Awakened like a sleeping giant, the 99 Percenters were first motivated by the Arab Spring – but now have orchestrated a movement that has taken on a whole life of their own. Commencing with a make-shift tent city constructed overnight in downtown Manhattan four weeks ago, Occupy Wall Street has caught not only America’s zeitgeist but one that is cyberventilating across the globe as well.
Via the viral distribution channels of social networks, this world-wide phenomenon is now "occupying" events and motivating activists to pour onto the streets of thousands of cities and colleges across the planet.
According the Socialist Alliance in Australia, "its born out of the recognition that, in country after country, ordinary people are being made to pay for an economic crisis caused by the super rich," where the 99 Percenters are being told, "they must surrender their livelihoods, their future, their security and their dignity to keep a broken system afloat."
And while its true that the situation in Australia is not as critical as it is in the U.S., where the richest 400 Americans have more wealth than the poorest 150 million, the report indicated that the inequality in Australia is growing exponentially. It noted that White Australians have "occupied" stolen Aboriginal land for more than two centuries and have forced this group to relocate from their traditional homelands, resulting in them becoming the most imprisoned people in the world living with life expectancies 19 years less than their fellow Australians.
Resembling the occupation of Zuccotti Park near Wall Street, some protesters have camped out in Rome across the street from the Bank of Italy’s headquarters. On October 15, the Italians protesters, including the unemployed, students and pensioners planned to march through the center of the city, past the Colosseum, finishing up at the Piazza San Giovanni.
They carried signs reading "Your Money is Our Money," and "Yes We Camp," an echo of the slogan "Yes We Can" used by U.S. President Barack Obama during his 2008 campaign. In a related article, titled, "Taking The Bull By The Horns, ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Posters Motivate Campers," I researched hundreds of the posters that were designed and instantly made ready for start-up of the the Wall Street movement when it first began on September 17.
Reminiscent of the 1960’s protest era, the "Occupy Colleges" movement created a "nationwide college student walk out" on October 5. Presently, their website lists 75 colleges where walkouts have been organized. Also other major metro areas like Boston and San Francisco are planning their own "Occupy__________(fill in the ciy)" movements.
The anti-big business movement’s is now preparing to go international. Protests are due to take place in Canada, the UK, and are even spreading to Asia. RT’s Priya Sridhar explains why people in India are preparing to follow suit.
Today on October 15, "Occupy Together" has formed a coalition group to stimulate similar protests in over 1500 cities, worldwide. The following message is making a mass appeal for "solidarity" via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and various live feeds across the Internet.
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So readers, please weigh in and let me know if you will be joining one of these groups in your city, and the reasons why this means so much to you?
