Our Liberal Revolution of Wall Street

It is soon to be known as the Revolution of our time. Reporters are calling it America's fall to the Arab's spring. The occupation of Wall Street has swept the nation and the world with over 70 cities in the United States starting protest, as well as 650other cities around the world joining in the movement. These numbers are staggering considering that only one thousand began the occupation of New Yorks City's Zuccotti Park on September 17. Hundreds of people sleeping in boxes because the NYPD has banned the use of tents, sharing stories with each other, taking care of each other and most importantly trying to insure a safe financial cushion for the future of the next generation.

The movement against corruption began last spring when many Arab nations protested their nations leadership. As the world watched so did young American's; with the realization that we, as the United States were, also corrupt in our ways of spending and taxing. Thus began the occupation of Wall Street as well as the demands that the occupiers strive to achieve; raise taxes on the rich and corporations, as well as ending corporate welfare, to protect Medicare, social security, and support for a trade unionism. Basically saying, "these are our concerns and you should be paying attention to them." All of these demands seem to be self-evident to some, that us as Americans the land of the free, should have these benefits, while the truth is America is far from it.

At first there was barely any news coverage on the occupation. Truth was that no one including our government thought that it was going to happen; but it did—it took a few days for the press to finally catch on, but when they did news reporters and camera crews seemed to become a part of the occupants as well. Every news station from local to international covered the "Occupy Wall Street" protests, making this even more evident to other cities around the nation take notice.

On October 11 five women in Chicago, Illinois, the oldest being eighty while the youngest was fifty six, walked into the Bank of America and threw trash on the floor from their foreclosed homes and refused to leave. All five were arrested.

On October 12over 100 people in Boston, Massachusetts were arrested for protesting. President Obama recently spoke out about the cause saying "I think it expresses the frustrations the American people feel, that we had the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, huge collateral damage all throughout the country."

The movement started with recent college graduates (mostly because they could not find a job to pay for their student loans or go to graduate school) but the number of people have grown, all from many ages, races, and political and financial backgrounds that have realized that this generation is not the only one that will suffer. Students have to take out more and more loans every year, it barely even seems worth it to some to even go to college figuring that they will be in more debt if they do go. Recent graduate students from the University of Connecticut have since gone to Zuccotti Park to join in the movement, by painting the amount of their student loans on cardboard, and of what they still owed to the university.

On Thursday, October 13, Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, made an announcement that Zuccotti Park must be vacated and clear by 7a.m. the next morning, heeding the warning originally made by Brookfield Office Properties. Outrage swept across the park and the nation with occupiers calling on and requesting more people to come and stand up as to not remove them all from the park. By midnight that night the removal of the occupiers was called off due to many calls from elected city officials demanding to disengage the removal of occupiers, showing just another select group of people that supports the cause.

Celebrities have also taken notice to the movement. Rapper Kanye West and Russell Simmons recently visited the occupants living in Zuccotti Park to show people that they have been heard and they are being supported by them and the rest of the world. The biggest supporter though is none other than Michael Moore himself, who has been to Zuccotti Park on numerous occasions to speak and show his support. He has also been on various news channels and radio station supporting the movement and why people need to take notice now rather then later. Lupe Fiasco has also donated tents, food and water to those staying in the park.