OCCUPY AUSTIN is a movement that stands in solidarity with the Occupy Wall street movement as well as the numerous other Occupy movements around the globe. We had been interested in the movement for a few weeks, and visited Day 1 of the Austin Occupation to see, hear, and learn more about why people have taken to the streets to voice their opinions.
The Occupy movement now currently going into its fourth week had many cities join in solidarity with October 6th being the start of most of them. Through research we have found that at the root of all the protests is that corporate lobbyists seemingly have too much control of our government. This pretty much means that our US government does not work for 99% of the citizens ;however, the current government instead works for the wealthiest 1% who run the corporations. This movement is not republican nor democrat but is instead just attempting to level the playing field, and make democracy the voice of the people…as it was designed to do. Some of the biggest misconceptions about the Occupy movement is that it is against corporations; this is not the case- instead, it is anti-corporate greed. This is a real chance for revolution and change in today’s crazy political weather.
Going into Occupy Austin’s day 1 , I had mixed feelings about what to expect but instead of making brash uneducated judgements about what was going on, I decided to go and check it out and learn about it firsthand to experience and see why people are outraged. Day 1 of Occupy Austin had reported over 1300 demonstrators that spanned people of all age and backgrounds. The Austin Police Department were as cool as can be, as compared to the NYPD whose arrest total well over 1000 as well as videotaped brutality, and as compared to yesterdays Occupy Boston movement that boasts over 100 arrests including those of Veterans for Peace members. APD as well as the city actually supported the movement- another reason I love this city.
The assembly also gave people a chance to voice their concerns and why they were there-which spanned everything from students wanting more affordable higher education, to people voicing and warning of credit card debt, to current banking practices. The thoughts were all over the place, but again, this was a place that opened discussion and ideas throughout, and at the end of the day-how can that be a bad thing?
