Wall Street Occupied
Two weeks have passed since the "Occupy Wall Street" protesters set foot in the Financial District of downtown Manhattan. And they are not letting up. Why are they protesting? It depends on who you ask. Some argue that many Wall Street firms are not sacrificing their fair share of wealth distribution. Others are more labor-minded, protesting City University of New York for what they feel are their anti-union practices. But some critics say that this group of mostly under-twenty-somethings are not sure of why they are protesting to begin with.
Minority faces are far and few in between in the reporting of this protest. But some, if you look hard enough, can be found.
Interesting health advice.
Something to consider.
The New York Police Department's (NYPD) presence was strong. Of late, the NYPD has been accused of strong-arm tactics towards protesters. However, some of the protesters say that, when approached individually, officers actually support their cause.
Free food being served to the protesters. Organic veggies, various pasta dishes, pizza and desserts were available. It was a stereotypically yuppy/Woodstock-style menu.
Protest on wheels.
Cardboard messages strewn on across the ground.
This one stuck out.
One of the protest organizers reading off instructions to the crowd.
No tents are present on the protest site as it is illegal to erect any object on New York City streets. One protester said he witnessed a gentleman making a tent out of stacked-up pizza boxes but was forced to dismantle it by the NYPD. Many protesters, like this one above, are in sleeping bags on the ground that is wet from the weekend’s rainy weather. Nevertheless, many refuse to leave.
Including this canine protester.
Wow – those are some powerful pictures. Thanks for sharing and congrats on rightfully being f.p.
October 3, 2011 at 1:22 PM
I agree. They are very inspiring.
October 3, 2011 at 7:55 PM
Its really nice….!!
http://www.neos.theultrasoft.com/
October 4, 2011 at 6:11 AM
Awesome
October 4, 2011 at 7:44 AM
hope you people are doin alrite stand up 2 the man
October 17, 2011 at 6:18 PM
fite 4 ur rite 2 live
October 17, 2011 at 6:19 PM
AMAZING
October 17, 2011 at 6:20 PM
Definitely power to the people right there! I love the sign that says CLASS WAR CAMP!
October 3, 2011 at 1:23 PM
The power of the people is a precious commodity. The question must be asked, what organizations are behind the power of this people-power, or seeking to subvert it to their own ends? If this is not investigated, the social engineers (who have mechanisms in place to manipulate movements such as this and/or turn them to their own ends) will have the day and the people will be robbed once again.
October 3, 2011 at 7:42 PM
This is true. We must be cautious without being overly paranoid. Yes, they ARE out to get you by any means necessary in their power. They will use secrecy, guile, sabotage, bribery of leaders, blackmail, and even violence to stop progressive social movements; even if those social movements proclaim and use only non-violent tactics. Make sure organizations are organized democratically and horizontally. Consensus decision making is not always appropriate, but those representing the group should be from and still work among the rank-and-file. Every member of the organization must think for themselves and be prepared to act to make the organization achieve its stated aims. If the organization wavers, then you should lead the charge to set it aright, or if that fails you must abandon it and form a new organization. Remember: dedicate yourself to a cause, an ideal, but never blindly swear loyalty to just a person or organization.
Proletarian Center for Research, Education and Culture
http://prolecenter.wordpress.com/
October 3, 2011 at 8:14 PM
what mechanisms do the social engineers have in place to manipulate movements such as this?
October 4, 2011 at 4:49 AM
omsdefense said: “what mechanisms do the social engineers have in place to manipulate movements such as this?”
(sorry your comment had no reply button)
Firstly they have the corporate mass media (!) to paint a ‘narrative’ of what is going on to the millions who aren’t there to actually witness it first hand ……. the media can also invite on (carefully selected) guests, pundits, ‘experts’ and so on to back up this narrative.
Next shills, plants and provocateurs can be used to either limit and/ or steer the debate/ demands/ message …. or to turn an intelligent demonstration into a violent frenzy of window smashing etc. (thus justifying heavy handed police response, demonizing the peaceful protestors, deterring other would-be peaceful/ intelligent people from attending in the future and encouraging genuine thugs to turn up next time).
Or it can be subverted the other way to make it all a dumbed down ‘touchy feely’ love fest with no real message at all. This is what happened in the 60′s when a strong social/ political movement (against corruption, Vietnam war, corporate crime etc) was invaded by the ‘hippie movement’ (which curiously seemed to spring out of nowhere!) and the debate was lost in a haze of incense, pot smoke and tie die.
For a fascinating (and entertaining) insight into the bizarre and shockingly militaristic roots of the 60′s hippie culture read this article series.
The Strange but Mostly True Story of Laurel Canyon and the Birth of the Hippie Generation
For a more contemporary analysis of how protests (public perception of them) is manipulated watch this doc on the recent G20 protests in Toronto:
October 4, 2011 at 8:48 AM
in response to the comment about the hippie culture. i believe the culture grew out of the civil rights movement which gradually included the women’s movement and then the anti authoritarian, father as head of household movement which protested the vietnam war and the corporate stranglehold that Ike Eisenhower was warning about in the 50′s..the military industrial complex. The beats were there standing their own ground against corporate inbalance by getting hip and creating their own language and music, much of it grown out of the black culture. the beats were standing for all kinds of things, environmentalism, drugs, musical freedom.
well, i heard that time magazine coined the word Hippie. it was a lame term comparied for all that the movement stood for. you see parallel movements at the same time from the weathermen and the black panthers, from women and artists. The hippies were love children. Love comes in all forms of course. sexual, compassionate, personal, familial, cosmic. the hippies did not all embrace all these kinds of love.
Consumption is the new enemy and american exceptionalism directing our foreign policy to take wealth from others.
i love this protest and these pictures. Classism is a long struggle back to when the feudal lords owned the peasants on the land. the peasants belonged to the land they lived on. over and out.
October 4, 2011 at 11:58 AM
Nothing more than “Anarchists for More Government Control”.
October 4, 2011 at 10:35 PM
Great post! These photos are really showing us a little more of what’s going on with this movement. Congratulations on being freshly pressed. Thanks for sharing!
October 3, 2011 at 1:27 PM
Get a job, and stop using Jesus Christ in your politics. Connie
http://7thandvine.wordpress.com/
October 3, 2011 at 1:29 PM
Get off of it Connie and let them and everyone have the “freedom of speach”…. you have that same right as of now, so live it, breath it and understand it!
October 3, 2011 at 1:46 PM
Actually, Connie has a valid point. Both sides of the ideological/political spectrum like to use Jesus as a football. Jesus was apolitical.
Sure, people such as these protestors have a “right” to “use” Jesus, but it doesn’t prove their point.
October 3, 2011 at 1:51 PM
Tell you what Rick..you can have it when you learn to spell it!
October 3, 2011 at 7:29 PM
They probably have a job. Even if you’re unemployed, you still have jobs to do that benefit your family and society. I say to you: Enjoy your slavery!
October 3, 2011 at 8:17 PM
Connie: Get a life, and stop using an impostor of Jesus (you know, the one you call “Jesus Christ”) as a crutch for your un-Jesus-like “life”. After you have fasted for forty days and nights in the desert, then maybe you can weigh in on the “misuse” of Jesus. Until then . . . . I’ll skip the four letter acronym. You know that one too.
October 4, 2011 at 1:10 AM
Beautiful pictures — there are amazing stories told here through the words on signs and your visuals…
October 3, 2011 at 1:30 PM
You said it right, this is a great presentation, impressive and inspiring <3
October 3, 2011 at 7:48 PM
A picture speaks a thousand words. Yours speak more!
peace and thanks for your bravery, sarah
October 3, 2011 at 1:35 PM
The story is: Their moms didn’t teach them to clean up after they make a mess…..and that’s all they are doing is trashing the streets. These people don’t have a clue.
October 3, 2011 at 7:33 PM
Enjoy your slavery, fool!
October 3, 2011 at 8:18 PM
Hey, mayrant,
Did Bush, Cheyne(hey, republican, who cares if it is spelt right), and their Cronies ever clean up their mess, or did they leave it for the next President?
Shining Wolf; (shiningwolf9)
October 3, 2011 at 9:44 PM
They are cleaning up your Mom’s mess!
October 4, 2011 at 4:56 AM
GREAT photos and commentary. This is the best reporting I’ve seen on this protest. Well done!
October 3, 2011 at 1:46 PM
Very nice….I like it
October 3, 2011 at 1:50 PM
This isn’t being covered in mainstream media and that’s a shame . . .
