The Evolution Of The Occupy Wall Street Movement

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The Evolution of Occupy Wall Street The Occupy Wall Street Movement began in November 2011 and quickly spread to major cities across the United States and the world. The Movements initial message of Wall Street greed and government corruption resonated with citizens due to the negative economic situation in the United States, but If you look at successful social movements like the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s or the long struggle for women’s suffrage, you see that each had clear goals and effective leadership. The Occupy Movement has rendered itself ineffective because their goals have become unclear, and a lack of central leadership has left them without any legitimate figures to express the views and solutions of the Movement. Can the Occupy Movement survive without a leader? Many of the protesters like Los Angeles chapter member Joe Briones believes it can, and that the true strength of the Movement comes from not having a leader. A fear held by many Occupy protesters is that any central leadership will become…show more content…
First there needs to be a set of goals and solutions established. By assembling and democratically voting on a specific number of goals hand solutions to these issues the Movement can maintain a part of the leaderless “grassroots” feel that many of the protestors believe is what makes the Occupy Movement special. Second upon establishing set goals there must some form of leadership or spokesperson selected that can provide a face for the Movement and give it a feeling of legitimacy. Finally there needs to be continued visible protests but an attempt to stay away from long term occupations should be made. These make the Movement appear to be parasitic in nature, which will make many people shy away from the

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