Last weekend, my son and I sat by the window in his bedroom and watched a swarm of skateboarders head towards Wall Street. We talked about their signs, their right to protest, and how lucky he is to live in a country where he can speak freely and march for (or against) anything he believes in. I got teary trying to explain the incredible rights and responsibilities that come with being a citizen of a country as special the United States. He asked if Mama had a boo-boo.
He's two. But hey, you can never start this stuff too early.
I'll come right out with it: I haven't been sure what to make of Occupy Wall Street. I want to get on board, but scrolling through the speeches on their website and the pictures on their Tumblr account, I'm genuinely confused. On the one hand, a transcript asks protesters to envision a brave, new world without capitalism. On the other, there's a picture of a little boy holding up a sheet of paper that says: "I'm almost 6 and my mom can't afford birthday presents for me this year." And while his sad face certainly pulls at my maternal heartstrings, a child's right to toys does not a revolution make.
Here's another sign I had trouble placing in the context of uprising and rebellion: "I graduate college in seven months with a useless degree in Classical Studies. Job prospects: zero. I am in the 99%." While I sympathize greatly with this young student (and her parents who probably saved a bundle to help send her to school), a struggling classics major doesn't exactly evoke images of Tripoli's Martyrs' Square.
Maybe it's time for a quick refresher. Arab Spring wasn't about the major you chose to pursue for college or the inalienable right to something gift wrapped on the day you were born. Protesters in Libya were fighting for (and many of them died for) life, liberty, and democracy. I'm teary just writing it.
Honestly, I wish Occupy Wall Street had smarter leadership. Things like the right "to birthday gifts" and "a job seven months before graduation," make it so easy to pick apart the movement, and that's the real danger. Because under all of this signage, there's a fundamental truth we can't afford to ignore: the growing income gap in this country is a big problem for everybody. Without expansive policy changes, the spread is only going to get worse. I, for one, do not want to leave my child a legacy of excessive inequality and instability.
Yesterday, though, they crossed a line in the sand. Taking to the Upper East Side for their "Millionaire's March," they protested at family homes of the super rich -- big names like Rupert Murdoch and JP Morgan chief exec, Jaime Dimon.
Despite the polarizing wealth distribution in this country, these businessmen (billionaires or not) still have a fundamental right to keep their public and private personas separate. Again, this is no Arab Spring, and Jaime Diamond is no Muammar Gaddafi. We aren't talking about someone who blew up a passenger jet. We aren't talking crimes against humanity or a dictator's stronghold. No matter how large and well furnished these townhouse may be, we're talking about family homes -- and they should be off-limits to protestors.
At the end of the day, this is where these people's kids return from school and gather for the holidays. This is where parents and grandchildren come together to celebrate and to grieve in private. Nothing these guys have (or haven't) done justifies this intrusion of personal space.
Everything I told my toddler on Sunday still stands. We all have a right to protest for (or against) anything we want. March down Broadway. Go to their offices. That's what makes living in this country so great. But we don't have the right to assemble on someone's front doorstep.
So here's my sign: Occupy Wall Street, just stick to Wall Street.
Follow Jacoba Urist on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheHappiestPare
Ms. Urist claims these executives have "a fundamental right to keep their public and private personas separate." Would she please explain where this "fundamental right" is for the coffee house worker who is randomly drug tested? Where is this "fundamental right" when a man applying for a job gets his Facebook investigated? Where is this "fundamental right" for a fellow who has a few Arab friends and is investigated by intelligence agencies without his knowledge? Where is this "fundamental right" to the woman who wants to end her pregnancy?
It seems to me that there is no "fundamental right" to have a private persona if you are poor. Every one of us live in a time when everything about our private lives can (and is) held against us by many of the very same companies these protestors are rallying against.
But thank you for making the point (albeit by accident). These rights belong to everybody here, regardless of income. I believe the right to enjoy your family home is one of them too. These guys might be rich, they may be greedy, but they haven't committed mass murder. And neither have their spouses or children.
Of course, that's when the other person will normally move the goal posts and move to an argument of no guarantees or start-your-own-business.
The last perons on earth that should be commenting about these protests is a tax attorney. Their job is to muck up our tax code. If you have a hard time figuring out how to do your taxes, you can thank people like Urist. If you hate all the loopholes in our tax code, look no farther than Urist.
The only thing worse than a lawyer is a tax lawyer. They have less employable skills than classics majors.
They are protesting the politicians who found it very easy to get in bed with the corporations and banks as long as money was funneled to them for the purchase of the gov’t and the courts. That’s what this protest is about.
I am sorry that OWSers are not as elegant and as organized as one may like, but social movements are messy things.
If the protesters are on a public street, then they have a right to be there and protest. Wouldn’t you agree that some businessmen took advantage of the economic situation over the last decade and padded their pockets without any moral concern for others? Didn't some "unduly" influence the pols? They are/were the contemporary robber barons. If so, then a public street is a fine place to protest as long as it is just protesting!
Support Fairness and the Common Good in GovernmentÂ. Follow One Man Roaring on Twitter: http://twitter.com/omroaring
Trust me, the OWSers are not making it easier to dismiss them. There is way more discussion of the income inequality since OWS than before. Without the mass protest, it was easy to dismiss. There are movements in many cities and they are growing.
Do the pundits and voters dismiss the GOP because Bachmann or Palin make absurd comments?
As you said, "we're talking about family homes". You're absolutely right. These people lost their homes. The very least you can afford them is the privilege of protesting outside the homes of the people who contributed to this mess.
Furthermore, you should take a moment and actually visit the movement. If everyone who spent an hour writing from their comfortable offices about how misguided the protesters are actually spent a few hours contributing to the discussions downtown, maybe you would begin to see the positive side of what they're doing. They have my respect. New Yorkers need to wake up to the suffering that's going on around the rest of the country.
My point, though, was that many of the people who are participating in Occupy Wall Street, either in person or online, can point to the housing crisis as the reason. That's why I think it's odd to criticize protestors walking on a sidewalk outside of freshly renovated CEO homes after banks have been kicking average people out of their homes for years (in many cases fraudulently). That's why I think the title of your article is a bit absurd. Please Google the article "Invasion of the Home Snatchers" by Rolling Stone.
Get a clue. This isn't about just what happens at work, this is about everything everywhere. While they retreat into their enclaves, the rest get of the people get foreclosed, laid off, and overworked. It's already in our homes, it's high time they got a taste of this where they live.
Then again, I wouldn't expect someone who writes about estate planning to be on the side of the people in the first place.
Marching down a public street in front of a private home is not a crime and shouldn't offend the occupants of said house. If the children ask questions maybe the parents will summon the courage to tell their children that those people who are marching in front of their house is a direct result of their actions at work, after all those people's work lives have impacted those people in the street's home lives.
As far as your house goes, you live in the financial hub of the world. You know, the place where AIG, Goldman Sachs, etc. are located. The place where Lehman used to be located. So, I think you're going to get some blowback from some protests.