Occupy Wall Street: Advantages, Strategic Plan and Arrangements

Confront large financial corporations on their influence in political affairs. Force the federal government to address the inequalities that consume the United States. With more balance and control of financial businesses and an increase in the minimum wage on the federal and state levels, these issues will be resolved.

The advantages of OWS

Occupy Wall Street (OWS) contributed to several advantages:

• Changes made dealing with political inequality
• An increase in financial support
• Numerous public support

The most notable advantage of Occupy Wall Street is the increase in financial support. With research, many articles state with the rise in minimum wage will stimulate economic and job growth, reduce poverty, reduce government welfare spending,

reduce income inequality, increase workers’ productivity, promote affordable housing, and reduce crime. A raise predominantly benefits low wage workers, mainly those who put their income back into the economy, which starts an ethical cycle of greater demand for goods and services, job growth, and productivity.

What did OWS derive from?

Occupy Wall Street consist of several activists including:

• Students
• Anti Capitalist Organizations
• Anarchy groups

Advocacy Organizations

Organized by the various advocacy organizations, OWS was set up to protest social and economic inequality in the U.S. while demanding policies that will fight inequality. The OWS movement rooted in the slogan “We are the 99%,” a declaration against financial inequality that gains support from younger individuals throughout the country. OWS also gave politicians the opportunity to take advantage of the media attention and push for liberal policies without destroying their public image.

Strategic Plan and Arrangements

The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement resulted from a mixture of forces. Originating from a decision to protest by the Canadian nonprofit group, that created an alliance between students and union workers to protest against social and economic inequalities.

OWS activists caught the public attention by taking over Zuccotti Park in the heart of the New York financial district, creating several acts of civil disobedience. With activists repeatedly clashing with law enforcement, it leads to hundreds of arrests. Behind the scenes of all the chaos where labor unions and rich donors to fund this movement, although every activist repeated the mantra of the movement which was “leaderless.” Individuals a part of the movement wanted it to seem like a diverse mix of individuals consisting of students, union workers, anti-capitalists, progressives, and anarchists. OWS gained the trust of the public by being watched on the news and being identified as participants in the movement.

OWS leaders supported violent behavior, especially with law enforcement to gain sympathy with the images being shown of protest being broken up by police, which was filled with underage students. By encouraging these behaviors OWS was able to give more opportunities to Advotacts where they could support the cause but separate from the activist’s schemes. Some of these opportunities are “developing working groups to ensure that Activists are equipped with the tools and resources they need and help coordinate activities to capitalize on Activist successes.”

Liberal Advocacy groups utilize social media to supporting activists to record their experience, using this content as awareness of the movement. Numerous websites were devoted to the OWS movement and were often given financial support from the allied groups. OWS supports aren’t always unpleasant, many Advocated encourage academics and writers at major newspaper companies. With the help of these writers, OWS gets stories out to promote fighting against inequality.

After hearing what OWS is fighting for, President Obama responded by altering his campaign speech and focusing it on “income inequality, raising the minimum wage, holding Wall Street accountable, and ensuring the wealthy ‘pay their fair share’” Obama’s speech was later recognized by the majority of the Democratic Party, rising senator Elizabeth Warren. Warren voiced the key message of OWS and had sought out to receive support from Advocates during her campaign.

Popular Messages/ Topics to talk about by Activists:

“We are the 99%” battle cry to unite average workers against the richest (1%) of Americans Communist symbols such as the raised fist and hammer and sickle

#OccupyWallStreet

Advocates token advantage of the growth of the media’s attention by shouting the Activist messages, but avoiding using bad language and hate symbols. Doing this while advocating on higher taxes for the 1% of Americans.

The Antagonist had little participation in the movement, they only contributed with the T.E.A. (“ Taxed Enough Already”) Party movement. This movement offered an alternative to the anti-free market of OWS. Many spokespersons from the free-market organizations would often appear on the news to conflict OWS Advocates, and defend their “American Capitalism.” Despite many Americans not like the schemes by OWS, many on the other hand seem to be surprised by the non-acceptance of the others. Protests continued into 2012 during the elections, which gave inspiration to Democratic candidates.

Results

The Occupy Wall Street movement has raised the issue of income inequality to new heights in the political sector. Many U.S. regulators ( the Federal Reserve, The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Securities Exchange Commission) were build-up by the public support and used this support to participate in administrative actions that will result in billions of dollars in fines against U.S. banks. As a result of the Occupy Wall Street movement, legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, and major cities, such as Seattle, which have recently adopted this wage increase.

1. Activists: Adbusters, college students, union workers, Communist Party USA, liberal activists, SEIU, anarchist groups
2. Advocates: Rebuild The Dream Coalition, AFL-CIO, Campaign for America’s Future, MoveOn.org, SEIU, Open Society Institute, etc.
3. Antagonists: Wall Street, Corporate Executives, Republican Party politicians against raising the minimum wage, and law enforcement.