Yesterday, I witnessed one of the most iconic images of the protests I’ve seen so far, as the massive ABC news ticker in Times Square scrolled the headline “Occupy Wall Street Movement Goes Worldwide” while throngs of protesters moved beneath it, the giant billboards and screens above bombarding them with a constant stream of the very corporate consumerism that they had gathered against. As I took it all in, I heard a fellow protester proclaiming, “here she is, the Whore of Babylon, her legs spread wide for all the world to see.” Continue reading
occupy wall street
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Considering that over twelve hours had passed since Mayor Bloomberg announced that the Occupy Wall Street protesters had until 7 am today to clear out of the park, I had arrived in Zuccotti Park early this morning expecting to see an organized resistance. But as I pressed into the tightly-packed crowd surrounding, the mood looked to be one of uncertainty. In the center of the square, the General Assembly was doing a mic check, but the most of the chants became incomprehensible once they reached the edges. Only an hour remained until the announced deadline and no one seemed sure what exactly was going to happen at 7. Continue reading
Henry Blodget put together a simple yet incredibly effective presentation over at Business Insider yesterday. The series of economic charts tell the story of how the rich have spent much of the past 25 years steadily taking ownership of nearly the entire U.S. economy. The 99% indeed.
I’m about ready to pack my bags and join the Occupy Wall Street protests because it is hitting home now. Yeah, I got laid off a couple of years ago and my unemployment ran out ages ago. Whatever. Today was the day I began to weep for America. No matter that large companies are failing right and left – today, Casa Bonita, a Denver cultural icon, is in jeopardy. The parent company has filed for bankruptcy protection. I know this will devastate scores of Denver residents, most of all my brother-in-law John. Seldom has a man loved a restaurant as much as John loves Casa Bonita. Continue reading
Given that the mainstream American Left has been scared of its own shadow since the Reagan revolution turned “liberal” into a dirty word, I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised that many of these self-professed “progressives” have responded to the first genuine sustained mass youth movement my generation has seen by heaping scorn, doubt, and criticism upon it. I arrived in Zuccotti Park late Sunday afternoon hoping to catch a glimpse of the chaotic and disorganized mass of dirty hippies, drugged-out punks, and other standard bogeymen of the “get off my lawn” crowd. I was sorely disappointed. Continue reading