Occupy Wall Street: The First Season
With 47 comments since publication
January 13, 2012
by William Gerrard
The first time I attended an Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protest was the march on October 1, which ended with the arrest of more than 700 people on the Brooklyn Bridge. The encampment at Zuccotti Park was barely two weeks old, and there was no broader Occupy movement yet to speak of.
I had supported the protesters from the sidelines before the march, despite (or perhaps because of) how flailing they appeared at first—but I might not have been inspired to come out to the bridge that day had it not been for the infamous video of Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna pepper spraying non-violent female protesters a week earlier.
Police brutality at protests has been a dominant topic in the OWS conversation, and in one sense that’s unfortunate: as individuals, the police have a lot more in common with the protesters than with pension-defrauding bankers and corrupt politicians. But that pepper-spray video, and all of the many images of even worse violence against protesters since then, did get a lot of people mad. And if you want things to change, as Howard Beale says in Network, mad is the first thing you’ve got to get.
“You are your own media.”
While the protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge were still trapped and waiting their turn to be arrested, their comrades were deliberating as a group back at Zuccotti Park about what could be done to help them. The meeting took the form of a leaderless “general assembly,” OWS’s primary vehicle for making decisions, where actions are agreed upon by consensus and all attendees have their own voice—a micro-model of a participatory (as opposed to representative) democracy.
After a certain point, the live video streams coming from the bridge protesters stopped broadcasting; and since the mainstream media had yet to start paying serious attention to OWS, there was no way for anyone who wasn’t standing on or near the bridge to see what was happening.
As a solution, a young man suggested that the smartphone users in the crowd download one of the several applications which allow cell phones to broadcast live video, then head to the bridge to establish a feed. If the news networks weren’t going to provide live coverage of hundreds of people being arrested over the course of several hours on the Brooklyn Bridge, ordinary people would step up and do it themselves.
“You are your own media,” he declared to all.
I searched for, found, downloaded, and installed Bambuser, a free live-streaming app for mobile devices—the whole process took less than a minute—then made my way back to the bridge with a few other volunteers. By now, there was a wall of police blocking the entrance, so we had to stand across Centre Street, yards away from City Hall. I started broadcasting the scene, which quickly escalated as hundreds of marchers arrived to stage a sympathy protest for the arrestees.
I could see that the number of viewers watching my live feed began to rise: slowly at first, by the dozens, then by the hundreds. Messages and questions from viewers started popping up on my screen—“how many arrests?”; “kudos from portugal”; “me too from italy”—to which I could respond by talking into the phone’s mic.
Within half an hour of arriving at the bridge—and having just joined the movement earlier that day—I found myself “reporting” the event for thousands of people. It felt as though I had entered both a new era of media and a new era of politics at the same time; and it seemed as if those two eras were inextricably linked: a “do-it-yourself media,” with news-event witnesses bypassing corporate editorial biases and providing their own live news coverage, in the service of a “do-it-yourself politics,” with citizens bypassing their unresponsive (or irresponsible) representatives and taking to the streets to represent themselves.
”Eviction in Progress”
That powerful interests understand OWS to be an unacceptable threat to the status quo—socialism for the super-rich, sink-or-swim capitalism for everyone else—was made clear a month and a half later when cities across the country launched a coordinated campaign to crush the (mostly) peaceable Occupy assemblies, which had spread rapidly after the mass arrests that day on the bridge.
On November 15, at 1:03 a.m., I received a text message that read, “URGENT: Hundreds of police mobilizing around Zuccotti. Eviction in progress!” (I had signed up to receive the Zuccotti Park “eviction defense text blast.”) When Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD first tried to clear Zuccotti of occupiers a month earlier, they had announced their plan days in advance, giving the OWS organizers time to mobilize a large number of supporters and to jam the park with bodies. That mistake would not be repeated.
By the time I arrived downtown, the police had already erected a cordon of metal barriers in a two to four block radius around the park, preventing the hundreds of people who had shown up in solidarity—despite the late hour and lack of forewarning—from getting any closer. Though the pretext for the barriers was that the area was “unsafe,” the police were permitting civilian vehicular traffic to enter—leading one woman within earshot of me to observe wryly that we could all get to the park if we just took taxis.
Though she was kidding, I thought it was actually a pretty good idea, so I jogged around the cordon perimeter and hailed a cab. When I confessed to the driver that my plan was to circumvent the police barricades in order to get closer to the park, he was game to help.
The police parted the barricades for us, warily but dutifully. As we grazed the east side of the park coming down Broadway, I slid out the door and started broadcasting with my phone—though by now, at 2:00 a.m., only a handful of viewers tuned in. The park and the surrounding area had already been scrubbed clean of civilians, save for a few street vendors with no customers.
Inside Zuccotti, sanitation workers and police were busy breaking down the occupiers’ tents and makeshift structures and throwing them into bins, which were then dumped into a waiting convoy of trucks.
I had about three minutes in which to observe this well-planned, extremely efficient operation before I was spotted by a cop, who made it clear that what I was doing—standing on a public sidewalk, filming public employees from across the street as they performed public business in a public park—was not allowed, not tonight. He ordered me to retreat behind a mini-barricade half a block away.
As I moved to comply, several police officers clad in riot gear carried a non-resisting young woman by her limp limbs toward the same barricade and placed her safely behind the metal barriers, where a now-former occupier helped her to her feet. The moment she righted herself, one of the riot police took a quick jab at her face over the barrier as though she were a punching bag, then casually walked away while his fellow officers guarded us. The former occupier shielded her after the blow and held her for a brief moment as she recovered. Neither of them said anything.
There were eight other people with me in that little security pen, some of them wearing press passes and complaining that the police were preventing them from doing their jobs. The NYPD was creating a de facto media blackout, which they clearly felt allowed them to operate with impunity. I spoke with another former occupier who fled the park shortly before the police arrived out of fear that they would use tear gas; she had severe asthma, she said, and was afraid that she might have a potentially life-threatening asthma attack amid the confusion. The police reportedly used tear gas toward the end of the raid.
Other guests joined us periodically, including a female bicyclist whom an officer had placed in a painful headlock, and another journalist whose visible credentials did not spare him from police harassment. Civilians in Afghanistan (and, until recently, Iraq) are routinely subjected to surprise night raids by U.S. military forces looking for insurgents—yet there we were, in Lower Manhattan, in the middle of the night, being treated by a para-militarized domestic police force as if we were potential enemies rather than peaceful citizens. When Bloomberg said two weeks later that the NYPD was his “private army,” everyone who witnessed the Zuccotti eviction knew that he was only half-joking.