October 3, 2011 at 1:51 PM
Probably because news stations are owned and supported by corporations. Even NBC and its affiliates have General Electric as their sugar daddy, I mean, Patron.
October 4, 2011 at 1:47 AM
Superb photos – I’m placing a link to this page on the fr pg of my news blog, where the feature story all this month is coverage of Occupy Wall Street. You can see that story on the fr pg here:
http://alternativenewsreport.net
Blessings! Stay safe out there.
Chase
October 3, 2011 at 1:52 PM
Well, at least they’re not rioting and destroying property. Give them enough time however…
Ah youth. All heart, zero brains.
October 3, 2011 at 1:53 PM
At least they have balls.
October 3, 2011 at 8:21 PM
those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent… oh why bother… who cares about corporate private property when average people’s lives and property are being destroyed on the daily by the atrocious misallocation of capital to the $333 trillion wall street derivatives trade (just to name one example).
October 3, 2011 at 11:08 PM
I’m sure your complacency and complicity are doing far more. I think it’s quite clear that you WERE given enough time and it has benefited no one…
December 3, 2011 at 5:23 PM
I think many of these signs sum up the situation. The fact that this has hardly been covered by the media speaks to what’s really going on here. Maybe it’s a fluke, for now, but protest like these are increasing all over the country. Watch, as unemployment rises, oil and food prices peak and 18 year olds are still sold on the myth that there will be jobs for them after they borrow 100k+ in make believe money to go to college. What to do?
October 3, 2011 at 1:56 PM
OMG! I loved the first picture
Repost!!!
October 3, 2011 at 2:02 PM
Jesus was not a socialist. Socialism is a form of Statism (centrally controlled totalitarianism), and he was no Statist. For that matter, he didn’t give away free health-care either. He healed people. It’s completely different.
October 3, 2011 at 7:49 PM
Pretty much a moot point anyway. There probably never was a jesus. Religion is a lie! It’s all mind control.
October 3, 2011 at 8:23 PM
man, you need to look up the word “metaphor”
October 3, 2011 at 11:10 PM
Point considered. These days, it’s gotten to the point where nobody knows what Socialism is. Jesus, from what I hear, was a pretty chill dude.
October 4, 2011 at 1:51 AM
icliks: Did he “charge” people to heal them? Then his healing was free. Your “definition” of Socialism is actually a description of the perversion of the idea of Socialism. That idea was that people would freely live together in equality sharing the fruits of the Earth in common. The “State” would eventually be dissolved because there would no longer be a need for it. It is a sound argument that Jesus’ vision of everyone being a “child of God” and “loving one another” was a communist or socialist viewpoint. Hence the irony of that sign. You don’t have to be a “socialist” to get it–just intelligent. Oh, and possessing a sense of humor might help as well.
October 4, 2011 at 3:03 AM
nice coverage and great photography
October 3, 2011 at 2:06 PM
Great post, with fantastic pictures. Thanks for sharing and congrats on being freshly pressed!
October 3, 2011 at 2:07 PM
Wow…these are some incredibly powerful photos. Thank you so much for sharing them…
October 3, 2011 at 2:18 PM
Interesting but not so funny sad but true nice arrangement like it
October 3, 2011 at 2:28 PM
These pics do what great photojournalism is supposed to do: Capture the mood of the moment. Congrats on being Freshly Pressed.
October 3, 2011 at 2:35 PM
Thank you for sharing this reality that the massive media has not been divulging.
October 3, 2011 at 2:41 PM
Great collection, especially the first and second photos. I do like that you acknowledge the stereotypical menu, you’ve gotta know your demographic! My favorite sign was “The Revolution Will Not be Privatized”
October 3, 2011 at 2:42 PM
加油！
October 3, 2011 at 2:45 PM
錫安
October 4, 2011 at 5:05 AM
Love the first picture referencing Jesus and Healthcare and socialism….. Although I am not sure I agree with the whole protest. Thanks for posting the pictures……
October 3, 2011 at 2:51 PM
Powerful and important commentary that you’re doing here! Great work for a great cause.
October 3, 2011 at 2:55 PM
I’m Dutch and I support your struggle for the probklem of exessive Capitalism is not exclusively an American problem.
I really hope the Dutch will start their own sit in soon.
Read my thoughts about the struggle against the Capitalist Vampires here:
http://leensteen.org/2011/09/25/your-money-is-no-good-2/
October 3, 2011 at 3:00 PM
THANK YOU ALL! I’m gonna post a new story tonight!
October 3, 2011 at 3:06 PM
Love the pictures. I hadn’t heard about the protest and I’m still not sure what it’s about. Seems to be a multitude of things including corporate practices, government and healthcare. It’s like a protest to protest anything.
October 3, 2011 at 3:08 PM
I’m gonna go around and do more reporting on this so check out my new post later tonight at 12 midnight! Perhaps I’ll find something…
October 3, 2011 at 3:09 PM
Thank you for sharing!!
IT’S SOOOOO IMPORTANT! These news have had no space in Italian media, where they prefer to give us the fake image of Obama, the liberal black President, the one who stands for the people!
Please I would like to post one of your pics in my blog and write about this! (of course I would include your link).
October 3, 2011 at 3:14 PM
Of course! You can post my blog and my pics! Thank you for reading and please so sign up!
October 3, 2011 at 3:20 PM
Thank you so much! this is a beautiful, valuable blog, your pics tell us more than any word!
October 3, 2011 at 7:05 PM
very moving pictures, this is huge! good luck to all who would fight the power.
October 3, 2011 at 3:24 PM
There are many reasons people are protesting, because the state of society effects individuals in varying ways. The broadest reason one could use is that these people want to remind the powers that be that the government is BY the people and FOR the people and to remind the average citizen that if you wish things to change, you must speak out. It is clear from the state of our economy, job market, and poor education rankings that things MUST change. Real reformations never begin with the government, but with the common everyday individual.
October 3, 2011 at 3:27 PM
Good post, thanks for sharing.
October 3, 2011 at 3:28 PM
Sometimes I protest by not buying household goods made by these bastard corporations. I sure would like to do some laundry and take a shower with soap sometime soon, though.
October 3, 2011 at 3:30 PM
You don’t need that poisonous crap! There are ways to cut back and avoid “hygiene” products to deny profits to the ruling class owners of these corporations, and you will be healthier to boot. Check out the Consumer Council tips on this blog: http://prolecenter.wordpress.com/category/consumer-council/
October 3, 2011 at 8:28 PM
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=make+your+own+soap&aq=f
October 4, 2011 at 5:10 AM
This is just the begining. Don’t give up!
October 3, 2011 at 3:34 PM
Great photos! You really captured a lot of different parts of the movement, well done.
October 3, 2011 at 3:37 PM
I am a broker (I make 30K a year, don’t hate me) and agree with everything they are doing out there. I”d be out there myself is I wasn’t trying to destroy wall street from the inside. (Shifty eyes)
October 3, 2011 at 3:38 PM
Jesus Christ, the Son of God is much, much greater than any political issue, on the left or the right. Yes, there is freedom of speech, but, to use Jesus’ name for purely political reasons (He wasn’t s socialist, by the way) is not good. Connie
http://7thandvine.wordpress.com/
October 3, 2011 at 3:38 PM
There is no god. Religion is a lie! It is the most sophisticated form of mind control ever invented, so that the few can control the many. It is a recipe for mass slavery. If you take all the foolish mysticism out of it, then there are great moral lessons to be taken from religious texts. If a guy like the biblical jesus was around today, he would be branded a socialist and a subversive.
October 3, 2011 at 7:46 PM
Religion and God/Dieties are constructs of ideology and serve as a basic explanation for understanding philosophical questions of life. There’s no truth or falsehood to creating and believing because we are trying to answer questions that we might never know the “right” answer to.
I think what are disagreeing with is an interpretation of one’s belief system and ideology. Don’t mistake me as disagreeing with you – moral lessons are always present in religion as well as mythology, definitely. I just noticed you were saying “There is no God” several times. Thought I’d comment.
October 4, 2011 at 2:07 AM
you almost make it sound like the life of Jesus is not recorded in the bible as being filled with political/economic trials and upheaval. I must have been reading that OTHER bible, the one where he just sits up in heaven all day eating grapes.
October 3, 2011 at 11:19 PM
What can the protesters do when they can’t find a job. I am unemployed and age 25 and the next job I hope to find will be job #11 in 6 years. Very good photos!
