Hey, Marquette. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but there’s something historical going on in New York and spreading across the country right now.
The Occupy Wall Street movement began in September and has continued for nearly a month. The “99 percent” of Americans have sought to make their voices heard in an outcry against economic inequality and corporate greed.
Frustration has grown since the official beginning of the recession in 2008. The unemployment rate in the United States has remained largely unchanged, fixed around 9 percent, and the poverty rate in Milwaukee and in other cities has actually gone up. So in what seems to be a collective spirit of boiling discontentment and a feeling of helplessness, the American people have decided to do something.
This past year has been a monumental one worldwide for revolutions.
We watched the uprisings of the Arab Spring last semester. Recently, we have seen citizens of Greece take to the streets rioting against tax hikes and layoffs.
While Occupy Wall Street is definitely not the same thing, it embodies the same general feeling: If those in authority will not stand up for the people they represent, the people will take it into their own hands.
This Saturday, Oct. 15, marks International Day of Action. It is the same day as “Occupy Milwaukee.”
We advise students to approach these movements thoughtfully and critically, especially if choosing to participate. Students who protest should have reasons for protesting. They should approach the Occupy Milwaukee movement with an awareness of the issues and be sure they are not getting carried away in rhetoric and emotion. They should seek to engage themselves peaceably in the discussions surrounding economic inequality and in the end goal of finding a solution to help all Americans.
We should not protest simply to protest – knowledgeable about the world and fed up with the system – if we actually do not usually think about these issues in our everyday lives.
Whether we agree with the movement or not, we should be talking about it. Let’s hang up the same old conversations we have every day about the weather, about professors, about Sodexo. Let’s even put aside the Brewers and the Packers for the teensiest of moments to notice that what is happening right now in our country, for better or worse, does not happen every day.
What is happening in our country right now may influence the political and social direction of the country for years to come.
And maybe it won’t. But whether something tangible will come from the protests is irrelevant. The point is to notice it.
The Occupy Wall Street movement began with a couple hundred young people and has emerged as a force that has been embraced by people of all sides of the political spectrum and addressed specifically by the president.
It reminds us of our own inherent power as young people. It reminds us that there is a world beyond our Marquette bubble. And it reminds us we simply cannot be indifferent.
As Occupy Wall Street demonstrates to us, the future affects everyone and the future is now.