Foreclosure Tour
As it turns out, by removing the protesters from Zuccotti Park, the Bloomberg administration may very well have done OWS a favor. As symbolically important as the occupation was, it was also a liability to the movement going forward: small business owners in the neighborhood were mobilizing their own protest against the constant disruptions; a few reports of crime within the encampment were creating negative publicity; and a punishing New York winter, perhaps only weeks away, threatened to thin the ranks of the occupiers. Bloomberg spared OWS a potential Napoleonic-style winter retreat, and handed them an Alamo around which to rally. The eviction has compelled the occupiers to extend their organizational reach and their demands for economic justice outward, into the very neighborhoods that have been hardest hit by the economic crash.
On December 6th, as part of a national day of action against America’s housing crisis, OWS worked with local community activist groups to conduct a “foreclosure tour” through the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, where the foreclosure rate is five times higher than the state average. Hundreds of people joined the march, which paused at boarded up, bank-owned houses along the way so that foreclosure victims could stand before the crowd and share their stories of life in 21st century America: predatory lenders, no health insurance, children killed in Iraq.
One of the most radical gestures of the Occupy movement has been to transform everyday spaces—parks, squares, sidewalks, bridges—into empathetic forums where private suffering becomes a public concern. With Zuccotti and the other centralized Occupy camps shut down one by one, these sorts of demilitarized zones within the economic war of all against all—where the spirit of cooperation and sharing survives amid the general reign of greed and fiscal austerity—are free to proliferate.
”I’ve got his back.”
Contrast OWS’ manner of speaking to people—and of encouraging them to speak for themselves—with that of the modern political campaign. Consider, for example, President Obama’s new reelection poster: It’s an image of the back of Obama’s head, in front of an old Gap commercial-style white void containing the words, “I’ve got his back.”
The “I” in the text refers to you, a putative Obama supporter; and your pre-assigned role in the 2012 election drama is to express solidarity with the most powerful person on the planet—a man who isn’t even looking in your direction. The poster makes no mention of whether he has our back; whether, for example, heavily indebted Americans might one day receive the same kind of “bailout” protection against catastrophic financial loss as do rich, well-connected firms like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. (Though extra verbiage about reciprocal back-getting would probably have spoiled the poster’s sleek design.)
Rather than waiting patiently for their Wall Street-financed leaders to experience Saul-to-Paul conversions in limos en route to $30,000-a-plate fundraisers, ordinary Americans are taking the initiative and finding novel ways to help each other.
The final destination of the Brooklyn “foreclosure tour” was 702 Vermont Street, a property vacant for three years—until now, as a homeless family, with the help of OWS and other community activists, was moving in without permission of the owner, Bank of America. This was against the law, of course. But since Bank of America (along with most of the country’s other largest banks) has been accused of committing mass foreclosure fraud, it felt less like trespassing than like a small step toward restitution. As of the time of this writing, the family is still occupying their new home, and more property reclamations are in the works across the country. With the number of people who have been illegally thrown out of their homes potentially in the tens or hundreds of thousands, OWS will have plenty to do through the winter.
William Gerrard is a filmmaker and has been a resident of Chappaqua for 24 years. He graduated from Horace Greeley High School in 2001 and is currently pursuing his MFA in film directing at Columbia University’s School of the Arts.
Part 1: Brooklyn Bridge
http://bambuser.com/channel/wgerrard/broadcast/2012554;
Part 2: Zuccotti Park Eviction
http://bambuser.com/channel/wgerrard/broadcast/2128706;
Part 3: Foreclosure tour
http://bambuser.com/channel/wgerrard/broadcast/2187799
While many people can understand the frustration and sentiment of OWS most of us do not understand the attack on downtown NY -Wall St. It was government regulators who failed to stop the abuses. It was government career politicians like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd that encouraged and promoted risky lending while blessing the very entities that supported this lending - namely Fannie Mae and Freddie MAc. Who can forget Barney Frank telling a congressional hearing that FNM and FRE were sound and viable “government sponsored enterprises” and we should “continue to roll the dice” and increase home ownership in this country. He explicitly validated lending to people who could not afford the loan they were talking. And lets not forget the “special” loan Dodd got from his buddy at Countrywide Credit. It is true Wall St packaged these sub prime loans and created profit machines for their banks but without government endorsement none of that could have happened. Ratings agencies gave these toxic securities AAA ratings – where was the SEC and other agencies that exist to protect us? The fault lies with Washington and these lying self promoting politicians.
An improving economy and improved job market will halt the spiral down in home prices and the resulting foreclosures. The current president promised that if elected unemployment would stop at 8% if his Stimulus plan passed. When it didn’t work he blamed the last president. Whomever we choose to blame, and there is certainly enough blame to go around, your protests should be directed at Washington and the politicians that allowed this to happen.
So why Occupy Wall St? Why arent you down in Washington protesting against the incompetence of government (Republican and Democrat).
This is absolutely essential reading. I commend the courageous author and NCNow editor for publishing it. Bravo.
Mr Gerrard- very impressed with your background and pedigree. Life long resident of “affluent” Chappaqua, Horace Greeley High School (nationally ranked high school funded by taxpayers paying top taxes in the nation), and now Columbia University. Wow - Columbia U - I wonder how much of their budget and endowment comes from capitalist alumni that make donations?
In your article above you focus on the transmission of information to and about the OWS protesters via smart phone videos and social networking. Who do you think created the capital structure and funding for entrepreneurs to invent, refine, and market these devices? Wall Street - that’s who.
Everything you mentioned would not exist without the capitalist structure in place and the many hard working people that raise capital to make our society work. Zuccotti Park is privately owned by a global real estate giant that regularly come to Wall St for financing so they can build office buildings and apartments. The NYC police are paid with NY tax dollars and the largest contributors to the NYC tax base is the financial services industry. Even the Brooklyn Bridge was built and is maintained by municipal bonds floated by Wall St.
I work in lower Manhattan in a busy and vital healthcare facility. The OWS protestors created havoc. Patients were unable to get to our facility. Ambulances were rerouted. Small businesses were crippled. I for one am grateful Bloomberg and the NYC Police arrested people. They should have done it sooner. If you want to protest go to Washington DC where the real crooks live. They have plenty of open park space and if you create a traffic jam who cares - all that means is that Congress cant meet and we know they are useless anyway. In the meantime, we in NY need to get back to work, pay our high taxes so we can turn out more privileged Greely graduates.
Democrats, Republicans and in between—we’re all responsible for the place the U.S. finds itself right now. Ours is a town where the devastation is felt less than it is for others—and it’s real devastation. I know there’s been criticism of OWS for its seeming inability to say what we should do now to get out of our very long and serious recession—and the debt with which we’ve saddled our children. I don’t fault them for that. They’ve put their collective, participatory finger on something that is deeply wrong. Wall Street most certainly led the way and banks most certainly were too big, it was felt, to let take the hit. It was a huge and perfectly awful storm. All parties contributed to the mess. OWS has made us think more deeply about this. That may be the beginning of getting out of it.