October 3, 2011 at 3:39 PM
A greater percentage of GenerationMe needs to get involved in this issue. It brings a good feeling to me that we have demonstrated our right to assembly and it is a good start because it is about time we prove the labels our generation has been given false. Great photo album and keep up the good fight.
October 3, 2011 at 3:40 PM
Good action fellow anons you make me proud
October 3, 2011 at 3:42 PM
Oh, by the way, when Jesus does return, He’ll come to make war against His enemies… Revelation 19:10-14. Connie
http://7thandvine.wordpress.com/
October 3, 2011 at 3:42 PM
Yeah… right. Except that this is in your dreams. If he even existed at all….
October 3, 2011 at 5:06 PM
Out of curiosity, whatever happened to “turn the other cheek?” I sincerely hope you aren’t merely taking words and phrases out of context, especially since the book of Revelations was a prophecy from an apostle.
I’m starting to think that maybe this is not the appropriate forum for this conversation. I’m kind of worried more for the people on the streets being arrested and herded like cattle by police officers at the present moment than the distant, unforeseen future.
October 4, 2011 at 2:15 AM
Right . . . . like Bin Laden. Come to think of it, maybe that was the “Second Coming”.
November 6, 2011 at 2:56 AM
The photo of the dog was the best one because the dog has really pretty fur.
Also this seems like it’s a good cause.
October 3, 2011 at 3:44 PM
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For once, there is something wonderful happening on Wall St. Let’s hope it maintains a Working Class character and revolutionary spirit and isn’t co-opted by middle class elements. We need a world free of hierarchy, oppression, exploitation and alienation. Let’s go all the way! Here is another excellent blog focused on Working Class politics and culture: http://prolecenter.wordpress.com/
October 3, 2011 at 4:00 PM
Wow! What strong images you captured. Thank you for this post.
October 3, 2011 at 4:10 PM
Great coverage. I wish this was being covered in the mainstream press. I saw there are other protests like this happening around the U.S. in L.A., and Seattle. Amazing pictures! Congrats on a well deserved Freshly Pressed!
October 3, 2011 at 4:16 PM
great pics. consider coming down to occupy philly once we’re up and running.
October 3, 2011 at 4:19 PM
Creating a ruckus on the Wall Street will do no good to Americans.
They should realize that current events are results of past wrong doings and need to be taken in right spirit. I know it is difficult to understand logic of the statement for a person who is unemployed. But the bigger picture is pretty clear Americans need to understand the fact that time of easy credits and gas guzzling SUVs is over. It is time to act responsibly and invest in the greatest asset ever, i.e. yourself. Only then can anyone expect US of A to rise to its past glory. Best of luck.
October 3, 2011 at 4:22 PM
Past glory?! Fuck the u.s.! It is an evil empire. As George Carlin said, this country is completely full of shit, and ALWAYS has been. He also said that “it’s called the american dream because you have to be asleep to believe it!” Amen.
October 3, 2011 at 8:32 PM
Firstly – I love the van. Very nice. Want to know who painted that.
Secondlyl – This reminds me very much of the ‘Jubilee’ that Shane Claiborne and The Simple Way held on Wall Street a few years back, which I’ve read about in his book The Irresistible Revolution. We need something like that to happen.
Thirdly – Congrats on Freshly Pressed, this post definitely deserved it
October 3, 2011 at 4:23 PM
As far as the “compassion before profit” pic is concerned, I would suggest that we all must be now ready to accept Objectivism School of Thought. The school says, Creation comes before sharing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand)
October 3, 2011 at 4:26 PM
Ayn Rand was a monster and a fool. She made her way in life by distributing propaganda that helped the rich continue to dominate and exploit the Working Class. Socialism is the only thing that can save humanity; anyway, that’s what Albert Einstein said. Read his essay on the matter here: http://prolecenter.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/why-socialism-by-albert-einstein-part-1/
October 3, 2011 at 6:52 PM
How about a school of thought that says creation comes WITH sharing? No one can create in a vacuum.
November 5, 2011 at 4:21 AM
It’s amazing what people can do when they get together, but I’m a bit surprised to find that they’re not so unified in what they’re protesting. We’re all fed up with what’s going on in our country, but we all seem to blame it on different causes.
October 3, 2011 at 4:29 PM
Well done. I saw an interview on BBC last week where a Trader in London said: “Governments don’t control the world, Goldman Sachs does.” I’m afraid he is right. Be careful, though, not to let any anarchists ruin your protests. That happened in London last summer and innocent people died because a large group of scumbags went on the rampage looting and burning. Do not let that happen in New York. Peaceful Protest is the only way to go. Here in my country [Ireland] the banks are getting away with the godawful mess they made as well. Now, some of our banks are being investigated by the Police Fraud Squad! Excuse my long post ………. well done. In a few months, you should have 10,000 marching for justice. xx
October 3, 2011 at 4:32 PM
It’s easy for bourgeois, middle-class trash to insist on nonviolent protesting – they’re not interested in a true revolution. Peaceful protesting alone never led to revolution. Don’t hate the anarchists because they have the balls to fight back against this horrid capitalist system. Also, don’t pretend to care about innocent people getting hurt. If you cared about that, you’d be at least morally willing to do anything to destroy capitalism and imperialism.
October 3, 2011 at 6:48 PM
This post has amazing images. Congrats on the FP but for also spreading information relevant to our daily lives, whether we know it or not.
October 3, 2011 at 4:35 PM
Finally! I’m thrilled to see this Freshly Pressed — kudos to WP. More than that, thanks to those who are doing the occupation. Bless you. I hear that there are restaurants that will deliver to these folks, so I’m going to send some money as soon as I can find one.
Regarding Connie’s post about work ethic and Jesus: Connie, there are many, many, many, many people who would like very much to get a job. That’s one of the motivating factors behind the occupation: there’s plenty of money, it’s just not being spread around. Some businesses cannot afford to hire, of course, but others could be doing more to help. As to Jesus: These people are not the ones who originally brought Jesus into American politics. You can thank Jerry Falwell et al. for that. I guess I just hope that you are as openly critical of conservative use of Jesus for political ends as you are of the Wall Street occupiers.
Keep it peaceful, people, especially if someone tries to stir you up. There is nothing some people would like more than to see you fail and especially to see you violent. This occupation has been needed for a long time, and it gives me hope to see it happening.
October 3, 2011 at 4:41 PM
Thank you for sharing these images.
October 3, 2011 at 4:41 PM
I must be doing something right. Connie
http://7thandvine.wordpress.com/
October 3, 2011 at 4:55 PM
Hi. I’m glad to see some Newyorkers in the street. Our lives are worth more than their profits. Keep it up
October 3, 2011 at 5:08 PM
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So you thinking bringing down Wall Street is going to make everyone’s life better?
I was in the God forsaken place the call Brooklyn on Saturday, trying to have
a nice quiet dinner with my new wife and son-in-law.
Their chaos, caused a two hour traffic jam in Manhattan at midnite.
These people are so hell bent on destroying what has been
the best system in the world, and the sad part is they are
clueless as to what they want to replace it with.
If I can offer some advice: Obey the rules, live within your means, and
learn some discipline. If your not rich, good looking our smart, start
at the bottom and work your way up.
I’m convinced these people were Bolsheviks in St. Petersburg, standing on
soapboxes shouting down the czar in another life. Be carefull what you
wish for, the former Soviet Union offered a utopian alternative and
how did that work out?
Maybe the quote unpquote robber barons of Wall Street should offer these
rabbble rousers an all expense trip to visit Lenin’s Tomb in Red Square.
October 3, 2011 at 5:22 PM
Uuuhh, so this people ‘s noise destroyed your dinner….. we are soooo sorry!
Wake up, man! This is NOT the best system in the world if there are so many people unemployed, good people who built this nation and now are on the road! “Obey the rules, live within your means, and learn some discipline” it is NOT ENOUGH anymore!
Why don’t we admit that
POLITICIANS FAILED
AND THE ECONOMICAL SYSTEM FAILED if it is not able to bring equal opportunities to large majority of people!
There can be a different America,(that is not soviet union!) and there is an alternative to this kind of blind capitalism (and it is not comunism):
the next step is CONSCIUSNESS, living for a bigger vision, a bigger purpose that is not only our ego or our personal success.
October 3, 2011 at 7:02 PM
I didn’t say that this spoiled my dinner I said, that there was a traffic jam at midnight,
which I found to be annoying.
