One person we spoke with -- an older guy who'd marched on Washington during the Civil Rights Movement -- rejects any call for a coherent platform at this time. "The press is demanding this. Why do we need to give it to them?" he asked. "We're here to start a dialog, nothing more. We keep quiet and let the press, the politicians, and the Wall Streeters hang themselves."
I went down there thinking it was time for #OWS to man up, choose a spokesperson, and come out with a short, focused platform. Now, I'm not so sure. Maybe this guy is right.
The protest is volatile/violent. FALSE
This is a complete joke. We made the trek up to the big rally at Times Square after visiting the Zucotti headquarters, and found, gosh, 30,000? people there. It was SO. DAMN. PEACEFUL. AND. POSITIVE. A guy bent down to tie his shoe and fifty people reached out to help him up. He was like: "I'm tying my shoe, people!" Chanting rose and fell, drum circles broke out, people were dancing everywhere. But pushing and shoving? Zero. Confrontations with the police: Not while we were there. As we left the area, we saw a huge flotilla of NYPD gearing up about a block away. I'm thinking the whole time: "Please, cops, just stay out of there. Everything's fine WITHOUT you. If you go in there, you're only going to make things worse."
The protest is Un-American. FALSE
There was so much America Love at #OWS, I almost retched! These are some USA-loving, patriotic people. They're giving voice to their views loudly, clearly, and within the restrictions of the law. And they're interested in REFORM not REVOLT. What could be more American than that?
The protest will fade away soon. FALSE
The people we met not only seem to thrive on speaking truth to power, but they actually seemed HAPPY, like they were finally empowered and fighting back. They're there to stay.
Memo to Mayor Bloomberg: You better embrace these people FAST. The more belly-aching you engage in, the more coddling of the bankers and the park "owners" you do, the more violence you allow your police force to undertake, the blacker your shiner gets. These folks are in it to win it. So swallow your pride, bake a pie, and head on over to your new neighbors' house to welcome them to the 'hood.
Photographs and video by Ry Pepper.
UPDATE: Thanks for the RecList everyone! What an honor.
There IS one thing I forgot to mention, and I think the #OWS folks need to hear this.
While we were making our way through the throngs at Zucotti Park, it got pretty crowded. And some protesters were going one way and a bunch of us were going the other, and you really had to kinda take your time and really almost shove to get through. It's a PROTEST, people! That's the dilly, yo!
But then we heard some sign-carrying person ask: "Are these people protesters or JUST TOURISTS?"
And I thought: "What's the difference?"
The more eyeballs we have down there and at the other #Occupy assemblies around the world, the better it is for everyone. So don't disparage someone because they're taking pictures or just there to observe. We're all in this together!
UPDATE II: Sorry I haven't responded in a long while, everyone. I was at ComiCon all day today. THAT's a pretty democratic place, too! Reminded me of #OWS headquarters in many, many ways.
I wanted to apologize to anyone who felt offended by my use of the word "hippies." As I tried to explain in a comment below, I was using the term rhetorically, as a (hopefully) humorous catchall to describe just about anyone who doesn't look, sound, or act exactly like the demonspawn of Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann.
Of course, "hippies" also happens to be the term used most liberally by the right-wing and mainstream media outlets, both of which are deathly afraid of pretty much any kind of "difference" at all.
So, my point is, BLAME THE MEDIA, NOT ME!
Thanks again, everyone. I'm humbled.