To The Editors and creators of New CastleNOW - I have been a big fan of your website-blog. I believe it is informative and important for our community. I assume like most readers that it exists to keep our community current on events, meetings, and general community matters that effect us all. While this letter (article, commentary, or whatever we call it) is well written I see no reason it should be published in NCN. It is a political statement on a national issue. Other than the fact the writer lived in our town and went to our high school what relevance to our community blog?
What next - Chappaqua resident writes a letter supporting gambling in upstate NY? Greeley grad opposses same sex marriage? New Castle resident opposes Guantanamo Bay prison? Former resident supports Greek bailout?
Lets keep these articles to local issues like school district, budgets, recreation., local merchants, local developments, accomplishments of our residents and students, town board and local government etc.
I DO want to hear from the people we know, the students who grew up here, about what they see and hear and think out in the world. THAT makes it local for me. And the economic condition of the world right now is a catastrophe that everyone is interested in turning around. I want everyone to be thinking about these issues. I loved hearing from a kid of ours “on the ground” at OWS.
If I want an opinion on too big to fail, politicians,foreclosures, and alledged police brutality by NYPD I can always read the New York Times. I dont want my local town website getting into such matters.
To I disagree with Local- so according to you NCN should publish ANYTHING on ANY topic that is written by “the students that grew up here”, “our kids on the ground” as you say. So should NewCastleNow publish articles by Greeley graduates about their opinions on abortion, nuclear Iran, and the Penn State scandal?? Should we care what a resident, student or former student thinks about the Kardashian wedding and the Jersey Shore? Maybe we should have students telling us about their views on credit default swaps and the latest fashions from Paris and Milan….where does it end? Lets keep this wonderful website/blog- local. Of course our students and members of the community have important views. NCN should publish those views as they relate to our community and how we are impacted. Comments on national and global issues are best sent to Huffington Post, Dailey Beast, and to the editors of more traditional outlets.
The Occupy movement is a symptom of end stage capitalism. It has only just begun, expect bigger and even more impactful developments from OWS in the months to come.
It’s time to stop pretending that the same issues highlighted by the Occupy movement are right here in a town where some of the 1% (or 1% wannabees) live.
@Occupy Chappaqua: I think you’re absolutely right to point out that there is plenty of blame to go around. The ratings agencies failed, the regulatory agencies failed, Congress failed. But given the notorious “revolving door” of top personnel between those institutions and the large Wall Street firms (and their legal defense teams), one could argue that those institutions don’t function independently of, but rather as co-opted *extensions* of, Wall Street power—in which case, OWS would be striking at the root of the problem, rather than at the various branches.
As for the notion that the financial crisis was caused by the federal government’s attempt to increase home ownership among low-income people (e.g. through the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA): Barry Ritholtz at the Washington Post compiled a useful series of charts debunking the “CRA caused the crisis” narrative: http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/11/charts-facts-economic-crisis/
In any case, you’ll be happy to learn that Occupy Congress begins next week, on January 17!
I am very pleased to see an article in NewCastleNow.Org on a national issue. In fact, Occupy Wall Street is taking on people and questions that concern us all. If New Castle has been less affected by the recession than have other American communities, that is due in part to the very income inequality about which the Occupy Wall Street protesters complain. We have been safer here, because most of us are employed in professions that have experienced fewer lay-offs, or which recovered more quickly from the Wall Street meltdown. Moreover, most of us have at least some cash reserves. That such is the case, doesn’t mean that we are not involved or that the economic downturn is not affecting us locally; we are the one- percent.
Nor is the Occupy Wall Street protest anti-capitalism. The protesters have been clear that they oppose, not wealth, innovation (including the iPhone to which the iPhone was downloaded), or even Wall Street, but rather corruption, exploitation and greed. As someone who has spent 20 years amid the very folks about whom OWS complains - who heard a managing director of a major investment bank say, of working-class Americans, “they already have cars and TVs, and now they want their own homes,” and describe those losing their homes as “greedy, with low I.Q.s”—all I can say is that it’s about time that someone called a villain by his right name.
I attended OWS’s Time Square rally on October 15. That rally was underreported by the media; tens of thousands were there (50,000, by one cop’s estimate). These ordinary people are OWS’s real constituency. As they go, so goes New Castle. No suburb is an island.
Many Americans work part-time at WalMart while a few privileged people live stable, secure lives. That isn’t right. What OWS stands for, ultimately, is a fair deal. Fairness is a value that should be as important in Chappaqua as in D.C., lower Manhattan, Peoria, or Timbuktu.
As described by Occupy Chapp in a recent comment, blame is abundant and “The Government” is largely responsible. That kind of thinking is very specific to OWS, and is the very air it breathes. At last check, WE are the Government, stop fingerpointing and get out there!!!
@Chapp Capitalism: Based on your comment, one would think that I had written an article advocating the abolition of the financial services industry, indeed the destruction of capitalism itself. Actually, I’m very much in favor of Wall Street doing what you describe: “creat[ing] the capital structure and funding for entrepreneurs to invent, refine, and market” products. This is the proper function of Wall Street in a capitalist economy; and when firms make huge profits performing this function, nobody gets upset. But when those firms make hundreds of billions of dollars by chopping up junk loans, skillfully hiding them inside opaque financial instruments, and selling those disguised time bombs to duped investors (including municipalities and pension funds) - in the process inflating an enormous speculative bubble and essentially rigging the economy to explode - people start to wonder what exactly all of that activity has to do with the allocation of capital for the production of goods and services. And then, when the economy does explode largely because of Wall Street’s machinations, and those firms demand that the government socialize their trillions of dollars of debt while the firms continue to privatize all of their profits, people start to wonder what exactly that has to do with capitalism - in which there is supposed to be a penalty, not a lavish reward out of the public treasury, for making bad investments. John Maynard Keynes summarized our situation long ago: “Speculators may do no harm as bubbles on a steady stream of enterprise. But the position is serious when enterprise becomes the bubble on a whirlpool of speculation. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done.”
@Chapp Capitalist: Also, if you’re genuinely concerned about people causing “havoc,” consider the effects of the Great Recession, for which Wall Street is largely responsible: trillions of dollars of wealth destroyed, millions of jobs lost, and millions of people thrown out of their homes.
Perhaps this short 14 minute film will clarify for taxpayers in New Castle why Occupy Wall Street is extremely relevant for each and every one of us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khos-ZRlDyo&feature=player_embedded#!
Sorry, William and Lawrence Farms East Resident, but if you support these OWSers, then you are “advocating the abolition of the financial services industry, indeed the destruction of capitalism itself.” One of their earliest “demands” was the forgiveness of all debt. That “demand” not only seeks the destruction of the financial services industry and capitalism, but it is also a recipe for anarchy. These folks are nuts.