I read the 12 demands of these knuckleheads, and it reads like the Communist Manifesto
only it has 2 more points.
And I am awake. I didn’t work 40 years of my life, be responsible and play
by the rules to have my American Dream of owning and paying for a home.
Landing my dream job, (it took me 7 years of shift work), finishing college
debt free. Putting my children through school, debt free. Saving for
retirement by being responsible and debt free. and now living
off an ample pension, Social Security, health care benefits and
eligibility for Medicare in two years.
I got all those things by playing by the rules and working WITH the system and
not trying to JOB the system.
My 87 year old mother, a survivor of the Great Depression warned me about
these clowns outlook and mindset. She always told me that “poor little
old me, never did anything.” As in poor little old me I don’t have health
care, PLOM I can’t find a job after two years, and I need more checks.
PLOM some creep got me pregnant and he and my family won’t
help me so I need an abortion (for the 46 millionth time). PLOM I can’t
pay off my charge cards. PLOM I can’t pay off my Fannie and Freddy
loan on my $400K house on $50K/yr. PLOM they want to deport
me because I am working here illegally in Arizona and Alabama.
PLOM the banks and investors are making too much money, PLOM
the corporations are making too much money, PLOM the rich
aren’t paying their fair share, and I have to pay nothing or next to nothing.
Etc, etc., etc. ad nauseum.
These punks can take their manifesto and wipe their buts with it.
They add nothing, and want to take everything. They are so arrogant
that they not only expect to taken care of, BUT demand it. Delusional
selfish, divorced from mainstream America rabble rousing cretins
October 3, 2011 at 10:32 PM
Wow! To Mr. Lucky who is retiring soon without a care in the world! You skated by just in time! Unfortunately, you are among the absolute very few that did. I find it amazing how people who have it made automatically think those that have challenges didn’t work hard enough! I have worked my entire life, raised 3 children, partly as a single mother, and after a long road, I trusted the banks, who took my down payment (small retirement savings) and gave me the loans to buy a house. Then, when the neighborhood tanked to $100,000 below what we paid for our home and we had to re-fi, the bank wouldn’t work with us. The next 3 years were a nightmare and now I am starting over. It is not because I was not a hard worker; it is because I, like the billions of others around the globe, drank the kool-aid. We trusted the investors, the financial advisors, the banks, the loan processors, the forecasters, etc who were supposed to be the experts! Little did we know the banks were paying people to push loans that shadow investors knew would default. Enjoy your retirement Mr. but please remember that it could have easily been you as well! Perhaps your retirement investments just happened to be in companies that didn’t fold under the recession.
October 3, 2011 at 10:54 PM
what do expect from a 50 year old white guy? there is no spirit and there is a cost to that. its funny, people always call each other a ‘communist’ when there is a time of conflict where you are at. this is north america not europe. on top of all that, there are a lot of native north americans who have been suffering under colonialism for a very long time. the Earth has been exploited mercilessly since european contact. We tried fighting and look where it got us, they locked us up on the reserves and tried to turn my parents into a good house cleaners like the black people down south way back when segregation was alive and well.
October 4, 2011 at 11:17 AM
Harry,
Re-read what you have just written, very slowly; Maybe it will sink in. Every one is not poor because they do not want a better life. In fact, very, very few are in this category. How about trying Humility: “But for the Grace, (Un-merited Favor), of God, Goddess, the One Spirit, One Source, Great Mystery, etc…, go I !”
Shining Wolf; (shiningwolf9)
October 3, 2011 at 10:17 PM
They say luck is when oppurtunity meets preparation. My heart goes out to those that have been
messed over bey the “system”. In the mid nineties I had a chance to move my retirrement account
over to a more lucrative less safe one. I chose to stay in the safe account, and I am glad
I did. During the period of the DOT.COM nineties those that moved their money had
portfolios going through the roof. I played it safe. Sort of like the turtle and the hare. I
decided not to take the easy way out, but the slow but sure way, and I’m glad I did.
I am sory that granny pants had that nightmare with her kids mortgage. My story is a little
different, but again I took the safe way out. I bought my home at the height of the
first boom in the mid eighties. To say that this house was a handy man special is an
understatement. All the plaster on the walls were cracked, and it didn’t even have
a functional bathroom. I had two small children at the time. It took me nearly 10 years
to fix it up to the point where it became not only functional, but presentable.
Today my 31 year old daughter, seven year old grand daughter, and my 25 year old daughter
live there, and pay the taxes and utilities, while they save for their own AFFORDABLE
home. I am currently renting an apartment with my new wife of one month.
I am not a 50 year old White guy, but a 63 year old White guy. I live in a neighborhood that
is about 70% Black and my building is over half gay. So lose that, stupid, ignorant
intolerant racist label that you Liberals love to hand out to those that you only
PERCEIVE to know about.
My new wife is a 60 year old Hispanic woman that has duel American and Columbian
citizenship. She is gorgeous and still can wear a Brazillian bikini. I still surf
and snowboard, and eat well and am fit. I have been sober for about 35
years, and most of what I have today I can attribute to being sober and
surrounding myself with those that are sober as well.
I am not gloating and saying that I got stuff and you don’t. What I am saying
is there is no easy way out. Perserverance, discipline and focus will
pay off. Blaming others for my short comings has never been
part of my life’s equation.
October 4, 2011 at 12:45 PM
DB Harry,
Your whining here makes the protesters sound like eloquent human beings of few but significant words. There is so much bitterness in your tirades that it betrays a sense that some kind of “injustice” has been done to you–and you blame those who are less fortunate than you, as if to say: “You should be carry your cross and be crucified like I was! How dare you wish for a world in which you won’t be nailed to the Cross by the Elite of the Empire! I was, and so shall you!” Screw you and your working class hero bullshit. Don’t care how old you are, what the color of your skin is, what the details of your new life and new wife are–you are the walking dead; a resentful zombie who wishes only to reproduce its own living death disguised as “strength”. Pitiful buffoon, wake up and wish for something better for the human being.
November 5, 2011 at 4:38 AM
The Stated Goal is to “Dismantle the Capitalist System and Redistrabute Wealth”. Trouble is what they are protesting is actually Corpratisim. It’s a collusion between big bussiness and big government socialisim. And the cure is more socialisim?
http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/featured/prime-time/867432237001/behead-the-bankers/1198339680001
One can only hope there is a Tea Party Rally right after this “Protest” so all the garbage gets cleaned up. Why is it that the rightwing haters of the enviroment leave the venue cleaner than they found it? And the loony left enviromentally friendly folks leave all the trash for some one else to pick up?
October 6, 2011 at 9:38 AM
Great post! I usually blog about environmentally-centered topics, but I included information about the protest in my last post because I feel that ever if everyone doesn’t agree about what’s being protested, it’s important for everyone to know about it and why it’s going on, especially with such little news coverage! i’m hoping to make it to the DC protest this weekend to check it out myself.
onepositivestep.wordpress.com
October 3, 2011 at 5:22 PM
Pingback: In Solidarity with the Wall Street Protests « Modest Conspiracy
Without a doubt, these are folks who are mainly pissed off that they are not part of the “hand-out” crowd of our nation. If they had a job, and actually worked for a living, they would not have time to jam up New York City traffic. Here is my sign to you…..”Get a Job!”
October 3, 2011 at 5:40 PM
Reality isn’t that simple. Most people work for a living making other people very rich. If you’re looking for bums seeking a “hand-out”, look to the Banksters and the War Criminal chieftains of the “defense” industry. Maybe the folks protesting are just tired of being slaves.
October 3, 2011 at 6:40 PM
I’ve never in my life been given a job by a poor person. Go ahead, take down those evil rich folks. Then you can all dig ditches and pick up trash together because there won’t be any jobs left. The ignorance being shown here is mind boggling.
October 3, 2011 at 10:09 PM
Hey, John !
Speaking of “Hand-Outs”, how much did you NOT give back in Taxes, Personal and Business, that never ever come close to the same amount that the REAL working class paid from their working profit. Take your own advice and, “Get a REAL job!”; not making profit off of those lower paid employees under you.
Shining Wolf; (shiningwolf9)
October 3, 2011 at 10:28 PM
When one person is unemployed: that’s a personal problem. When 16+ million people are unemployed, that’s a system problem. too much money on wall street is not going to productivity, or anything, its just flying around as one’s and zero’s to make some multimillionaire a slightly more multismillionaire. at some point, greed doesn’t actually work. you need to just admit that, and move on to actually solving the problem.
