Occupy Wall Street Riots Explained Analytical Essay

Background of the Wall Street riots

In the recent past the world has been falling to its knees due to the financial meltdown in America. A brief view of the previous American administration shows that former president bush handed power to incumbent president Obama while the country was doing badly financially.

The poor financial record was one of the greatest in the recent past. Inflation was at its highest. However, when Obama took over that was slowly changing for the better. Things were looking up for America. A negative twist of events shows that the economy has gone down to the way it was. People have know decided to act on the trend by protesting as they believe the rich and strong have something to do with the current financial situation.

Riots have been erupting recently over the recent financial crisis in America and the world over. Wall Street being the financial district of the city of New York is the main center of attraction of the riots. Earlier on it was a place of peace and tranquility. People have gathered in large masses in Wall Street with the aim of camping there until their leaders get the message they are trying to send. (Clews and Niederhoffer, 156)

Main issue of the protestors

According to the protestors, their main aim of marching down Wall Street is to try and capture president Obama’s attention. The president ought to set up a commission or a taskforce to root out the financial ills carried out by the rich in America as they claim. According to the organizers of this protest Adbusters, the economy of America is controlled by the rich. Just like a threat mechanism or bully system, the capitol is belittled to make policies that favor the large corporate or the wealthiest companies.

This is what the protestors want to curb and have a free economy. From the articles in New York Times it is evident that the planning of the protests began at around mid 2011 through social media. Electronic media being the major player of this, emails were sent in bulk to receivers across the world. The intention was to come up with peaceful demonstration to send a message to the president of America.

This worked as thousand flocked in Wall Street new York to rally together against this economic malpractice.

Factual information of the Wall Street riots

The very first few days of the September protest began with vigor as many turned up to address their cause. It was peaceful although traffic and other businesses in the streets had to be diverted. Many people clogged the streets attracting the attention of the daily lives of the average New Yorker man. The first few days also saw people protesting overnight. Setting up of mobile tents and places to eat was also evident.

As the riots progressed, more and more attention was captured. Other groups apart from the Adbusters group then joined in. police attention was now as a very large group of people needs supervision. Groups such as the New York assembly joined in the cause of fighting for economic justice.

It was said by the protested that the rich people only make a small percentage of the American population. It is estimated that they make around one to two of the entire population. The rest being the majority are oppressed by the minority. Policies favoring the rich are made by the influence of money. (Stelter)

Journalists and their columns

With many people and groups joining in the protest, according to journalists, police scrutiny had to increase as hooligans emerged from the crowds. Looting and interruptions of businesses in Manhattan was witnessed. The peaceful protest was slowly giving way to rowdy and unorganized protest.

The protests were slowly becoming unruly as each group started addressing its own issues. This saw police using unnecessary force like pepper spraying individuals and arrests that were uncalled for. Barricaded streets and meshed lanes saw police draw lines between them and the protestors. (Greenhouse and Buckley)

Among other issues that were raised by the different groups were; A sloppy system was effective in the current government. This means that any person is not accountable to any wrong financial undertakings in America. Leaders n charge of the financial sector could not be subjected to accountability incase anything went wrong.

This in many years has seen people making financial blunders yet they go unpunished. This gives the individuals a chance to be corrupt and embezzle public money through unscrupulous ways. This illegal ways include tapping public money into private cooperates while altering the fiscal policies.

The protest proceeded to other parts of New York and slowly encroaching to the entire nation of America. By this time, it is days into the protest. Manhattan is now almost becoming unruly. Other cities also organize small protest so as to address their financial problems. (Kleinfield and Buckley)

World wide scale protests are now into place. The centered protest that began in New York is now in every corner of the world. Some of the other issues that are raised in the protest are people who are in the middle class economy wanting favorable policies on trade unions.

The unions are currently under economic strains and tightened policies that do not favor their operations. This is what the people are protesting against. Only people that are influential financially are elected into the highest financial positions. According to the protestors, America lacks economic equality. This has to be controlled to reduce the large financial gap between the rich and the poor. (Eckholm and Williams)

Tax concerns are also a major problem facing the poor American man. According to the protestors having tax difference between the rich and the poor being minimal, ensures that the rich are on an upper hand. The rich are able to make more with less taxation while the poor have little money with a large tax being imposed. This limits their financial ability and the chance to invest more. The rich ought to be taxed more so as to standardize the market gap.

What remains sketchy about the riots?