Demand eleven: Immediate across the board debt forgiveness for all. Debt forgiveness of sovereign debt, commercial loans, home mortgages, home equity loans, credit card debt, student loans and personal loans now! All debt must be stricken from the “Books.” World Bank Loans to all Nations, Bank to Bank Debt and all Bonds and Margin Call Debt in the stock market including all Derivatives or Credit Default Swaps, all 65 trillion dollars of them must also be stricken from the “Books.” And I don’t mean debt that is in default, I mean all debt on the entire planet period. [ENDQUOTE]
To Lawrence Farms East Resident - be careful when you say “new Castle has been less affected by the recession ....due to income inequality…” Dont paint us all with your privileged attitude when you say “we are safer here..” I am one of many that was terribly impacted by the recession. I am one of many in this community that not only lost my job but had my retirement savings (401k and company stock) devastated. I am one of approx 250 homeowners with my house for sale and almost no traffic and buyers. My asking price has been lowered 3 times, is currently priced below what I paid and is priced probably 50% below peak value of 2007. While I recently found a job I make much less and my spouse is also working to put our 3 kids to college. Our taxes continue to rise and the current party in power wants me to pay more. “I am told “I need to pay my fair share” .When I add my federal, state, local taxes, and add in sales tax paid on things I buy I pay over 50% of my income to the government. That’s not enough? We struggle to make ends meet and I KNOW we are not the only ones in New Castle in this position. So perhaps you and your family were unscathed and are “privileged people living stable, secure lives” but many here are not as fortunate as you.
I worked in the financial services industry. I worked with good honest and hard working people not involved in any of the Wall St activities that were behind the meltdown. I see these ignorant OWS people blaming Wall St and bankers and I laugh. They haven’t a clue.
Had Congress, federal regulatory agencies, rating agencies, federal committees, and government sponsored enterprises and individual politicians done their jobs the Wall St people responsible (and there were a very very small percentage) would not have been able to exploit the system. You can blame the gun for killing a person or you can blame the person that pulled the trigger. OWS blames the gun- go blame Washington and their incompetence and corruptness.
To William Gerrard- my father told me something many years ago and at the time I thought he was mistaken - but I learned quickly he was right. He said ” when you are young and in college (idealistic like you) you think with your heart, when you get older and have to support a family and pay taxes you think with your head”.
Your views and quote from John Maynard Keynes are thoughtful but philosophy, economics, and views are theory and not rooted in reality. I dont need you telling me what Wall St role is in a capitalist society. Is that what they teach you at film school?
Those firms you refer to that chopped up all those junk loans to make hundreds of billions of dollars did so with the endorsement and approval of almost every major regulatory body and politician, including Congress. Fannie May and Freddie Mac are Govt controlled agencies and it was they who bought up these toxic loans (rated AAA)from the banks that wrote the mortgages. Then those banks would go out and make more sub prime loans knowing FNM and FRE would buy them too. Only then did Wall St package and securitize these loans. When several senior officials came before Congress to point out the danger - Barney Frank and others ignored and in fact encouraged even more dangerous lending. And after the crisis Frank got re-elected.
The Community Reinvestment Act and organizations like ACORN continued to pressure lenders to make sub prime loans. Wall St was wrong in its behavior but it could never have created those CDS’s and mortgage securities without tacit approval from almost every major government body. Like Bush, Obama surrounded himself with big Wall St donors and inside people he appointed to high positions (Economic advisors, Treasury officials, Fed, etc) . His number 1 guy – Rahm Emanual made $20 mill in 2 years working for a Wall St firm playing his connections- then he is in the White House. Go Occupy Washington!!!
To Mr Gerrard(author and student)- wealth was destroyed, millions of jobs lost, and people foreclosed upon. People of all economic strata were impacted not just the poor and blue collar. I ask you again, does that make it right for people to Occupy Wall St and create havoc in downtown NY. I’ll repeat - I work downtown in a healthcare facility that was unable to treat people in need of vital medical attention because you and other OWS decided that it was your right to occupy PRIVATE property (Zuccotti Park ) and public roads(Brooklyn Bridge)and regularly disrupt and even shut down traffic. We had several patients in ambulances on their way to our facility rerouted to much less convenient facilities because of your activities. Lives were literally at risk and in one case one of our patients was unable to get his Dr to perform an operation only he was qualified to do. The delay was responsible for a blood transfusion until our Dr was able to get to another facility. How would you have appreciated it had it been you (or your mom or dad) in that ambulance? You and the rest dont think about that. Isn’t it ironic that while you are fighting for the 99% you crushed many of those small businesses in downtown dependent on foot traffic you closed off?
@strugglingresident:
You sound mad, and I don’t blame you. I myself am in the process of losing the job that I have worked at diligently and loyally for 14 years, because a new regime is taking over my firm and, at my age and income level, I am not a profit center. I am the main support of my family and am worried about losing our home and savings. So my comment was not meant to imply that nobody in Chappqua has escaped the effects of the recession or a greedy employer, but merely that, as communities go, Chappaqua is affluent, and its residents relatively secure. We have had few forecloses, e.g., and most people in our towns seem to be employed. For that reason, perhaps, some people in New Castle believe that OWS is irrelevant to their lives. This is not the case, however, because we are tied to a national economy and culture, both of which suffer due to income inequality.
Good luck to you, I hope that your former employer and my present one find one another and do to each other what they did/are doing to us. As someone whose parents did not graduate from high school, and who went to college, grad school and law school on loans and partial scholarships, I feel privileged only in the sense that I was given those opportunities to earn my way. That was then, however, and this is now. I wish that more of us were politically active, as is Mr. Gerrard, because that is the only way to change the system.
@Blackacre: The “demand” you quote is not actually a demand of OWS—OWS has never voted on a list of formal demands. (That’s been one of the most common criticisms of the movement.) It was written by one random protester who submitted it to an OWS website forum; it was endorsed by no one but himself. Check other sources.
It’s true that *some* measure of debt relief—i.e. NOT across the board forgiveness for all debt everywhere, which is obviously utopian, but significant assistance with mortgages, student loans, credit card debt, etc.—is a common theme in OWS rhetoric. But this idea is simply not as radical as you appear to think it is. Just one of many examples: back in August of last year, Stephen Roach, a Yale economist and chairman at Morgan Stanley, advocated broad debt relief in order to stimulate the economy on CNBC—“ways to forgive the excesses of mortgage, installment and revolving credit, as what was done in the 1930s, that will help consumers get through the pain of deleveraging sooner rather than later” (http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2011/08/stephen-roach-consumers-need-debt-jubilee.html) Check out the video—see if he looks like a nutty anarchist to you.
OWS is still in its beginning stages. Jacob Burns Film Center held an event about OWS that sold out in less than an hour. The topics raised by OWS are important for our future and our children’s future. How many Greeley grads have participated in OWS activities across the country? Let’s hear from more of them!