October 3, 2011 at 11:35 PM
Have you noticed that unemployment is up? That there aren’t a lot of jobs? Be glad you’ve got one, especially if it’s a good one! Judging by your photo, we’re probably in the same age range. What did you pay for college? How long did it take you to find a job afterward? Without a doubt, most people are not looking for handouts and do want to work. Many of them are probably among this crowd. Here’s my sign to you: “Create a job!” Not everyone has the money to invest in order to do that, and it’s tough to get a bank loan, but if you’re doing well, how about it?
October 4, 2011 at 9:53 AM
And my sign to you is: Get a brain instead of the brain tumor Fox News has grafted in place of one.
November 5, 2011 at 4:43 AM
Truely a powerful site my spirt is with you
October 3, 2011 at 5:44 PM
Our position is that this is, above all, Occupy Wall Street is the response of a petit-bourgeosie in fear of sliding into the proletariat—and, hence, a movement aimed only at the interests of the upper-middle-class—however; if you look in the background of that last photo with the dog, you might get a glimpse of where this could be heading. For now, they can serve organic vegetable vegan yuppie food, but when the actual working class shows up, they won’t care about self-righteous idealism. The bankers, the yuppies, and the state rule as a class. Let’s trespass against them!
October 3, 2011 at 5:54 PM
Amen! We couldn’t have said it better!
October 3, 2011 at 6:31 PM
People start where they are. If you are correct that these are upper-middle-class kids fighting their own battle, what’s wrong with that? Wouldn’t it be worse if they condescended to lead the great unwashed? The important thing is they’re getting things started. The working class is presumably smart enough to fight their own battles their own way, whether by joining this movement or starting another.
October 4, 2011 at 9:56 AM
There are a number of reasons people are showing up to this, and I am glad to see this level of engagement, so long as they do not fall prey to any trickery on the scene.
The general premise is that people are angry at the financial system and they know at the basic level that markets are manipulated. With high frequency trading mechanisms, capital is becoming more and more phantom like and will be less connected to real productivity.
If people are turning out here, I would like them to apply this kind of zeal to all of their commercial activity. They need to be looking at “every dollar as a soldier” (T. Harv Aker) and put many of the big chains out of business will circulating this money amongst people on the ground. Keep plenty of food on hand and also know BS when they see it. Look for Japan and the UK to be the major sites of rebellion.
October 3, 2011 at 6:28 PM
As fotos ficaram ótimas! Parabéns!
October 3, 2011 at 6:40 PM
i’m headed to nyc in the next few weeks…might just make a stop at the protest if it’s still going strong. good people with good messages. thanks for sharing!
http://www.icouldntmakethisshitup.wordpress.com
October 3, 2011 at 6:43 PM
Love the City Crooks sign. All your pictures tell the story that we should all be very worried. Grass roots is the only way.
October 3, 2011 at 6:49 PM
Love the sign that says Citi Crooks!
October 3, 2011 at 6:56 PM
Thank you so much. Such great signage. A picture really is worth 1,000 words. Keep ‘em coming and good luck out there; wish I could stand in (NY) solidarity with all of you.
October 3, 2011 at 6:59 PM
Why do you care what someone else has? Did they come into your house and steal it from you? What right do you assert is yours to remove from someone else what they have earned by their industry? Just because one person employs others, there is nothing inherent in that relationship that is unfair. Is the employee a conscript? These well-meaning, ignorant youth are like fish trying to jump out of a fishbowl. They have no idea what happens next.
Let’s look at history for that answer: revolution worked so well in China, Russia, Korea, Laos, Cambodia, Somalia, Egypt, Iran…. Need I continue? All these kids in the park are following an “organizer”, so they will know what to do and what to shout and when. Just more sheeple.
Time to grow up and put on your big-boy pants and stop taking money from your parents who are subsidizing your little tantrum.
October 3, 2011 at 7:07 PM
You seem to forget that America was created out of revolution.
October 3, 2011 at 9:07 PM
Don’t even try to equate what these useful idiots are doing on Wall Street with what our founding fathers did to bring this nation to life. They were truly escaping from tyranny. This farce is moving us back toward it. The ignorance and lack of education on historical matters being shown by people in this country is staggering. But as Marx and Lenin would say thank you useful idiots! Vladimir Lenin coined the disparaging term, useful idiots, to describe those people too damned stupid to realize that they are contributing to their own political demise.
October 3, 2011 at 10:05 PM
But DL, please don’t try to equate what the banksters on Wall Street have done with just compensation for their industry. Whether individually evil or not, the position they are in right now allows them to siphon off everything they want for themselves and leave little to the rest of us. Does it mean nothing to you that such a tiny percentage of the population owns so much of the wealth, not through harder work, but through financial manipulation? Maybe you’re thrilled with things the way they are, maybe you benefit, but many hard-working people have been devastated by forces beyond their individual control, just as individuals in the financial industry don’t control the whole thing and probably didn’t foresee the results of their personal actions. Why are you unsympathetic to them?
Two more things: I hope you are as critical of the Tea Party as you are of the Wall St. Occupiers. Talk about “little tantrum”! And don’t assume “mommy and daddy” are paying for the occupation.
October 4, 2011 at 10:07 AM
When someone else gets the money that I earned through my industry, I care. What exactly has Wall Street “earned by their industry”? Nearly ruining the global economy and yet somehow being rewarded by those of us who actually work for a living, as far as I can tell.
Ha ha, yes, let’s look at history: revolution worked so well in France, America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand… Need I continue?
Time to grow up and put on your big-boy pants and realize that if these people are “sheeple”, you are too. Let’s be honest, now: you didn’t come up with the word “sheeple” yourself, now, did you?
October 3, 2011 at 10:03 PM
You’ve crapped in your big boy pants and show us that you’re not ready to think, let alone, act like a big boy. You have no idea who you’re working for.
October 3, 2011 at 10:06 PM
if you count ACTUAL inflation, I seriously doubt this country has grown a single % in GDP for the past 10 years (except perhaps QE which essentially went to banks and those savvy/lucky enough to ride the stock market oscillations). throw in a couple depression level stock market crashes (you might want to turn on your tv), and at some point, there just isn’t a job or enough money to keep it going. People are going to live off what their parents have not because they are lazy but because there is no more juice to squeeze out of the system. welcome to peak oil.
October 3, 2011 at 11:40 PM
So who organized this, and who is using all these idealistic youths?
October 3, 2011 at 7:33 PM
Wonderful pictures ! Go for it guys !
October 3, 2011 at 7:39 PM
Wow, that was awesome. Kind of makes me want to participate in Occupy Miami. Great pics, man!
October 3, 2011 at 7:45 PM
“Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come” Victor Hugo Thank you so much for sharing these photos. The MSM is ignoring this.
October 3, 2011 at 8:28 PM
I’ve been watching this all unfold since the organizing stage months ago. I’m really pleased to see how peaceful it’s all been so far. Roots to the cops who have stepped over individually to saythey support the cause. Also, great first shot of that girl and the sign about Obama and Jesus. Super point. I pray that it’s heard.
October 3, 2011 at 8:34 PM
I’ve been watching this all unfold since the organizing stage months ago. I’m really pleased to see how peaceful it’s all been so far. Roots to the cops who have stepped over individually to saythey support the cause. Also, great first shot of that girl and the sign about Obama and Jesus. Super point. I pray that it’s heard.
October 3, 2011 at 8:34 PM
Power to the People!!!
October 3, 2011 at 8:37 PM
Awesome, brave people.
October 3, 2011 at 8:41 PM
Phenomenal pics. Congrats on being freshly press. As others have noted, the “occupy protest” is already being steered and funded by co-agents of the criminal banksters. The protesters should be targeting the real monetary power __the privately owned Federal Reserve Bank! It is the Fed and her co-banksters in London who are controlling the financial and economic destiny of the USA and the Western Nations. Protesting wall street bankers will not change or achieve anything. Nonetheless, it may awaken a “critical mass” who will have true “we-the-people-power” to force congress to dismantle the privately owned Fed and begin to coin the “people’s currency”!
October 3, 2011 at 8:44 PM
Ron I agree the Fed is the problem but these kids don’t even know why their down there, let alone who’s really behind this thing. To them this is just another excuse to party.
