What the Occupy Protesters Really Want and What They’ll Do If They Don’t Get It

What the Occupy Protesters Really Want and What They’ll Do If They Don’t Get It

According to various comments the “Occupy” protests are primarily actions against social and economic equality, corporate greed and corporate influence via money and lobbyists on government. The organizers sway the slogan “We are the 99%” as a reference to the idea that they represent the majority. But, is that what is really motivating the protestors.

Yet, at the Wall Street occupy protest, the first and most publicized of the occupy protests, the hundreds of protestors include children of the 1 percent elite of society. Many of these individuals live in the most expensive neighbourhoods of New York City and go to elite schools where their parents pay as much as $200,000 for their attendance. So why are these individuals claiming to be among the 99 percent and protesting against themselves?

On May 30^th, 2011 the Spanish Indignants movement, which was inspired by the Arab Spring mad a call for a worldwide protest on October 15^th. The Occupy Wall Street protests began in September 2011. Occupy events for October 15 started in 951 cities within 82 countries.

According to government and police officials, all the protestors need is to express themselves. Really, with all the internet channels, such as YouTube, facebook, twitter, and MySpace there are plenty of ways for these individuals to express themselves. So what can be motivating the children of the rich, along with the rest of the masses to protest? What is it that these individuals are thinking after being taught about economics, demographics and world finances that is driving them to participate in a revolution?

Throughout history revolutions have happened not only when the masses were starving, but also when the children of the ruling class themselves wanted change. They would not want change unless they felt that their very own future is at stake and/or they could not live up to the success of their parents. If you can’t compete then redefine the rules so that your success is measured differently. Many of the children of the rich, though well educated and have lots of money are having trouble finding a ‘decent’ job. A decent job in their eyes is measured differently than that of the average working class member who is happy just to pay the mortgage, put something aside for retirement and take the occasional vacation. For the rich, it isn’t enough to have money because anyone can be born into money. They also desire the opportunity to show that they are useful.

Then there are the majority of the protestors, individuals who may not have the best education or the highly sought after skills by high paying corporations. Though many of these individuals are far more intelligent and have more modern skills than their corporate counterparts, they are not part of the corporate system. They see others they consider to be less intelligent and capable than themselves getting paid six-figure incomes and driving exotic cars. They struggle to understand where the system is failing that it is allowing this to happen.

Unlike many revolutions of the past, these protestors are well-educated, informed, connected and have lots of time on their hands and access to resources. Unless one of those factors changes, why would they stop protesting?

Interestingly, national governments of countries, such as the United States for several years have been investing heavily in prisons. Many theorists have insisted that they are meant to imprison the revolutionaries that will protest the establishment. If this is the case, the officials are not taking action to arrest the protestors in mass.  For the most part, the officials are letting the protestors “express themselves”. However, it is quite possibly that at one point when the protestors realize that they still can’t get jobs and that others have what they want, they may get more violent and destructive.

This has already happened in Rome this week when protestors caused $1.5 million in destruction to property and cars. With these types of movements it is common for one development to spread to the rest of the locations. The potential exists for the protests in other cities to become destructive. Unless the protestors get the jobs they want and believe that they have a future that at least comes close to that of their parents then it may only be a matter of time before those prisons built in the last few years become handy.