How many Chappaqua residents are active with the OWS movement? Let’s hear from them as well.
Mr Gerrard-I am older than you-I have children almost your age. I agree with comments that believe you Occupy WS have incorrectly focused on downtown Manhattan. The problem is in Washington. I am a lifelong independent with liberal leanings. I have voted for Republicans and Democrats. Sadly I voted for Obama. I bought into his Hope and Change mantra. I believed his promises about changing the ways of Washington, “no more Red States, Blue states -only United States”, his promise to eliminate lobbyists and special interest groups from his White House, and his commitment to reform the processes “the old ways of Washington”. I voted for him believing he would fix the economy-remember “shovel ready”? We got an inexperienced president with little leadership skills who blamed rather than fix. His 2 major pieces of legislation, Stimulus Package and Obamacare, showed us that it was Washington politics as usual, with each of those bills chock full of special interests and pet projects for his Democratic cronies. Democrats had the super majority that first year and they crammed those bills with useless unproductive programs. Both bills had hundreds of pages added late into the night only to be voted on the next morning. How do you pass a bill you haven’t even read? That sound like a new Washington to you? Obama commissioned a bipartisan committee to address the deficit and budget and then ignores all of their suggestions. Under his Democratic leadership no budget has been passed or even proposed. While our economy struggles, housing and employment woes mount, he has been on the campaign trail rather than be the leader he promised. The divisive rhetoric about rich vs poor and 1% vs 99% dominates his leadership.
Wall St behaved badly but it was not Wall St that made all these promises. Not only is this president no better than others , arguably he is worse in that he promised your generation a brighter future. Go Occupy Washington and hold the real culprits responsible.
My first impression was that this was a story about a protest and the use of individual technology to broadcast it.
We have a long history of protest in this country. The argument can be made that the Boston Tea Party was an economic rather than political event. It was organized and supported by the privileged; John Hancock, anyone? Mr. Gerrard does not forfeit his right to an opinion because by accident of birth and aptitude he may have reaped some benefit from institutions he now finds lacking. A “bites the hand that feeds you” argument is fundamentally unsound.
Our robust history in protesting perceived injustice necessarily comes with inconvenience and worse. The Kent State shootings in 1970 led to the closing of hundreds of college campuses across the nation as well as 4 dead students and more badly injured. The Mongomery Bus Boycott lasted over a year and played havoc with the public fisc and led to reactive firebombing of black churches and homes. The 1963 Civil Rights march on Washington DC probably (I wasn’t there) disrupted traffic.
But who would argue that taxation without representation is a good idea? That Rosa Parks should have just moved to the back of the bus? That Jim Crow was a nifty legal philosophy? That the Vietnam war (and illegal invasion of Cambodia) was well conceived and executed? Who will argue that the changes brought about by the protests connected with these events would have happened when and as they did absent the protests themselves?
President Lincoln noted that to sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men. There comes a time when frustration must give way to action and if the result is inconvenience, then it may be a small price to pay.
I voice no opinion whether OWS is a good idea or even necessary. I simply find myself compelled to defend the right to expression, particularly when the view expressed may be contrary to my own, lest the hypocrisy of such action diminish my own passions.
@Chapp Capitalist: 1) Zuccotti Park is technically a Privately Owned Public Space (POPS)—meaning that although it is privately owned by Brookfield Properties, it operates as a *public* plaza. Under city zoning laws, the park is required to be open 24/7 for public use. Back in late September, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly affirmed that the protesters could stay in Zuccotti, because “In building this plaza, there was an agreement it be open 24 hours a day” (http://www.dnainfo.com/20110928/downtown/zuccotti-park-cant-be-closed-wall-street-protesters-nypd-says). Whether the protesters in fact had/have a First Amendment right to use Zuccotti Park for their demonstration is a matter about which reasonable people can disagree—obviously the city changed its mind a month and a half later—but my own position is the same as Commissioner Kelly’s original judgment: Yes, they do.
@Chapp Capitalist: 2) The standard of morality you’re attempting to impose on OWS—don’t even so much as “disrupt traffic”—is not, I suspect, a standard you would impose on a popular movement whose aims you supported—at least, not if you had any interest whatsoever in seeing that movement succeed. (In your earlier comment, you recommended OWS go protest in Washington, D.C.—which they’ve actually been doing for months—but I’m pretty sure they have ambulances and small businesses down there too.) Successful popular movements in the past caused significantly more disruption than the rerouting of ambulances; but they happened a long time ago, so we’re permitted to celebrate their successes while forgetting the pain they inflicted.
My point is *not* that the disruptions you mention are unimportant, or that OWS doesn’t have a moral responsibility to do everything in its power to minimize the level of harm it causes—*while continuing to be an effective movement*. By committing to a strategy of non-violent civil disobedience, OWS does, I think, do that. But if OWS did as you wished, and forswore ever making a disturbance in Lower Manhattan, it would be impossible to mount an effective challenge to the impunity the big banks have purchased from the government—an impunity which has already caused a staggering amount of needless suffering, and may cause much more in the future if nothing is done. As you’re well aware, one of the effects of millions of people losing their jobs and their homes is decreased access to quality medical care—a million ambulances rerouted, perhaps millions more when the next bubble bursts.
To Mr Weddle and Mr Gerrard – I agree-protesting to force change is part of our history. But each example you site , Boston Tea Party, Rosa Parks, Vietnam War, Montgomery Bus Boycott to name a few, ALL had a specific target and goal. The problem with Occupy Wall Street is that there is no specific target, goal, or cause. Many protestors say they just want a job. They protest the 1% vs the 99% and the rich vs poor but if given that job they so desperately are seeking would jump at he chance to join the 1% and be rich. There was actually a young women protesting months ago holding a sign looking for a job. A local Wall St broker took her number, interviewed her and now she works on the very Wall Street she was protesting. That is an absolutely true story.
Some want home foreclosures to cease. Some OWS are protesting against hydraulic fracking. Some are protesting capitalism in general and want more socialism. Some want their student loans forgiven. There are too many causes to list here. Now compare that to protests to end the Vietnam War or the Civil rights protests to gain equality for all people.
The problem with this “movement” is that there is no clear message, no clear cause. Unhappy about something? Take to the streets!
Mr Gerrard- you state that there is no formal demand - that the movement has no formal spokesperson or goal. What kind of movement is that? Anybody unhappy with something in their life or in their community should take to the streets and shut down traffic and disrupt the lives of others??? Does that sound right to you? And your demonstration that Zuccotti Park is “technically” a POPS is a deflection and avoidance of the issue. Ray Kelly affirmed that the protestors could stay only because Brookfield, the private owner of the property is allowing it. You still ignore the fact that workers in the area have lost use of the park, local businesses have suffered greatly, and as pointed out by another person, people’s lives were at stake.
