Wall Street protests: Is there a message?
In spite of signs and speeches denouncing bankers and corporate greed, the protesters in Lower Manhattan lack a clear set of goals.
“Any protest that hopes to accomplish some goal,” said Daniel Indiviglio in TheAtlantic.com, “needs, well, a goal.” That’s why the thousands of protesters currently camped in Lower Manhattan under the banner “Occupy Wall Street” aren’t likely to accomplish very much. The colorful protests have featured signs and speeches denouncing bankers, corporate greed, and capitalism. But despite hundreds of arrests, growing union support, and appearances by liberal celebrities such as Michael Moore and Susan Sarandon, the movement still lacks “a clear set of objectives.” If this “pathetic” gathering of whiny pseudo-anarchists is the Left’s version of the Tea Party, said Rich Lowry in the New York Post, then liberals should hang their heads in shame. This so-called protest looks like “a post-adolescent sleepover, complete with face paint and pizza deliveries.”
Americans have every right to be angry at Wall Street, said John Avlon in TheDailyBeast.com. Our economy has been wrecked by “corruption, collusion, and economic malpractice,” and it’s the middle class and the poor that are paying the steepest price. Unfortunately, Occupy Wall Street seems to be a protest against virtually everything. Wandering through the crowd, I saw signs calling for a new investigation into the 9/11 attacks, for “an end to all wars,” and for American society to “replace capitalism with democracy.” Surely you don’t expect coherence from “young white hippies” living on trust funds, said Tim Stanley in the London Telegraph. Many of the protesters are “professional agitators” who jet around the world “from riot to riot—a cause on every continent, a ring in every orifice.”
That’s unfair, said Michael Scherer in Time.com. Occupy Wall Street may have been started by the usual suspects, but since then the protests have spread to Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, and other cities. Like the Tea Party, these protests are fired by “anger at elites, a feeling of injustice, a concern about jobs, and fear about the direction of the economy.” Laugh that off as naïve if you will, said Andrew Ross Sorkin in The New York Times, but something very real is stirring in this country. People are fed up with “the growing inequality gap,” and the unchecked power and wealth of those at the top. This protest “is a warning shot.” The next step could be “civil unrest,” like the rioting and arson that recently left sections of London in flames.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'Making a police state out of the liberal university'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
8 looming climate tipping points that imperil our planet
The Explainer New reports detail the thresholds we may be close to crossing
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Try 6 free issues of The Week Junior
Spark your child's curiosity with The Week Junior - the award-winning current affairs magazine for 8-14s.
By The Week Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published