Occupy Wall Street, the movement that has taken this nation by storm, has a flaw in something as fundamental as its goal. Occupy basically means to fill or take up. Is the goal really to fill Wall Street, and if so what will be accomplished by that? The title should be "Change Wall Street" -- after all, that is what is necessary here.
Yes, there is a great deal of corruption and mismanagement in Wall Street, but are protests the way to correct and reform these big businesses?
The Occupy Wall Street protests are not the way I would go about trying to rectify an injustice, which is why I have not and will not be participating in Occupy Wall Street or Occupy Gainesville. Basically, I will not be occupying anything, and with good reason.
To begin, there is too much physical danger involved in these so called "peaceful demonstrations." On Oct. 14, Ellas Anthony McDaniel was arrested at Bo Diddley Plaza, the plaza named after his famous musician father, for trespassing while participating in Occupy Gainesville. Aside from the sad irony in this example, the real possibility of repercussions is shown. The issues in our economy are serious, but they are not worth going to jail over.
Some claim this issue to be a civil rights issue, but I find it difficult to understand that view. I am in no way justifying the grotesque corruption that continues to occur on Wall Street, but this is not a civil issue. The government is not compromising citizens' rights, if anything, protestors are casting aside their civil rights with their illegal protesting methods.
Participating in the Occupy Wall Street movement is not a productive way for college students to effect change. What they should do is study to be the people who will take over Wall Street in the future. Once they hold those positions of power, they must remember the lessons learned from this movement to assure that they do not fall victims to the lure of money and power that corruption can bring.
As Gandhi said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." So Wall Street occupiers, I ask you this: are your actions reflecting the change you wish to see in Wall Street? Because I can let you in on a little secret: you aren't the first people to go from Wall Street to the slammer.