@by hope and change - Face it, the last time this country worked financially was during the Clinton administration. Forget occupying Washington… take action by voting our current federal officeholders out of office in November. There can be no change without change.
William Garrard- If I were to impose a standard of morality on a popular movement I would need to know what that movement stood for, what they were protesting, and what they were looking to accomplish. In one of your responses above you clearly state that OWS has never voted or published or stated a list of formal demands. I recall the Vietnam era protests and it was clear we wanted to end the war - “get out of Vietnam”. Civil Rights protests wanted equal rights and equal treatment for people of color, The Boston Tea Party opposed taxation without representation. So the Occupy Movement has people all of the country protesting all different things. How do you justify such a silly movement and ambiguous message? When you joined OWS what were you protesting? Did you want your student loan forgiven? Mom and Dad get foreclosed on? Job Placement office at Columbia failed to find you a job? Rent too high in NYC?
I assume by your writing you are a bright articulate individual. Hopefully your education and drive will launch you into a successful film maker or whatever you desire. I would expect if successful you will probably make a handsome living a join the 1% you so desperately despise. It reminds me of liberal filmmaker Michael Moore. He is regualry at these protests and making films about all the terrible privileged wealthy class. Yet he flies to these events on private planes and drives to them in limousines. He is estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars. David Crosby and Graham Nash joined the protest. They were before your time but I remember them front and center of the Vietnam protests. Now they are fabulously wealthy, famous, and top 1%. They too travel on private jets and limousines. No doubt they have lawyers and accountants that do all they can to save them from paying unnecessary taxes. Can you say limousine liberal?
So sorry it bothers you that there is no fixed agenda for OWS, but, frankly, there’s so much that’s been messed up and been made incomprehensible that it doesn’t surprise me. I have wished sometimes that the movement would fix on ONE task—like tax reform—and focus all its energy there. But then I remember that Americans are still waking from a consumption binge and a decades-long experience of little competition and continuous increase in prosperity (the people who knew or should have known that it was fake kept it quiet)—so Americans really still don’t know what has happened to them and why. What they have begun to know (and OWS has begun to show) is that it’s a vast tangled mess for which a relative few have passed the tab on to the vast majority—and that this needs to be figured out and fixed. Education is what’s happening. That’s what OWS is accomplishing. Education.
People are only just beginning to understand what’s been done to them and how it was possible. It was possible largely because we’ve not been paying attention to government because we were too busy spending and amusing ourselves. We let the professional politician class run everything. And guess how they’ve run it, without our attention? Duh. To benefit themselves and organized interest groups. It suited both groups to have us all distracted by shopping for stuff and having our house values (seem to) rise. Ha! We have to unwind a lot of inattention to government to change this. It’s no wonder there is no set agenda for OWS. How do you say “It’s everything and all conditions that have operated to bring us to this dangerous state”? They’ll figure it out and settle on a couple of things to go for. Yes, I agree with “To Chapp Capitalist”—tax reform is one biggie.
William, it’s easy to knock down a straw man: “It’s true that *some* measure of debt relief ... is simply not as radical as you appear to think it is.” That was not the OWS “demand” and you know it. Stop moving the goalposts. Nor does your gratuitous snark (“Check out the video—see if he looks like a nutty anarchist to you.”) speak well of you.
William - you are selectively responding and only answering the comfortable questions. You chose to write this article. You have been asked but have not answered - what were you protesting when you went downtown to join OWS? What Injustice has been dealt you growing up in Chappaqua, going to Greeley, attending Columbia…...?
to “Answer please” -
Do you actually think that to have been down there a person has to have suffered an injustice himself or herself? Maybe Mr. Gerrard has and maybe he hasn’t. Does that really matter? Have you considered that some people at OWS are there because OTHERS - many, many others - have suffered injustice? You can have come from a privileged background and still recognize injustice and want wrongs righted. I don’t think he should have to answer “Why were you there?” He’s answering the question “What did I see there?”
I am quite disappointed and surprised that New Castle Now would jettison the good will it has rightfully earned among its readership by focusing on the OWS movement, a divisive national story.
The door having been opened to this conversation, however, I will throw in my own two cents on OWS. Banks had a lot of help, Mr. Gerrard. National politicians from both parties have been more than happy for decades to divert attention from their failure to deliver real wage gains by offering/force feeding artificially cheap credit to the public and encouraging bad behavior, all while taking big money from Fannie, Freddie and others. Realtors also greased the wheels. Any Real estate agents in the discussion, Mr. Gerrard? Mortgage brokers? Where are the individuals who lied on their stated income mortgage loan applications, got in over their heads and now turn around to demand mass principal write downs for an encore? And, dare one ask, Where is the coverage/questioning of Municipal, County and State elected officials who were all too happy to use clearly overinflated home values to raise taxes and increase spending to unsustainable levels, levels that must now be unwound in the form of layoffs and other unpleasant consequences for the very same middle class families OWS claims it is fighting for?
Bottom line: When/if the Occupy Wall Street movement starts looking at problems with a speck of intellectual integrity and learns to stop defecating, literally, on capitalism while they eat, sleep, text and live off the fruits of the very same system, perhaps they will not be so offensive and divisive to many of us. Until then, I would tell Occupy Wall Street to keep its misguided, slanted movement out of our of our hamlet. “We all do better when we work together” and to date, OWS is nothing more than transparent, badly behaved class warfare rhetoric that will not solve anything for those claiming to be so aggrieved.
Yes, Young Gerrard. All police are bad. Wall Street is evil especially for employing secretaries, and janitors. Further, OWS (whose donations have come to a relative halt along with their relevancy) helped a homeless family take back a foreclosed home…or did they? Problem is, that home didn’t just belong to a fascist bank, but a real person, Wise Ahadzi. Despite the claims of the “great equalizers,” aka, OWS, Ahadzi was none too happy.
According to the NY Post (go ahead, rage against the Post, but these are quotes from Ahadzi):
*snip*
OWS leaders and Brooklyn Councilman Charles Barron, an OWS supporter, met with Ahadzi before the press conference to discuss the future of his property, he said. Ahadzi hoped that the group would help him regain his footing.
“Why can’t you fight for me?” he asked them.
“They told me I don’t qualify,” he said… [They said] I have to be with an organization and they’ll deal with the bank and you have to be homeless.”
“They said they couldn’t help me[.]”
Ahadzi explained that he purchased the house for $424,500 in 2007 before the housing bubble burst…he lost his job ...and couldn’t meet his mortgage payments.
*snip*
“I paid the mortgage on the house for two years,” he added.
*snip*
“[OWS] told me not to talk to them [reporters] because they [OWS] had an offer for me,” he said.
