There is something so enigmatic happening right now.  It is happening in several different places at the same time and it is getting stronger.  What is it? It is a movement called Occupy Wall Street.  It is a movement built of mostly young, college age people who are genuinely tired of seeing the government bailout the banking industry; tired of watching our hard earned dollars being taxed away while there is a small percentile who doesn’t pay their fair share; tired of a corporate run and funded government that not only ignores the cries of the masses but upholds the rich and the powerful.  Basically, it is a movement of the youth who are tired of watching their future being squandered away to other countries by multinational corporations and the government that supports them.

Depending on which internet site you visit, the answer may vary on what exactly this movement is trying to accomplish.  It is unorganized but has the potential to become very organized and very quickly.  With sponsorship coming from such groups like the Canadian based magazine AdBusters and the infamous group of computer hackers known as Anonymous it isn’t any wonder that this movement would go unnoticed for such a long time.   After all, the earliest reports of people showing up in Manhattan are on September the first with nine people quietly protesting against Wall Street and the unaccountability that goes along with busy.  On September the 17, some reports say 8,000 and others say 2,000, but the message is clear.  From 9 to 2,000 is still a nice jump in numbers.  Quickly finding OccupyWallStreet on Facebook.com will show you that there are even more people heading to New York for this protest.  One report said that there are charter buses heading in from Wisconsin while others from around the country and the globe have promised to bring all of the friends they can for an event this Saturday, September 24 from 8 a.m. to 10-? p.m.        

But what is going on?  Is it just a protest against the Wall Street executives themselves?  Is it against the banks that we have helped out with billions of our dollars only to watch them continue to screw us over?  Is it more just like a bunch of unemployed college grads who can’t find work and nothing better to do?  The answer, in short, is no.

This protest or movement is about the ever growing poverty gap in the United States of America and the lack of jobs.  Corporations are saying that if they get tax breaks and incentives or a continuation of the Bush Tax Cuts that they would create more jobs but this has never been the case in the past.  The trickle-down economics that have been around since at least the Reagan years have yielded little more than bread and water to the masses while the rich have nearly doubled their income.  The income gap in this country has gotten to the point where Arianna Huffington finds it justifiable to entitle her book Third World America. 

We cannot assume that we know what is really going on.  After all, there is a national media blackout on the whole affair.  Keith Olberman was calling out other news networks on his program Countdown two days ago asking why there isn’t more coverage of the 2,000 college grads when there most assuredly would be tons of coverage for a tea party rally of 2,000.  So, in retaliation the college grads have turned to the internet in the same spirit as The Arab Spring uprising that continues to have backlashes today.  Facebook.com and Twitter.com are both up and running as well as Youtube.com videos being posted almost every hour of the day.  For any information concerning the events and the happenings in New York, just log in and search; you will find it.

This event is not only in New York.  It is starting to take shape in other major cities as well.  There are rumors of an Occupy Seattle; there are reports of supporters picketing in San Francisco outside of the Bank of America; and there is a scheduled Occupy L.A.  As you can see, this movement is spreading and we hope it picks up steam.

In order to provide a more accurate depiction of what is taking place, a fellow student and I are heading to New York this weekend to capture some film and get some interviews; as well as demonstrate and protest.  We hope to figure out what exactly this movement is about; if it is not about the basic struggle against oppression.  This could be the start of a great thing or the end of our last hope.

For further information please check out these following links.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj-Pifw_LdU

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WALL_STREET_PROTEST?SITE=CALAK&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsGQd7aPwyY&feature=fvsr