By the time I arrived at the Wall Street Day of Rage around 2:00 PM, the NYPD had Wall Street on total lockdown, with barriers at both ends, uniformed NYPD officers standing shoulder-to-shoulder, and plastic flexcuffs hanging in bundles from their belts. Clearly, the NYPD was not messing around. So the anti-capitalists and comrades and anarchists had to move their march south.
Sign up for Free Email Updates of Breaking News
The leftist smorgasbord of a few hundred gathered on the nearby front steps of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. It was here that the Day of Rage protest hit full swing.
While its “Occupy Wall Street” concept was thwarted by the fact that they couldn’t even walk on Wall Street, the protestors remained enthusiastic about their plan to camp out for months, and their cause.
But what that cause is remains anyone’s guess. The Days of Rage protest was sort of a leftist outcry a la carte, a mishmash of grievances vaguely anti-capitalist, and anti-government. The main rallying cry was anti-banker, and there was much talk of ‘fat cats.’ After that, the message was unified only in its hatred for our current government, and the promise that we would all be better off if the system collapsed.
I spoke with many of the Day of Rage protestors. They were clearly fired up, but there was widespread insistence that this event remain non-violent. Whenever a protestor took a bullhorn out and tried to get the crowd fired up, the speech tended to drift into shapeless platitudes about ‘banksters,’ corportate greed, and references to socialism. A few secondary characters yelled out about stopping the “Tea Party,” but this passed without much noise from the crowd.
In the single most enthusiastic crowd moment, one of the organizers took the bullhorn and summarized the message of the whole event: “The system is going to collapse,” he said, “we are here to make it collapse faster.”
There were many Guy Fawkes masks in the crows, and some more bizarre, homemade costumes milling about. The anarchists were mingling freely with the socialists. The anti-war group “Code Pink” sent a small delegation (in pink, of course). They all agreed our government should crumble, but nobody seemed to wonder if that happened, who would take the reins? Doesn’t somebody have to implement socialism?
There were a few Ron Paul fans in the crowd holding up signs that mostly supported the Congressman’s ‘end the wars’ stance. A deceptively well-groomed Larouchite handed me a flyer with “Seven Necessary Steps” outlined for America that focused on economic reform and forcing Barack Obama to resign.
Around 3:00 PM, The protest moved north up Broadway to the Chase Manhattan Plaza, not far from the site of Ground Zero.
The same organizers took to the bullhorn and repeated their slogans for a while. People started to look tired, bored, and hungry.
Then, in perhaps the most surprising turn of events all day, a counter-protest erupted from the other side of the Plaza. A full brass band, Primetime Brass, bellowed out patriotic tunes, including “The Marine Corps Hymn.” This clearly stole the protestors’ thunder for a while. The best they could do in response was yell at the band “play the Internationale!”
A little after 4PM, the protestors broke up into discussion groups. They sat crossed-legged on the ground. A few turned into drum circles. In others, the more vocal members of the crowd lectured others on socialism, and Wall Street greed, and the need to ‘do something,’
The few hundred participants in the protest already appeared to be losing steam at that point. As organizers began to bring in food, one of them asked me to help him distribute sandwiches. I had avoided shaving for the better part of a week, and felt my scruffy look was validated by this. I politely declined.
I concluded that the moment the Skippy peanut butter runs out, most of these self-styled radicals will hop a bus back to campus, or their parents’ suburban basements.
This was not a Tahrir moment. Not even close.
But it is worth asking why. This was supposed to be a 20,00 person occupation to shut down Wall Street. They meant to show the world that the ‘banksters’ can be brought down, and with it the entire system of U.S. governance.
This crowd looked more like Ben and Jerry’s hippies than communist storm troopers.
Related posts:
- Occupy Wall Street FAIL in Fresno! 150 Unemployed Attend Protesters calling themselves “America’s 99%” demanded an end to what...
- Critics Question “Occupy Wall Street” Movement http://downloads.cbn.com/cbnnewsplayer/cbnplayer.swf?aid=25929 For nearly three weeks, protesters calling themselves the “Occupy...
- Occupy Wall Street demanding $20/Hr. Minimum Wage? Recently reading some splinter demands of the Occupy Wall Street...
- What’s The Message? Workers Rights or Communism? Three weeks into the “Occupy Wall Street” protests, the disorganized...
- Will Occupy Wall Street Materialize Into Movement? ...
why dont you tell that to the rest of the world that is protesting the same cause. your anti-peace rederick falls on deaf ears. we know we are right so you can tell the people who paid you to post that, we will be victorious and it is inevitable. face the facts you are the one supporting the lost cause and we are supporting your right to true freedom. dont be scared, be prepared for the change cause its going to happen. Power to the people!
get a job
Ahem I have a job and I am down there Occupying Wall St and Liberty Park and bringing supplies and food whenever I can. I suggest you either join our movement or fuck off. We are growing and soon you are going to be in the minority. We are not just protesting the lack of jobs, our main goal is to get corporate money out of our political system and return the system to a true democracy, as opposed to the current plutocracy. If you’re not too bright, ploutos is wealth in ancient Greek, so I think you can figure out what a plutocracy i
Technically aren’t you/we the majority already? I mean we/you are the 99% right? I’m so tired of people like you who bitch about Wall street and how the corporate greed in America has infected Washington. I hear it everyday, protesters who preach about bringing about Anarchy or having the ideal direct participatory Democracy. Yeah sure bring about change institute a direct democracy and for what? For mob rule, for a select group of individuals to trample over what I believe in and make decisions for me? To establish once again a group of elites and institute an Oligarchy and then followed by the inevitable cycle of Tyranny? And don’t give me that crap that we live in an oligarchical or tyrannical system already, what..a…load. If you’re going to protest for what you believe in thats fine, however make sure that when you do participate in such protests, that you remember you’re also disrupting some of your fellow 99%, you know the ones who actually show up for this thing called “work”. The way you’re movement is operating right now all you’re doing is screaming, screaming to be “heard” even though you’ve always had an open audience, but no go ahead keep screaming in our faces about what you think is needed to change how our society operates. Deafen us with you’re infinite wisdom…please.
