The populist revolution has swept across the Atlantic and stoked the flames of discontent in several American cities, most notably New York. From the Egyptian struggle against oppression that echoed loud from Tahrir Square to the heroic standoff at Benghazi, and from a Hazare-led fasting against corruption in India to the Greek protests against austerity measures, the world's population has been fighting against oppression in all shapes and sizes. A commonnality exists among these seemiingly varied movements—most of these revolutionary events have been populist in nature, representing the majority population against a minority of extremely powerful people who call all the shots. It may be the first time in history that a number of localized revolutions have had such a common defining character.
While common in character, each individual movement is unique. Mass media has provided incredible stories from war-ravaged parts of the world, braving governmental restrictions and endangering the lives of reporters, yet curiously failed to adequately report on the storm that has been brewing in New York City for over 15 days. The protesters say the reason is that these mainstream media agencies are controlled by big corporations which do not want the voices of protesters heard. Evidently, Jesse Jackson did not empathize with these people nor did Sarah Palin step up to offer solidarity. Only recently have a few unions begun to collaborate with the protesters, inspiring small advancements in media coverage.
People in their living rooms, flashed with scenes of protesters holding up placards and shouting slogans, and those of police roughing up and pepper-spraying these protesters, may dismiss them as a bunch of hippies who had it coming. But the ""lesser media"" of the Internet that thrives on amateur footage and interviews in the midst of the demonstrations has conducted a very comprehensive coverage of these protests. And in doing so, it has also shamed the mainstream media which has grown addicted to an unhealthy partisan approach in its coverage. It shows people from all walks of life, of all genders and races, who have gathered willingly to vent their frustration at who they call the ""upper one percent"" of society that essentially make all the decisions. These people include college graduates with no jobs and tons of tuition debt, older people who watched their 401ks washed away into pebbles, employees laid off after working for several decades at times for faltering companies, and countless others who are discontent with the status quo and the government's modus operandi, both at the state and federal levels.
Contrast this movement with the union protests in Madison, Wis. over the spring. And contrast them to every single Tea Party demonstration that has ever happened, and has been gleefully covered by the media. The New York protestors have neither the organizational capacity nor the clout of either the unions or the Tea Party movement. And they definitely do not have the funds to sustain such efforts. A few friendly gestures such as baked cookies and donations of books and blankets keep these people going. That is because these people sleeping on the cold concrete at night are the unofficial representatives of the nation's discontent.
The movement echoes with dissatisfaction ranging from a number of factors, such as corporate power and sway in politics, a chronic dearth of jobs in the market, government functioning being compromised due to partisan politics, uncertainty about both the immediate and distant future, societal and financial inequalities. Owing to the myriad number of reasons involved, the protestors are yet to come up with a set of demands that they wish to cite as reasons for their unrest.
It is clear that these protests are not a temporary knee-jerk reaction, but resemble a fight to the finish. The Wall Street protesters are motivated by concerns of individual livelihood and sustenance in an increasingly dismal society which offers no glimmer of hope for the common man. The slow but steady momentum that has built up towards this effort holds testimony to this assertion. A reactionary movement would have shot up and died out very quickly. In contrast, the Occupy Wall Street protests resemble a release of years of pent-up suffering and frustration of the American public. And far from fading away, the movement only promises to grow as days pass on. The movement has displayed an incredible display of organizational capabilities in the wake of restrictions imposed on them by law enforcement.
State and federal governments can no longer choose to ignore the protests, as they have ignored their electors for so long. The movement questions whether an inept American bureaucracy can continue to ignore the needs of its citizens. The Wall Street protests contain infinite potential sprouting out of every single individual, enough to engulf the whole nation. And lawmakers need to put aside petty party politics to come up with measures that address the needs of an ailing, angry population that can turn vitriolic if further oppressed.
Anurag Mandalika is a graduate research assistant in the Department of Biological Engineering. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
