Occupy Wall Street has grown.
It has grown from a “Day of Rage” to a 20-day long (and counting) movement that has captured the country’s attention. It has grown from a sidewalk in New York to universities and city halls across the country, blogs and newspapers across the world. It has grown from youth protesting by day and sleeping in tents by night, to gaining the physical support of powerful U.S. labor unions and city council members, alongside thousands more.
There is solidarity in Los Angeles as well, as Occupy Colleges occurred on Wednesday and incited protests at many of our neighboring institutions, UCLA included.
But there are those that criticize the protests and demean the message as too weak and unfocused. Instead of being indicative of disorganization, I think the expansiveness of the protesters’ calls simply points to the number of injustices that have Americans fuming enough to pour onto the streets.
I want to ask those who think the protesters downtown are just lazy complainers: What can be done in the face of such corporate power, in the face of so many industrial complexes?
I went to city hall on Monday, where Occupy Los Angeles has been taking place for more than a week. I have to admit that I am typically skeptical of protests, mainly because it’s easy for people to know what they don’t want, while lacking consensus on what they do want.
But while the grievances listed on Occupy Los Angeles’s website may be complex, extensive and, above all, long, the overriding message is still there ““ even if all of the conditions listed aren’t ever met (because they probably won’t be).
I am in support of the Occupy movement, because I am wholeheartedly at a loss for what can be done before it is too late for America.
As we watch our siblings drown in educational debt, our neighbors die in unwarranted wars and our elderly beg in our dirty streets, 1 percent of this country is growing in its monstrous power and greed. The youth of this country are the least to blame for the financial sector’s mistakes, and are now most upset about the despicable state America is in.
I’m inspired that people living in the conditions we all complain about decided to do something about it, without an inkling of assurance whether they could be successful.
Where will this lead? Who knows. Should you, at the very least, learn about what people are saying? I think so. Because regardless of the possibility of success, America has been irresponsibly led into a downward spiral for a long time.
The cries from the streets come from people like you.
Email Moradi at imoradi@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to opinion@media.ucla.edu.