October 3, 2011 at 9:59 PM
Right, it’s all just a big conspiracy–and an opportunity to get stoned. Who is “really behind” that viewpoint? You?
November 5, 2011 at 4:50 AM
P.S. the “people’s debt-free currency”
October 3, 2011 at 8:46 PM
These photos are great. It’s awesome to see up-close and personal what’s going on during the protest. Thanks for sharing!
October 3, 2011 at 9:00 PM
This protest is amazing. I have friends who are going down almost every day. What great photos. I’m planning on heading down there to take photos of my own sometime this week. It’s crazy that the “Occupy” is spreading to other states. I really hope that this movement results in positive change and results.
October 3, 2011 at 9:01 PM
Pingback: The Upper-Middle-Class character of Occupy Wall Street, an update « Selecting Stones
Great pics, thanks!
October 3, 2011 at 9:09 PM
I dont see what the problem is.
I have nothing to squawk about.I think I have a good life compared to others.I made it that way.I dont depend of the government to change anything for me.
Get off the streets & go get whats yours.I did.
Now….who can argue that.
October 3, 2011 at 9:13 PM
No argument here friend. I’m all about the individual and personal responsibility. This Wall Street “movement” reminds me of an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation and the BORG. It’s all about the collective.
October 3, 2011 at 9:56 PM
are you like a paid commenter? or a computer or something, your comments are a little off. i feel like there might even be a room of people, like wall street hacks trying to brainstorm around a whiteboard. yeah, yeah, we’ll call them borgs, that’s hip, that will trend well, yeah!
October 3, 2011 at 11:43 PM
How about individual and personal responsibility along with collective and social responsibility? Are they mutually exclusive for some reason? Wake up fools–it doesn’t end with “going out and getting what’s yours”. That mentality taken as an end in itself is the problem, not the solution.
November 5, 2011 at 4:55 AM
If this really meant something we’d all be in.
October 3, 2011 at 9:15 PM
Awesome pics! There seems to be some confusion as to what is being protested. People often get confused when there is not one, simple answer. There is not a simple or solitary issue here. What protestors are fighting is the end result of class separation and decades of manipulation of a majority by a small percentage of elite individuals and entities. The ruling powers have taken our homes, money and livelihoods in order to live high on the hog. That is the core argument of this protest…social and economic justice.
Thanks for the great photos!
October 3, 2011 at 9:17 PM
Taking care of the Geese who lay golden eggs used to work. When the geese are migrating that’s bad news.
I really think it is called survival and flight of American capital. And it looks like no American president can do much about it. It is called Globalization in a very free world.
October 3, 2011 at 9:23 PM
Sorry to say that you’re probably right.
October 4, 2011 at 10:12 AM
Fantastic shots. Thank you for making a difference!
October 3, 2011 at 9:36 PM
Fantastic post! I just did one in my blog, in portuguese. I will yours there. Take a look.
http://wordsofleisure.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/occupy-wall-street-prazer/
October 3, 2011 at 9:46 PM
Absolutely amazing photos. It expresses the movement the way words never could.
October 3, 2011 at 9:46 PM
Pingback: Occupy Wall Street, prazer! « words of leisure
Just learned Bernanke owes me $350K. No, I don’t take credit.
October 3, 2011 at 9:51 PM
Ignorance is bliss! Oh to be young and irresponsible again…somewhere Lenin and Marx are cheering them on.
October 3, 2011 at 9:53 PM
And who is cheering you on? Beck and O’Reilly? Everyone has their “useful idiots” I suppose.
November 5, 2011 at 4:59 AM
Im taking part in occupy Dallas on Oct 6th…these photos gave me a little burst of hope that maybe a little positivity will be spread all over
October 3, 2011 at 10:25 PM
Pingback: nostalgia for a good old-fashioned street protest « An American in Australia
Beautiful blog and photos of a beautiful movement! I am so excited to be a part of this revolution, albeit via the internet. I am one of the 99%. At 53, I lost my house, my retirement, my marriage due to economic stress and now I am preparing to go back to graduate school and try to make it without going into debt, which I cannot afford to do at my age. I have a million horror stories about the banks and am thrilled we are speaking out and not villifying Obama to avoid the truth. Yes, he can do better, but he needs us to speak out to remind him of why he became President! Thanks!
October 3, 2011 at 10:37 PM
Great photos. I wish I’d been able to participate but I know I would’ve gotten in trouble as soon as the cops tried to manhandle me.
October 3, 2011 at 10:39 PM
I like the first sign in the first photo – Obama is not a brown-skinned anti-war socialist who gives away free healthcare. He’s actually very pro-war, based on his actions with Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. He doesn’t give away free healthcare either. He just makes everybody buy and I think he just plays a socialist on TV and is actually a corporate puppet,
I’m all about protesting what you think isn’t right (even if I don’t agree with what is being protested) but I’m not sure what exactly these protests are supposed to accomplish. It seems like it has just turned into an anit-capitalist protest in general.
Cheers and thanks for the pictures!
October 3, 2011 at 10:45 PM
You think America’s capitalist? It’s fascist.
October 4, 2011 at 12:23 AM
Great photos, they really feel up close and personal as if walking on the street itself. and it is easy to see where the movement sprung from, with the high unemployment rate and bad economy, caused by wall street greed.
October 3, 2011 at 10:45 PM
Nice display. Wish we could have our own Tahrir Square.
October 3, 2011 at 10:48 PM
THANK YOU for these pictures ! They speak louder than those who have not been touched by what is going on in the world, yet, and still have the audacity to speak cruel words.
By the way, to all those who have nothing worth-while to do or say, but speak words of humiliation and self-pride judgement on others, remember, many college graduates are are among them, as well as, “once higher paid” employees of companies, “down-sizing”.
Shining Wolf; (shiningwolf9)
October 3, 2011 at 10:52 PM
Those are some amazing photos, really seem to capture what it’s all about in a way I haven’t seen from the mainstream media. Keep it up!
October 3, 2011 at 11:30 PM
Finally, a wordpress feature that has made it on the the board list. I have been waiting for something like this. All I see on wordpress features are blogs on photography which I love – being a photgrapher myself -. But, at the expense of relevant and timely issues that need to be discussed, I believe this to be a flaw and disservice on the part of wordpress. Hope this continues.
audymm.wordpress.com
October 3, 2011 at 11:33 PM
great to get an insider’s view and a personal look at what people are saying…your pictures are much more informative than watching the news
October 3, 2011 at 11:35 PM
Great job you are doing! Excellent pictures too!
October 3, 2011 at 11:53 PM
Pingback: Occupying Wall Street with Rogue Dinosaurs and Saucy British Accents. | Wandering Writes
much gratitude for the pics
October 4, 2011 at 12:04 AM
Thought provoking!
October 4, 2011 at 12:06 AM
Obama is a clueless puppet. Wall Street is the scum of the earth, raised to the 432rd power. This will end with heads rolling … literally. By the millions. Don’t underestimate the upheaval about to be unleashed on the world — you ain’t seen nothing yet. Expect complete anarchy and destruction of the monetary system, and World War III. America has been completely robbed. And these criminal banksters are the cause.
You want to know how your country REALLY works? And how you REALLY fit into it?
http://www.csper.org/renaissance-20.html
The scary part is, I’m no whacko kook job. I graduated literally top in my class in college, I’m a practicing, full time engineer and part time biologist, I’ve worked on projects all over the world in various projects incl. Saudi Arabia and the Bin Laden palace. I’m as level headed as they come and I used to think this conspiracy stuff was whacked. Then I allowed my mind to open and I took the red pill rather than the blue pill hammered into us sheeple every day by the media. Learn about what’s going on and protect yourself or you are part of the PROBLEM!
October 4, 2011 at 12:07 AM
You all doing America a great favor! Its about time a movemnt like this happens in USA. It is a wake up call to tall he greedy Republicans, Corporate chiefs and dishonest Wall Street execs to clean up their act. You have my support
October 4, 2011 at 12:36 AM
Absolutely stunning photos.
October 4, 2011 at 12:36 AM
cool photos! I’m planning on attending the occupy Vancouver protest in support of what you guys are doing. I think that people before profit is crucially important in this consumerist modern world.
October 4, 2011 at 12:39 AM
When is that? I’ll go.
October 4, 2011 at 12:46 AM
Thanks for your work in promoting peace and equality.