At a second meeting after the press conference, however, organizers said they would not pay him for the house. At that point, he told them to leave.
*snip*
“I’m pissed off,” he said.
“I’m trying to get my house back, and they’re trying to take it from me.”
Young Gerrard - I am sure you are pissed about something too. Maybe life experience will ease that. It is time to join the real world. Sometimes it is ugly. There are winners and losers. Nobody said life was easy. Toughen up and get a grip.
I just returned from Occupy Congress #J17 in Washington DC. The opportunity to meet Occupiers from all over the country, all looking for a better way to live and help each other, was inspirational. We all attempted to do what has been suggested to us…speak to those who make the rules that poor Wall Street is forced to follow, or not. Yes, our representatives. Of course, none of them were in their offices. Very busy, you see.
Who was it that said, “Control the flow of money and you control the people.”? Well they were correct. Wall St. is where the power lies. Capitalism is the crisis. You cannot have true democracy when so many people are hungry, homeless and without work. It is sad that this economic crisis is affecting people in Chappaqua who are unable to sell their homes. Join the 99%. Join us in the streets. A better, more equitable life is possible for us all.
“Only after the last tree has been cut down, and the last river has been poisoned, and the last fish has been caught, will you realize that you can’t eat money.” Cree Proverb
I’m not a spokesperson for OWS, so I can only offer my personal sense of what the movement is about. I think the central anxiety that unites the various concerns of the Occupy movement is the feeling that a de facto *merger* has taken/is taking place between a relatively small number of extremely wealthy private interests (not just Wall Street) on the one hand, and the government on the other—a merger which crowds the interests of the citizenry out of politics, and which therefore perverts representative democracy.
The manifestations of this merger include, but are not limited to: the “revolving door” of top personnel between wealthy corporations (and their legal defense and lobbying teams) and various key positions in government (e.g. regulatory agency staff, cabinet secretaries, advisers to the President, state and federal lawmakers and their staff, etc.); bills drafted by corporations in their own interest and introduced by legislators without modification; the privatization of traditional government functions; loopholes which enable corporations to avoid paying taxes; election campaigns which float on an ocean of corporate donations, and where the amount of money spent by the respective candidates determines the victor upwards of 94% of the time; and the rescue of privileged firms from failure in the marketplace through no-strings-attached bailouts from the public treasury. This merger has permitted wealthy interests to reorganize the American economy over the past three decades such that the majority of the gains flow to a tiny fraction of the population: less than 1%, more like .1%. This merger also facilitated the deregulation of the financial sector, without which the crash of 2008 would not have taken place.
(continued)
All of this “behind-the-scenes” action feeds into a sense that *some* (not all) super-rich Americans are getting super-rich not through honest competition and hard work, but by manipulating the levers of state power—i.e., by cheating. Meanwhile, ordinary Americans face draconian budget cuts, stagnant wages, reduced benefits, extreme levels of indebtedness, the threats of joblessness and foreclosure—all while being lectured by their leaders that they must “tighten their belts.”
So, what does OWS propose as solutions? The refusal to endorse one official list of formal demands doesn’t mean that many OWS participants and sympathizers haven’t suggested concrete ideas for achievable changes to our system. For example: break up so-called “too-big-to-fail” companies; reduce the economic-growth-slowing burden of debt (mortgage, credit card, student loan) on Americans; institute a financial transactions tax to pay for future bailouts and reduce the deficit; reform the bonus system on Wall Street to incentivize long-term rather than short-term profits; end the carried-interest tax break, so that hedge-fund managers don’t enjoy a lower tax rate than do middle-class Americans.
In the present climate, the odds of any one of those items passing both houses of Congress are slim. But it’s just not true that OWS isn’t “about” anything.
To Are You Serious…The question was asked of the author, William Gerrard, why HE participated. Your answer may be relevant to you as it is YOUR answer. You did not write this piece, Gerrard did. It his answer we would like to hear- not yours. And he reamins silent…..
I agree with the many that suggest to the editors of NCN that this divisive national issue has no place on this local blog/website. But since we are talking about it, I also agree with those that believe that corrupt government and empty political promises by this president and Democrats and Republicans are to blame - go Occupy Washington. But before you do - have a message , a plan, a goal. This hodge podge of causes and voices is an embarrassment.
To “To Young Gerrard”: Everyone who says, “Nobody said life was easy. Toughen up an Get a Grip,” should go through what people who have suffered as the result of this recession have gone through. But you will, To Young Gerrard, you will. The investment banker who told me that people who lost their homes to foreclosure were “greedy and have low I.Qs.” lost his mega- buck job six months later and is now living on his capital—until it runs, out because he is over 50 and can’t find another position. Live isn’t easy for this arrogant fellow any longer.
There is not justice, To Young Gerrard—but there is karma.
To William - OWS supporters - so it’s capitalism that is at fault? Or is it the rich that cheat the problem? Or the merger of Wall St interests with politicians that can be bought thru influence peddling? What of the vast majority of “rich” Americans that attained their wealth thru hard work, determination, perseverance? What of the rich that work 80 hour weeks focused and determined to be the best? You paint all successful people with one broad stroke. A recent NY Time article illuminated who exactly is the 1% in our country.
The paper studied those with incomes in the top 1 percent of regions around the country. Folks in the category are less likely to be “fat cats” than they are to be doctors or people who’ve built thriving family businesses from the bottom up. In fact business executives (non finance) make up the largest percentage, doctors and lawyers next, and then financial professionals.
Following your logic capitalism has corrupted all these rich people-“they cheat”. The greatest wealth being created today is in the technology. Young entrepreneurs are creating products/services (smart phones, apps, social networks) and becoming millionaires and billionaires overnight. Their partners, investors, and employees are also getting rich. Did they cheat or exploit capitalism too? OWS too easily stereotypes all people who are successful and assumes something was done inappropriately at the expense of others. Hog wash!!
None of this is likely to deter the current administration from the class-warfare rhetoric they’re already using on the campaign trail as they portray themselves as in sync with OWS. Before embracing the divisive and inaccurate rhetoric of Occupy Wall Street people should see the one consistent factor throughout and that is politicians in Washington. How ironic that Obama is in NY tonight attending a $35,000 per plate dinner raising money for his re-election campaign. I guess the 1% are ok after all as long as they write a big fat check!
@“The Silent Majority”: “Where are the individuals who lied on their stated income mortgage loan applications, got in over their heads and now turn around to demand mass principal write downs for an encore?”
