Occupy Wall Street

Here's a first-hand account from Meredith, one of Off Times Square's regular commenters, who visited Liberty Plaza Saturday:

I went down to the Liberty Plaza…spoke with Cornel West….he was interviewed by Canadian TV, and mentioned their advanced health care system etc. He then listened and conversed with many individuals clustered around him. I said to him we need our media here to explain more comparisons with other nations to give our voters realistic models of what our country might be capable of doing. He says even our liberal media is attuned to American interests and ideas, and isn’t used to delving into other nation’s social systems.

The young people there seem genuine, honest, with strong ideas, and not radical or hot headed at all. They seem level headed and low key in conversation. One of the reporters I chatted with was an ABC local news woman, who said, "Well, they don’t seem like anarchists, anyway, so that’s good.” That’s a typical reaction, like maybe demonstrators are left wing anarchists. In Europe demonstrations include all classes and walks of life, it isn’t just left to the “hippie kids.”

Anyway it’s easy to just ask questions of these people down in liberty plaza, and get into discussions with almost anyone. They talk to you very openly and I had nice interchanges with several. Their mode of operation now is democratic discussion of ideas in their meetings or various groups they set up, there in the plaza. Anyone with ideas can go down there, talk and maybe start a group. They seem to not want a strong top down leadership system. They do have some legal counsel and a media liaison I chatted with.

I’d like to see more focus in their plans and methods, to get specific effective messages out to the media. I wondered if leadership should take charge more. I don’t know the theories behind getting movements to snowball into wide support. Placards with generalities about wall street are a start to arouse interest. But maybe they also need specific actionable challenges for change. I suggested they broaden their message to address the mass of Americans who need a more secure safety net across the board — jobs, education tuition, unions, pay, pensions, health care, retirement. I put that on paper in their suggestion box they set up. I spoke to a guy at the desk, and he wrote down some of this. Well, that was nice.

They’re getting more unions to join them which will broaden their influence. I’d like to see some older participants, & more middle class business attired types to march with them — to show on TV to conservative America. Then let them identify with this group on the basis of lost jobs, education, pensions and retirement. Will this wake up America? Maybe.