Occupy Wall Street

Running Head: OCCUPY WALL STREET
Occupy Wall Street
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Occupy Wall Street
Introduction
The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is a non-violent movement that started on September 17, 2011 to protest against inequalities in wealth distribution, corporate greed and corruption in the US (Education International, 2011). However, the movement has expanded through its “Occupy” various cities network and it is reportedly aiming at initiating these series of demonstrations worldwide. The protests were mainly initiated by Adbusters, which is a Canadian activist faction. By October 9, 2011, protests had spread to approximately 70 cities in the US (Education International, 2011). Currently, it is estimated that the movement has spread to over 900 cities worldwide. This paper explores the rationale behind OWS and arguments that have been made by several people and groups about the movement.
The “Occupy” movement has spread widely over the last few weeks, such that it has become a subject of presidential debates in the US (Williamson, 2011). The movement has attracted political divides in the US and other countries as well. According to recent research by Post-Pew Research Centre, OWS boasts of approximately 39% support from the general population in the US (The Washington Post, 2011). 35%, though, have opposed the movement. In addition, 52% of the supporters are men (The Washington Post, 2011). In the political divide, 64% of the supporters are democrats, with only 24% of republicans publicly advocating for the expansion of the movement. 70% of the supporters are also whites, whereas 27% are non-whites (The Washington Post, 2011). The movement has received remarkable support from the South (34%) as well, with very limited support from the Mid-West (20%).
“Occupy Sacramento” is one of the occupy locales, where persistent protests have been raged for quite some time (occupysac.com, 2011). Protestors have cited that the movement condemns the corporate stakeholders, who do not seek consent in extracting wealth from the poor people. The movement has also planned to refract divides initiated by the power elite in order to achieve global governance (occupysac.com, 2011). At the New York’s Financial District, protestors have been chanting anti-corporate slogans. They have claimed that the 1% who are rich and powerful have accumulated immense wealth at the expense of the 99% who are poor (Education International, 2011). As such, protestors want to change economic policies which are founded on the notion of “profit over all else” in the economic landscape.
The catastrophic failures of business corporations and the political influence in the labor market are also some of the grievances presented by the OWS movement (occupysac.com, 2011). The wealthy have blocked introduction of cheaper medicine in order to protect their investments, in addition to covering up incorrect bookkeepin...