So after asking myself who is behind a political movement I ask myself what the political movement stands for. The media very deliberately portrays them as an unorganized mob. But even from my research into who is behind them they appear to be extremely organized. What they are looking to be changed may not be organized, they allow diversity in their tactics, and their living situation seems unorganized. But as a collective the Occupy Wall Street movement has been very carefully organized and orchestrated.
Even their platform has become more organized, but the media will never tell you this. On September 29, the NYCGA released their first Declaration of Occupation, which reads a lot like the Declaration of Independence in that it is a long list of grievances perpetrated by the system.
I have read their Declaration and although I am oversimplifying I think it really boils down to one thing. Corporations do not care about people, their employees, honesty, or anything else beyond greed and money. These are the same issues that led to the labor movement years ago.
Since 1990 corporate profits have increased 200%, yet employee compensation has only increased 20%. I am not saying that employee compensation should have increased 200%, but it is clearly greed that is allowing companies to make billions and giving none of that money back to their employees that made it happen, and increasing employee healthcare costs to allow them to increase their profits even more.
It used to be that having good employees was important to the company. Providing good service was critical. Now it is all about providing the least service possible using the least expensive employees possible and the company is willing to lay you off at the drop of a hat. Now, who cares if you cannot understand them when you call the companies helpdesk on a warranty issue. IF you cannot understand them that means they are cheap and there is an increased likelihood you will give up and not cost the company any money by forcing them to fix the defect.
In my interpretation these protests are about telling corporations that we are not going to allow them to look at us as just dollar bills anymore and want to be treated with dignity and respect. It is about telling politicians that catering to the corporations and super wealthy is not catering to the American people and we are sick about it. Are we all guilty of causing the country to end up where it is today? Yes. We allowed Walmart to lower wages, force small businesses out of business, all in the interest of corporate greed. We allowed Dell to outsource their call center to India in the interest of corporate greed. Many are allowing Bank of America to charge them $5 a month for their debit card in the interest of corporate greed.
That is why these protests are occurring. They are telling the corporations that we are not going to put up with it anymore. That we are not just a dollar figure. We are people and deserve to be treated with respect. And that is something I can agree with.