Why the ‘Occupy’ movement matters

There is much debate surrounding “Occupy Wall Street”, but one thing no one can deny is the underlying relevance of the movement.

Yes, there are some bad apples among the protesters. Yes, some cities are having issues with sanitation and clashes with law enforcement. However, it is important to remember why these masses of people of every age, race, and gender are gathering.

A problem exists in the United States. You can see it every morning when you watch the news. You can feel it when you drive into any small, struggling town. Knee-deep in the Great Recession, Americans are increasingly frustrated and looking to a government that also has its hands in the air and trillions in debt under its belt.

At the top of this toil are a select few or, as the Occupy protesters refer to them, the 1%, who have the most wealth. It’s not the fact that these one-percenters are rich that the movement has a problem with — it’s that most have accumulated this wealth using shady practices born of Wall Street.

According to the occupywallst.org site: “The role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people are writing the rules of an unfair global economy that is foreclosing on our future.”

Since the first eager pens hit the bottom of the United States Constitution, Americans have tried to separate themselves from the European aristocrats. Hundreds of years later, here we are — an aristocracy of a different color. Green. Money rules this society, writing the social rules and playing puppeteer to an easily influenced government.

The average American, the 99%, will likely never have an opportunity to rectify the jumbled mess that is Wall Street. So this average American joined their neighbor, and they joined their neighbor, and so on. Now, these average Americans have found a voice that is here to stay.

Think about the Women’s Movement of the 1960s. The Civil Rights movement of the 1950s. Any substantial movement in U.S. history. Chances are, you appreciate and take advantage of the strides made by those few brave people who set out to change an America deeply rooted in its ways.

So, before you write off the Occupy movement, remember three things: This movement MEANS something to thousands of people; its organizers began with and continue to promote a nonviolent protest; it is not going away.

Today, the movement turns two months old. Despite its infancy, prepare to see this one in the history books.