Right On! If it weren’t for the taxpayers who actually pay for the streets, sidewalks and parks being used by these freeloaders, they wouldn’t have a place to hold their encampment.
Truer words are seldom said
I’m just a dum liber, but if’s the srteets and siedwlks was to dispear, would I fall in a blck hole?
That you have a job begs the question…….. Who the signs your paycheck?
are you serious
yes i am
You forgot to call them all Atheists, too… oh, and homosexuals… can’t forget that either… I find your particularly pointed use of words to generalize and label these people along with the propagandist style amusing as you clearly look down your nose at them. Something I think you fail to realize is that they are not all leftist commies or anarchist that have come to steal our babies and drop bombs as they undermine the American way. There are Republicans out there that are tired of the ‘same ole same ole’ as well. But, since I can’t give definitive proof, and you have already proven with your … well I dunno what it is… blog perhaps? That you don’t need facts for a debate as long as you have plenty of names left to sling at people. Anyways, I won’t try to argue that point any further because I can see where it would go.
I wonder why you have failed to also adderss the fact that this country was/is based on the fact that people didn’t accept what was being force fed to them so they took a stand. No need to throw any rhetoric in there… plain and simple, they stood up for their beliefs. No true revolution started of organized. This may not be a revolution, but just because in it’s infancy it isn’t set up with morning meetings to plan the days events, does not make it any less possible that this could actually turn into something very tangible with lasting repercussions on our nation.
With that said, I still agree with “Not James”. Collapsing the system isn’t going to fix anything any more than burning down your house to get rid of the roaches. Instead of tearing down and rebuilding, we need to remodel… one issue at a time. And all the effort and cohesion put into this ‘rally’ could have been put into addressing the real issues at hand, one step at a time, and have a very legit place at the table when it comes time to have your voice heard. Instead, this group is more akin to the guy on the street corner preaching the testiment very loudly in people’s ears as they walk by. It doesn’t matter what he is saying or how serious he believes in what he is saying at that point because his representation has already made him a joke in everyone’s eyes and no one is going to take him seriosuly.
OWS do not despair. They will demonize you the way the Nazis did the Jews. Filthy, vermin, scum… it’s the oldest trick in the book. As the fear builds the forces arrayed against you and the language they use will become increasingly violent. People are going to get hurt. It always happens. Stay non-violent.
Remember Ghandi. They said the British would never leave India.
Remember Mandela. They said Apartheid would always remain.
Remember 400 years of slavery. They said it was an honourable trade.
The majority of Canadians are behind you and this movement.
Seriously what the hell is up with all the Jew remarks… and just so you know it wasn’t just the Nazis who brought about the image of the perfidious Jew. The Jews have been persecuted by Communist as well, and have been throughout Europe’s history going all the way back to and before the Spanish Inquisition. Quit trying to liken everyone who doesn’t agree with your view as a Nazi… No one is scared of your movement everyday you begin to discredit yourself with your meaningless protest. The best thing that has happened to you so far is that some of the Democratic party members actually voice support for your cause that way they can evacuate the few sane individuals with some semblance of an actual viable complaint and whittle that into the tea party’s antithesis. As for the violent language, I don’t believe that I’ve seen anyone actually go to your job (protesting, cashier at some counter culture coffee shop/record store you know whatever you do…) and yell out expletives over and over at you just for doing your job. Yes we are the ones full of hate, we are the ones calling for the death and destruction, every day you hear us marching to your cause gallows in tow and noose in hand …umm…no. It’s not propaganda if its the truth and if you act like idiots, racists and fools you will be called so accordingly. Lastly
This is not colonial occupied India, you are not Ghandi. You’re not sitting in for your country if you were you’d be on the steps of congress.
This is not South Africa, your movement can not compare with the work of Mr. Mandela
and if by slavery you mean Racial slavery which was primarily a western phenomena…how the hell does that compare with you’re movement now??!
Quit trying to use significant events in the past to justify your trivial movement in the present.
p.s.
Who cares what Canadians think of your movement, last time I checked they don’t vote for our/your (the 99%) elected representatives…so what exactly can their support bring you aside some sort of warm fuzzy feeling?…and maybe crates of maple syrup.
Keep working, nice post! This was the information I had to know.
who made this website can suck my dick faggot
Wow when I hear, wordsmith… I will forever think of…Spencer Philip.
I’m thinking of starting a “Comment of the Week” section. Spencer might be my first entry into the database. You have to give him credit though. All the time that went into writing this post, and he was able to discredit and ridicule me with only 7 seconds and 9 words.
Constructive criticism at its best.
You said that wrong. You said “Suck my dick faggot”. The adjective should come before the noun. It should have read, “Suck my faggot dick”.
LOL………
Howard Sterns Penis… bababoowey…
Love the well thought out comments.