Will the Occupy Wall Street movement be a force to be reckoned with in May? Or will it just be a flop? There has been plenty of buzz about an "uprising" planned, from protests planned on May 1st and even more planned during the NATO Summit in Chicago, planned for May 19-21. "Protesters are also expected through groups like Occupy Chicago, hacking group Anonymous, and the Coalition Against NATO/G8 War & Poverty Agenda (CANG8)," according to theepochtimes, which also discusses the various security measures being put in place, in the case of violence.
International Workers' Day (May Day) celebrates the "international labour movement and left-wing movements" and is the focus of the "General Strike" which encourages the 99% to participate in a day of "no work, no school, no sales and no buying."
Initially, the G-8 Summit was also planned in Chicago in May, but the president has unexpectedly and historically moved the meeting to Camp David, the reason for the abrupt change is to "allow for more intimate discussions among the G-8 leaders." The stated purpose for moving the G-8 Summit does not ring true, as riots and violence have accompanied this event for years. The G-8 Summit move has been declared a victory for the OWS movement, with one OWS protester saying that the move is "a victory for our side." If history is any indication, the protests will turn violent, and Chicago is actually not exactly the most stable of cities as it is.
The OWS home page encourages the so-called 99% to take the day off for "economic justice." The site declares, "This year, as we gather as a unified front for economic justice in a Day Without the 99%, they are leading the struggle to UNIONIZE, LEGALIZE, and ORGANIZE." The site also promises "something extraordinary: The first truly nationwide General Strike in U.S. history." It states that "For the first time, workers, students, immigrants, and the unemployed from over 115 U.S. cities will stand together for economic justice."
Some of the Plans for May 1st
Much chaos affecting the real 99% is planned for May 1<sup>st</sup>, the blocking of tunnels/bridges in New York, for example. From the OWS home page, they plan to "block one or more Manhattan-bound bridges or tunnels to protest the shameful opulence of the 1%." Do the OWS protesters ever buy lottery tickets? If so, what would they do with the winnings?
Occupy San Francisco plans to "shut down all modes of transportation from Marin to San Francisco," as reported by CNS News. The May Day Flier from the Golden Gate Labor Coalition calls for a protest next to the bridge that insists the Bridge District also: "don't reduce vested retiree benefits," "don't reduce current employees' benefits" and "don't reward non-union employees with raises while breaking promises to union workers."
The American Thinker speculates, "if Occupy shuts everything down how does a protester get into town?"
One site, "Occupy May 1st" promises,
"60 cities across the nation have called for a People's General Strike, and pledged to walk out of schools, call in sick to work, and disrupt the financial system by refusing to participate in it for one day - May 1st, 2012. Despite this, the mainstream media has restated its allegiance with the 1% by its silence and deliberate negligence in covering what promises to be a day of solidarity and unity between all those who have had enough of suffering injustice and inequality at the hands of the rich."
Interestingly, the OWS movement is highly critical of what they see to be a lack of media coverage for their movement, as many OWS organizers relentlessly pursue media outlets to report on their activities and train their members to do the same.
University Support
Many professors and Universities have been very supportive of the movement, teaching classes on the Occupy movement and even conducting "fieldwork" at Occupy Rallies. Several Socialist professors were recently invited to an Occupy Conference in Tehran, where they were interviewed for Iranian News Outlet, PressTV. The name of the story, "Experts: Occupy Wall Street likely to topple US administration."
One University in Massachusetts is having a day long "teach-in" about OWS, with one of the topics being "May Day and Occupy." The site explains the origins of the movement, as it "was initiated by the Canadian activist group Adbusters with the objective of expressing deep-rooted dissatisfaction amongst Americans with the way the country has been run and the resulting debt and economic hardship inflicted on ordinary people." Currently, Adbusters seems to be highly critical of another Occupyesque movement, the 99% Spring.
Will the protests be a peaceful gathering of like-minded people, rallying against the so-called 1%? Or will there be chaos and violence in the streets? Time will tell.
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