The Occupy Wall Street Movement

The ideas presented in Taibbi’s article concerning the Occupy Wall Street movement are revolutionary in terms of creating a collective understanding of what OWS actually represents. Media outlets around the country have successfully focused the nation’s attention on the likes of the protestors, as opposed to what they are actually protesting. When a person takes a moment to think about Taibbi’s thesis, much of what he says makes sense.

Occupy Wall Street is to our generation what the Vietnam War is to our parents’ generation: an outpouring of anger and discontent that has manifested itself in peaceful protests, a first amendment right to all United States citizens. But the motivation behind the nation-wide protests goes beyond Wall Street, and at its core represents an overwhelming lack of satisfaction. The American dream is rapidly disappearing along with our ability as a nation to dream at all. Happiness is defined by the size of one’s bank account, and though there still exists the romantic notion of love and family being the great joys in life, it is becoming impossible to afford either one.

As a freshman in college, nothing is more frightening than the knowledge that I may not have a job upon graduation, that my inability to pay back my student loans in a timely manner will shadow me for the rest of my life. Many of my own friends from high school determined the courses of their lives based on the average salary for a certain career. The prospect of student loans with high interest rates is a greater determinant for a person’s future than their own happiness, and that is devastating.

Without lots and lots of capital, we as a country are unsure of our own identity, and those feelings are trickling down to the everyday citizen a lot faster than any damaged idea of a trickle-down theory in economics. Occupy Wall Street goes beyond changing the economy, and instead calls for change in all aspects of American society in an effort to recreate the American dream, to find happiness in life instead of money. At this point a single purpose is unnecessary and more important is the symbolism behind the protests, as that is what will provide the inspiration for change.