As someone who did not lie on my mortgage loan application and carefully calculated her ability to make monthly payments for the length of time that her family intended to live in their home, I never imagine, when making such calculations - Excel spread sheets and all - that the board of directors of my firm might be taken over by a generation of executives whose only consideration was the bottom line, and who viewed long-time employees, particularly those of us over 55, as dead wood to be jettisoned; or who would (another example) be willing to outsource to a temp agency an entire services department of African-American men, with the disingenuous, Title VII disclaimer that doing so provided them with opportunities for promotion. Never did I imagine that degrees from Columbia and a generally terrific resume would mean nothing on a job market in which being over 55, let alone over 60, condemned a person to unemployment and, given the health insurance issues, maybe even a premature death.
Yet those things have come to pass, and I have no idea how I am to pay my mortgage, find health care or even eat after my employer (illegally) fires me. Even worse off is another employee my age, who has serious medical issues, and is also being deprived of work and subjected to baseless criticism.
My company is not a fly-by-night firm, but enjoys an impeccable reputation. My fellow employee and I were not greedy or stupid; our sole expectation was to be treated in an ethical, moral manner. That is no longer the principle of operation in the business community, as you point out regarding mortgage brokers and realtors. It isn’t merely bankers, but rather a system in which money is the only important value.
That’s why I support OWS, and that’s what OWS is criticizing.
@To Young Gerrard: I agree that the activists who planned the 702 Vermont St. action made a colossal mistake by not doing right by Mr. Ahadzi. But let’s think about this for one more second: the family currently living at 702 Vermont St. is living there *illegally* - meaning that the police will without question evict them from the property sooner or later. The property, according to the article, still belongs to Ahadzi; it hasn’t been stolen from him. It was completely vacant for three years before December 6; if OWS hadn’t staged this action, Ahadzi wouldn’t be living there - it would still be vacant. The move-in was a *symbolic* action to highlight the foreclosure epidemic. But I’m honest enough to admit that this action was handled extremely poorly.
The fact remains, as I noted in my article, that many *thousands* (no one knows how many) of Americans were thrown out of their homes illegally by banks who engaged in foreclosure fraud. Here’s an excellent NY Post article about it:
“In a staggering 92 percent of the claims brought by creditors asserting the right to foreclose against bankrupt families in New York City and the close-in suburbs, banks and mortgage servicers couldn’t prove they had the right to kick the families out on the street, a three-month probe by The Post has shown. But that didn’t stop the banks from trying.
By robosigning documents and pressing foreclosures without the proper paperwork, banks have attempted to steamroll their way over sometimes-outgunned homeowners…”
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/house_of_cards_hNdx5fNGt6oOl1U9mTW0HN#ixzz1jvZD7A47
As far as scandals go, that utterly dwarfs the 702 Vermont St. snafu.
(For the record: I never said “all police are bad,” nor did I imply it, nor do I believe anything even approaching it. I have multiple ex-NYPD in my family, and I love them dearly, so please don’t put those kinds of hateful words in my mouth. Also, I don’t believe Wall Street is “evil.” You’re battling a straw man.)
@hard work 1%: I specifically said “*some*” super-rich people cheat; I even emphasized the word *some*. That’s the opposite of painting with one broad stroke.
Capitalism isn’t the problem (at least, not from my perspective); I like entrepreneurs. *Crony* capitalism is the problem. And that problem is a two-headed monster: those in the government who are corrupted, and those business interests that do the corrupting. And as I was trying to say in my comment, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to tell the two apart.
too much of my time reading your righteous drivel. It was cute at first. Everyone likes the bright eyed naive kid. Please remember when you are still an aspiring filmmaker and taking a real job to earn a living that nobody forced you down this path. Should you fail do not blame others. Should you make merely $35K a year, that was your life decision to pursue your path. Take responsibility. Earn it. Don’t expect mom and dad to pay your way or the government to do the same. I am not employed by Wall Street, but thank G-d they are not fleeing overtaxed NY or doctors, teachers, lawyers, landscapers, dentists, police officers…would all be out of jobs. Don’t bite the hand that literally feeds you. Now go on and make some cool indie film.
@”Lawrence Farms East Resident”: I mean no disrespect to you personally or the challenges that you are now facing. Unfortunately, though I accept that you acted more responsibly than most when taking out a mortgage, to expect that simply because you hold “degrees from Columbia and a generally terrific resume” that you are above/immune from the risks of a capitalist labor market is folly. In fact, I would argue that one of the severe drawbacks of an Ivy League education and resume (which many of us also have) is the production of the very entitlement complex that you are displaying. As you are finding out, beyond a certain point (usually your first job or two), education and resume really do not matter much. Been that way a long, long time, Lawrence Farms East Resident. Really do not see Occupy Wall Street coming fighting to protect Ivy League graduates that spent too much of their working careers enjoying all the trimmings of being a part of a company with an “impeccable reputation” that they failed to learn the facts of life: everyone is replaceable and the only one looking out for you in Corporate America is the one you see every morning in the mirror.
Also, some advice to the baby boomer crowd: the generations picking up the wreckage you’ve collectively left (and continue to leave) behind are just not in the mood to hear your whining anymore. The challenges young families face today in securing the basics, even in Chappaqua, are a far cry from the gilded age you enjoyed. Spare us the pity party now that you realize there’s a consequence for profligacy. Your generation has had the reins in business, government and the electorate for quite some time. No sense of generativity and an endless sea of “me, me, me . . .”
@Silent Majority.
Please stop bloviating. You don’t know squat about me, and you’re using me to expound your own philosophy. I am not whining. I have not been profligate. What really ticks me off is people who make assumptions without basis; you know, pal, I spent many years as a teacher, helping kids from disadvantaged backgrounds get through college. I chose not to live a life of privilege, despite the ivy degrees. Indeed, I grew up in a three room apartment in a working class part of Brooklyn and, were I as ignorant of the facts of life as you appear to be, and as quick to make assumptions and blow my own horn, I probably would indeed be wealthy and opposing OWS. As it turns out, I know those facts—via experienced—and also know what motivates my bosses. They’re afraid that the gold mine that their firm has been over the past 15 years is becoming a bit less lucrative, and are cutting those employees who appear to them to be less profitable and more vulnerable. It’s a bottom line world for them, but has never been one for me.
I don’t know who you are, but you aren’t going to use me as your whipping boy (or girl). I’d be happy to meet you personally to discuss the matter further, but doubt you’d agree. People who use other people—particularly those in trouble—to vent their own shallow opinions—don’t like to come out of the shadows.
And your post reeks of “me, me, me”. An endless sea of it, in fact.
Wonderful article William Gerrard, thank you. And thank you for your intelligent factual responses. I would love for you to have an ongoing column here.
What is sadly obvious from the posts is that there will always be people who are fair minded , who care about others and those who do not think beyond their own selfish interests and care not one whit about others.
i wish lawrence farms east and I could open a lovely yarn store in town and make enough money to support ourselves. Wouldn’t that be fun. I hope you keep your job long enough to do whatever you want to do. It sounds like you have worked very hard and it doesn’t seem fair that the scale has tipped for you in a negative way.