God Bless
October 4, 2011 at 1:08 AM
People before profit = no profit = no jobs = no tax revenue = no unemployment checks, food stamps, or government support. People take care of yourselves. Really brilliant, though, protesting making money…
October 4, 2011 at 1:08 AM
Your comment is disgusting, ignorant, and just plain stupid. You are nothing but a member of the non-thinking, zombie sheeple class lapping up the media propaganda like America laps up Big Macs.
October 4, 2011 at 1:18 AM
I hope this protest wakes up America as too many people are not aware that “We the people” is being replaced by “We the Corporation” on state and federal levels. (If you don’t know what I am talking about, google ALEC ) We are the 99% so I am going to follow your blog as I did not know anything about this until I saw it happening via twitter on Saturday while flipping through tv channels looking for news coverage, like whoa… police using a bridge as a box canyon and it is not on the news? Keep posting… and congrats on being freshly pressed!
October 4, 2011 at 1:28 AM
why…
October 4, 2011 at 1:35 AM
Hi Terrell,
Congratulations on getting Freshly Pressed! These are fantastic pictures and it’s phenomenal that you are showcasing what the mainstream media is not. They seem hellbent on showing every crackpot and half naked idiot who shows up there in a clear attempt to discredit what has become a nat’l movement in a matter of 3 weeks. But you….looking at your photos reveals a discerning, skillful eye and a talent to watch.Thank you for sharing.
I’m looking forward to your next round as well. So sorry that POC are not there in droves but #OccupyTheHood is working on changing that. For more info on OWS, check out my page
Peace.
October 4, 2011 at 2:13 AM
Thank you Coco. I will check out your page. When you wake up tomorrow, please look for my new post on people of color in the protest. I think you will like it! So please subscribe to my blog.
October 4, 2011 at 2:18 AM
great pics!thanks!
October 4, 2011 at 2:22 AM
Great shots. I was down there late last night and caught some of the drumming on camera http://wheresmybackpack.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/occupy-wall-street-drumbeats-images/
October 4, 2011 at 2:29 AM
Amazing pictures! Thank you for posting this. It is sad to note how little media attention has been given to the protests. You captured exactly what I’ve been longing to see.
October 4, 2011 at 2:45 AM
I am deeply impressed by your protest. We don’t have any similar in Germany. Unfortunatly.
October 4, 2011 at 3:43 AM
Wow…this is fantastic. If I get my hands on some extra cash I may fly from the west coast out there to participate. I think Wall-Street is a perfect high visible target and starting point. The movement has no clear vision but I do think people understand deep down inside that something just isn’t right. People understand deep down inside that people can experience a better quality of life. People understand deep down inside that we have taken a wrong turn.
We may not know what we want or how to change it, but we are searching for something better. Those at the top of pyramid don’t want to change a damn thing for they have mastered the ponzi scheme. They know how to pull this lever or that lever to move millions of us to spend our little pieces of bread to add to their heap. Why would they want a new solution? A new solution would simply make their inflated wealth absolete. Those at the top of pyramid aren’t worth what the amount of wealth they have accumulated says they are worth.
I don’t care if these protesters don’t have a unified vision…what I do care about is they realize something is very very wrong and that we as a species can do much better. But these protesters need to think about something else. To make this world better…we have to work hard, make sacrafices, employ our energy, create great visions and purposes…we need to re-write our direction. And this isn’t simply an American problem…it is a world-wide problem. The scope is immense…almost too over-whelming to fathom. But you have to start with little steps. The first step is to realize you don’t like the current direction.
October 4, 2011 at 4:16 AM
Amazing! As the recent college grad age range is representative of those being “left behind” economically, I wonder what the median age of those who work on wall street are….or how many of them are also recent grads?
October 4, 2011 at 4:29 AM
Young people still have hope and belief that life should be better…they haven’t had to completely transform themselves to fit in. A few may have experienced a professor or two…a course here or there…that inspired them to hope for more. Once you have crossed the bridge from hope to the “real” world, and been rewarded by that transformation, you don’t want anything to disrupt “your progress”.
October 4, 2011 at 4:41 AM
I’m glad the youth of the nation thinks they can do something with themselves. It does make me feel better. But their effort is all wasted. Cramming up Wall Street is symbolic, yes; but symbolism only goes so far. The Founding Fathers signing their names on a document denouncing the King of England was symbolic…but most of them lost farms, families, and lives for it. What made the revolution succeed was their willingness to shed blood.
When the British shot them they didn’t say, “Oh the red-coated tools, I can’t believe they’re shooting us, this just shows they’re corrupt and in the pocket of the King!” no, they shot back and said, “Shoot us again, and we’ll burn your barracks with you inside.”
A much better place to do this would be on the steps of the Congressional Buildings. When you’ve got 700 people verbally assaulting Senators on their commute, then maybe something will happen. Of course, allt hat will happen is martial law and the National Guard being set upon protestors while we talk about how cruel Moammar Qaddaffi is for shooting at armed ‘civilians’ and then calmly walk back into our voting booths and elect the incumbants for another hundred years.
~RCS
October 4, 2011 at 4:51 AM
LOL…time will tell how profound this protest really is. I have never been the protest type. But I deeply believe we as Americans and as a species have fallen way short of our potential. My thoughts or muses on our current ill-fated direction come from my soul and my some 43 years of short-lived experience…often reaping the benefits of fitting into the system but often not believing in the system. If I thought we had a chance to change things to improve our potential and that of future generations…I would be willing to die and shed blood for that cause. But I would have to believe we really had visions and purposes that could become a reality…otherwise I will simply live out this life of wasted potential and passion and hopefully find the courage…when the time comes…to find a deep mountain crevice to hibernate for the long rest…knowing that one day nature will re-write the direction for us.
October 4, 2011 at 5:09 AM
wonderful shots! Even though I’m on the other side of the coast, your pictures made me feel like I was there, protesting by their side.
October 4, 2011 at 4:51 AM
woooo, funtastic
October 4, 2011 at 4:52 AM
These’re simply amazing! Thanks for lettting us feel like living in a free state! Like you have stated, people there had different stories, however they spoke the same voice. This is really patriotic, that marks them as Americans!
October 4, 2011 at 4:53 AM
These pictures are powerful. Kudos to all of you who are now illuminated to the various abuses in society and to what should be done in response to these. The bureaucracy is choking us. Even we people here in the Philippines are suffering from the consequences of the power-hungriness of these large profit-faced people and corporations. Keep the cause alive.
October 4, 2011 at 4:54 AM
Wow. Powerful pictures. Those kinds of pictures really speak to a lot of people, regardless who they are or where they’re from. Thanks for sharing!
http://jansimson.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/you-tell-me/
October 4, 2011 at 4:58 AM
Nice photos. Let do right things in there. Thanks for sharing.
October 4, 2011 at 5:03 AM
I am so happy that these protests and this movement are occurring.
The pictures are great! They reveal people who are motivated by justice.
We can see where greed and the ‘economic system of old’ were taking us (as a country and world).
My city of Santa Barbara also just had an ‘Occupy’ protest today to ally with the New York protests and to show
our values of ‘compassion over profit.’
My faith motivates me to seek economic justice, political campaigns that are transparent and free of corporate puppetry, fair taxation and policy enactment that represents the 99% of the population, and prioritizing anti-racist policies.
There are solutions to our nation’s problems of greed, environmental waste/oil consumption, endless war, widening gap between the uber-rich and everyone else: the average citizenry just needs to keep up the pressure on our elected officials. We can do it!
October 4, 2011 at 5:10 AM
Are you willing to go the distance and make sacrafices to make the world a better place? Do you have visions and purposes to replace what is already in place? I am willing to join your cause but you need to be willing to go the distance.
October 4, 2011 at 5:18 AM
I agree wholeheartedly! We have to join these young people…they are the only ones who seem to have the priorities straight in this country.
October 4, 2011 at 2:01 PM
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OLD VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold. MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!
MODERN VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.
CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, ‘It’s Not Easy Being Green.’ Acorn stages a demonstration in front of the ant’s house where the news stations film the group singing, ‘We shall overcome’
Rev. Jeremiah Wright then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper’s sake. Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share. Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.
The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ants food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant’s old house, crumbles around him because he doesn’t maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2012
October 4, 2011 at 7:34 AM
The TRUTH of this story: You are no more than an ant in an Ant Colony–a “wise” automaton.
The LIE of this story: The millions of involuntarily impoverished human beings in this world have been “laughing, dancing and playing the summer away”.
The MORAL of this story: Be careful of the lies Ants tell to glorify their militant conformity and vilify anyone not of their sterile, uniform species.