Media coverage of the whole protest was minimal. In some of the other cases or riots, media attention was comprehensive. The dismal coverage of the Wall Street riots leads people to a suspicious thought. According to some journalists, the reason why the coverage was little is because the media companies are owned by the large corporate that are being fought by the protestors

A good example of the large corporate that own media companies are the time Warner Company and the Walt Disney. Both of these companies are large in terms of commercial investment. Such companies are the ones that impose policies that will favor them. To shed light on the Wall Street protest would cause more harm to them.

Another sketchy bit on the riots is why online operations were minimized in Manhattan. Mobile phone users could not access the internet. The major reason why this was done is still unclear.

It is evident that police used some extra force on the public and some illegal arrests were made. The follow up to the wrong police officers is unknown. Little details show that the police shunned this unethical practice is unknown. Attention to show the plight of the protestors was so much that it overshadowed the illegal undertakings of the police.

Follow up of the actions to be taken after the riots remain sketchy. It is true that the riots got the attention of the American president but an actual and detailed follow up is still not clear. Those accused of financial misguiding still remain unpunished. Leaders are only looking for solutions without first investigating on the wrongdoers to avert possible recurring protests.

What still needs to be known

Some of the things that need to be known are the actual reason that is causing a financial crisis in America. Financial heavyweights may cause economic inequality in America but the system they actually use needs to be known. People of America act on the small or sufficient information they have. It may be true but still insufficient. They may riot to root out only what they know leaving the unknown still effective. A lot of research on the financial trends and activities needs to be carried out. (Flegenheimer)

The value or effectiveness of protesting needs to be known. What protesting does and does not do is what should be the question in every American and human in the world over. Other channels of communications need to be known to address the government. Some of the ways that alter corrupt systems in the past are known to work. Coming up with a social or a political unit to address the people needs to be discovered. At times a protest may prove futile when the crowds turn out to be unruly.

Buzzwords still used and how they are used

Due to the current global crisis and the march to protest on wall street a lot of buzz and talk has been generated in the world over the word wall street. Songs have been created with that title. Wall Street in some places now means going bad or even where money is made. When a country seems to face inflation, the word Wall Street is in every citizen to depict financial meltdown.

Although Wall Street is the financial district of New York, when protests broke out in other countries, the place of the protests is now referred to as Wall Street. (Lamb and Joanna, 35)

Wall Street according to some if the African Americans may also mean a place where all the corruption and financial injustice takes place. Ironically Wall Street can also be used to mean a place of democracy, opposite of the mentioned ills. Every American ghetto refers such places with the name. In rare cases Wall Street is used to depict a market or a trade center in the major American cities.

Outcome of the riots

The major outcome of the riots is that president Obama shifted attention to the current situation in the financial sector. Financial heads in every state of America are now keen to trace the record of every financial institution. Forums are being created to redistribute financial obligations in America.

The rest of the world has become aware of the financial situation in the world. The plight of the people has now been known. The protests have instilled in people the art of fighting for their rights. The world is now aware of their economical right and about corrupt government institutions that manage the finances.

Educated opinion on the matter

The current financial state of the globe is still hanging in the balance and it needs a sober and well calculated move to change this trend. Eradication of the unscrupulous and wealthy individuals influencing the financial situation of America is the key to a successful economy. The following are the ways that will save the situation.

Every community and people of all economic classes should be involved in making of the financial policies. Each group should come up with a representative. The representative should be a link between Washington and the people. Any communication to and fro the people should be made by the representative.

Forums should be put up to educate the public on financial issues and policies. The forums will ensure that people are aware of every change in the economy and then come up with ways to make it better.

Elite professionals should be involved in the making of the policies. Screening ought to be done to ensure that only the upright manage the financial situation of the country. This step will eliminate the corrupt individuals who are motivated by greed.

Lastly, transparency should be upheld in making the policies. Broadcasting every policy and asking for the public consent will eliminate the rules that only favor the rich in the society.

Works Cited

Eckholm, Williams. “Anti-Wall Street Protests Spreading to Cities Large and Small.” New York Times 2011: Al. Print.

Flegenheimer, Matt. “A Not-Really-on-Wall-St. Protest, but the Fallout Is Felt There.” New York Times 2011: Al. Print.

Greenhouse, Buckley. “Major Unions Join Occupy Wall Street Protest”, New York Times 2011: Al. Print.

Kleinfield, Buckley. ” Wall Street Occupiers, Protesting Till Whenever”. New York Times 2011: Al. Print.

Lamb, Joanna. Wall Street in History. New York, NY: Cosimo, Inc., 2005.

Niederhoffer, Victor, and Henry Clews. Fifty Years in Wall Street. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 2006.
Stelter, Brian. “Occupy Wall Street Protests a Growing News Story.” New York Times 2011: Al. Print.