When I was a teenager, I was a hippie wannabe. I was a little young to be a member of the flower power generation, but I wanted to be part of the revolution, whatever or wherever it was. I had a Woodstock poster and black lights in my bedroom. I wore bellbottoms and love beads and went barefoot whenever I could. I argued with anyone who supported “the establishment.”
So I think I can understand why so many young people packed their bags to head to New York to be part of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. It’s meaningful to be a part of something— or to be against something.
I’m glad to see that the “Occupy Wall Street” crowds, as well as the others such as “Occupy Duluth” and other groups in other cities around the United States, have been relatively peaceful so far.
I hope that everyone—protesters and police—continues to be calm about all this. There have been arrests, yes. But as far as I know, no one has been seriously injured and certainly no one has been killed. There has been no looting, no buildings set afire.
As a hippie wannabe, the Kent State shootings in May 1970 are etched in my memory. I don’t have to do a “Google” search to find the picture that was on the news and on the front of nearly every newspaper in America after the shooting to remember it. I can well recall the photo of a young girl, crying out for help, kneeling over the body of a student who had been shot by the National Guard. I never, never, want to see something like that again.
I am also very glad to see that the “Occupy” groups are policing themselves regarding the environment. For the most part, at least. Yes, there are some inflammatory Internet photos of junk piles, but there are also photos and videos of people cleaning up and asking others to do the same. The flower children of the ’60s would be proud of those doing their part to make this a green movement.
As glad as I am that things have not turned ugly as they have in Europe and Egypt, I really wish that the “Occupy Wall Street” groups would either go home—or come up with a coherent statement on what they want. Protest without a purpose isn’t very effective.
At this point, my hippie wannabe heart doesn’t know whether to support the occupiers or not, because I really don’t know what they expect to accomplish. There appears to be a jumble of concerns, ranging from lack of jobs to high gas prices, from global warming to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
It’s hard to know since I’m not there to conduct my own interviews, but from the many media reports I’ve watched and listened to, one of the primary reasons for the protests is high college tuition. There are many signs held by angry young men and women decrying the debt they are burdened with while obtaining a college degree.
Why these frustrated folks are at Wall Street puzzles me. Certainly high college tuition protests would be better directed at college administrations— CEOs don’t set the costs per credits. Those are set by deans and department heads—generally highpaid people who perhaps are not part of the 99%.
I think most of the concerns would be better addressed in Washington D.C. or at state capitols. The “Occupy” movement is heading there, but perhaps it would be better to have a plan in place before setting up camp.
While the protesters try to get this all figured out, it is interesting to see the industry that is cropping up around them. As I did research online for this editorial, there were literally dozens of pop-up boxes offering T-shirts bearing the movement’s slogans. Somber brown T-shirts declaring, “I am the 99%” and long-sleeve, neon-green Ts shouting “Occupy Wall Street” and flag bandannas.
Free enterprise is alive and well. Peace.
If you attack the establishment long enough and hard enough, they will make you a member of it.
Art Buchwald
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