November 5, 2011 at 5:18 AM
Thanks for putting this up, very powerful and inspiring.
October 4, 2011 at 7:47 AM
I love these pictures! After 12 years in Asia, I’m coming home to America. Did I time that badly?
October 4, 2011 at 8:05 AM
I heard a few days ago that the military was thinking about laying off some of our soldiers. Some of our young people joined the military because that’s all they had left. What will happen when these people are put back out on the street with no jobs to go to and no hope? The “Occupiers” are brave people and it is my belief that before its all over a lot more people will become braver as they become more fed up. Its interesting how the press keeps asking for leaders…why? from what I have seen and heard they know all the questions and the answers…they just need to be as brave as these kids about asking our leaders some questions.
October 4, 2011 at 8:20 AM
The Seinfeld Revolution- The show about nothing.
The gold at the end of the Socialist Rainbow turns out to be Fool’s Gold and guess who’s the fool!
October 4, 2011 at 8:35 AM
You
November 5, 2011 at 5:20 AM
Thank you for sharing your view…compelling images that tell the real story!
October 4, 2011 at 8:48 AM
I’m troubled that many compare Obama to Jesus.
My best to all.
October 4, 2011 at 8:52 AM
wow a revolutionary article. thank you for sharing.
October 4, 2011 at 8:53 AM
Most of them are just ridiculous… Just watch them on TV and none of the ones interviewed could answer, “why are you here?” maybe it is a little trick by the media but I am sure that many people over there just to say they were… Pictures are really good though
October 4, 2011 at 9:25 AM
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Beautiful photos, reminds me of the demonstrations in the sixties! I live next to the site of the original Woodstock of 1969 and it makes me proud to know that people still have compassion especially when it seems like there isn’t anyone left hat does!
October 4, 2011 at 9:37 AM
iam from egypt
first media will ignore you
if you proved stability in front of them poeple will be more interrested
and media will be obliged to be interrested
then they will try to decieve you
if they failed,you will win
October 4, 2011 at 9:42 AM
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Thanks for sharing these pics! When it comes to protests, people there will NEVER be standing for the same reasons… Nevertheless, if I could point out one thing in common that they all may have is that things are not being handled the right way when it comes economics… If nobody raises their voice, then why do we find ourselves complaining about accountability or governance afterwards? I stand by your side guys, even though I’m far from you all.
October 4, 2011 at 10:04 AM
Powerful photos. It’s a shame not only that the occupation is being largely ignored by most of the mainstream news outlets, but also that so many people have been brainwashed into thinking it’s the wealthy who are in the right. This is not about hardworking people not deserving money they’ve worked hard for; this is about millionaires fucking over everyone else for the sake of adding additional zeroes to their bank balance.
October 4, 2011 at 10:11 AM
Amazing photos showing a side that has grown slowly over the last few years. Normal human beings standing up for the blatant disrespectful way crooks in power operate.
October 4, 2011 at 10:20 AM
Every time I see photos or an event like this my spirit in seeking liberty is always lifted. Because I know from heart that the real power of a nation does not belong to a famous man or group but to an anonymous crowd. Citizens. Just like this. Here we can see hope for a country which vision was remarkable now gone obscure. There’s always someone who will stand out and bring this nation to a better place which it’s used to be.
October 4, 2011 at 10:47 AM
Dismantle the Capatilist System? Or Dismantle the Corpratist System? http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/featured/prime-time/867432237001/behead-the-bankers/1198339680001
October 4, 2011 at 11:05 AM
Thanks for taking the pictures, they’re very moving and inspiring!
October 4, 2011 at 11:11 AM
Some great picture on that protest. I think an action like this has been a long time in the making. I only hope this could be the start of something new. I’ve got a little opinion piece on it here: http://greatlakessocialist.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/the-revolutions-of-2011/
Solidarity!
October 4, 2011 at 11:28 AM
Very powerful.
October 4, 2011 at 11:31 AM
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these protests are being copied from the Arab Spring. The first world and the third world. The first world seeing what the third world people are capable of, what its like living under a dictator for 40 years the people acted with help from the internet. this is not Egypt or soon to be Syria. this is north america. the native people have been living under deplorable conditions since european contact. colonialsim is brutal and you dont see on the mainstream media what its like living on a reserve in this system. we are the fourth world and we have been watching this for a long time, now you know whats it like to suffer. And you have not seen nothing yet because our Elders have prophecies that knew this would happen all along.
October 4, 2011 at 11:38 AM
The pictures say it all.
October 4, 2011 at 11:55 AM
Thank you for this. It’s beautiful and awful all at once and a great celebration of the people taking their time to make their voices heard peacefully.
October 4, 2011 at 12:08 PM
That’s agenda is so extended and hard to support, but is not imposible to ride.
October 4, 2011 at 12:43 PM
Wish I could be there. We’re praying for these folks where I am.
October 4, 2011 at 1:19 PM
i like the photos ….and certainly the protest !!!
October 4, 2011 at 1:43 PM
I am a 54 yr old mother of 3 adult children and I want to thank and commend all of you for taking up the torch and being able to see who is at fault for the troubles we are having in this country. It isn’t President Obama, it is those on Wall Street who have President Obama’s opponents and dissenters in their pockets. THANK YOU…THANK YOU…THANK YOU and may God bless you for doing the right thing.
October 4, 2011 at 1:52 PM
my favorite is the first one with the pretty girl holding up the sign, and the two dirty hippies behind her looking at eachother as if to say, “sure, she gets the picture….”
October 4, 2011 at 1:56 PM
these are some supreme pics
October 4, 2011 at 2:36 PM
Cool pics…
I wonder when it will be Italy’s turn!
October 4, 2011 at 2:44 PM
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We need more, no, not more but ALL to protest capitalism. How much is enough? It’s never enough, but I myself have had enough of the the 1% controlling and dictating the laws, rules, and regulations. The pictures are fantastic
October 4, 2011 at 4:44 PM
Awesome
October 4, 2011 at 5:28 PM
Love the first pictyre!
(Congratulations on being freshly pressed!)
October 4, 2011 at 11:51 PM
The boy holding the “compassion before profits”sign spoke to me. There is something very wrong when the president ants to give people the right to medical care and big business says no. What does that say about our society. The system is broken. People rise up when they see something wrong and that is why France has a President and not a King. The powers that be should be aware that we are not happy.
October 5, 2011 at 5:19 AM
great pics and a great protest, keep it up!
October 5, 2011 at 11:10 AM
the photos convinced me to act and care for my society. Great movement.
http://letscriticize.wordpress.com
October 5, 2011 at 12:17 PM
awesome pics! they need a spokesperson to better help identify their message!
October 5, 2011 at 7:41 PM
Their message is being deliberately skewed by the mass media, whose profits will be affected by adverse publicity. Dear Protestors, thank you for realizing and conveying to us that society is bigger than a healthy stock portfolio. Signed, an English person involved in law enforcement.
October 5, 2011 at 10:51 PM
Thank you English person involved in law enforcement for a voice of reason . . .
November 5, 2011 at 5:24 AM
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Everyday protest’s i see,but,when a protestor will become a provoker of all his people!I’m waiting for it to happen (:
October 6, 2011 at 12:36 PM
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I love these photos and I love this movement.
October 11, 2011 at 4:16 PM
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I’ve collected a few relevant essays here, if you have idle time for browsing:
http://kitchenmudge.wordpress.com/recent-news-links/
October 17, 2011 at 9:09 PM
Great job on the photos! I love the fact there’s finally a movement about real issues in this decade!
Thanks for sharing
October 20, 2011 at 11:43 PM
I wish I could be out on that square for even one day to see the works that are going on there.
October 21, 2011 at 12:20 PM
Very interesting. I wasn’t well aware of this until reading your blog. Thank you.
October 24, 2011 at 4:35 PM
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People should protest for what they believe in!
December 6, 2011 at 11:02 AM
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The real power in many cases lies with the consumer/investor. Watch change happen when it becomes profitable to be honest and socially responsible corporate citizens. The law states that public companies must maximize profits. So consumers can force companies to be better by withdrawing our business from those who are crooked, environmentally, and socially irresponsible. Boycotts, they say don’t usually work. This is because not everyone jumps on board. Not long ago the banks lost millions when people withdrew their money and put it into credit unions. This hits these corporations and banks where it hurts. Empowered consumers !
January 8, 2012 at 1:14 PM