We've all watched as the Occupy movement has taken over not only the USA, but other parts of the world as well. Today, on October 15th, people from all over the globe marched in a solidarity movement to speak out against corruption, corporate power, and even budget cuts. People in Australia, Germany,Italy,Japan, and many other countries took to the streets to speak their minds and let the world know that they are the 99%. The Occupation, quite simply, has gone global.
Today, Austin marched in what was a surprisingly peaceful manner. Maybe it's all part of 'keeping Austin weird', but there was not a single issue with anyone acting out against police or attempting to turn the rally into something other than a peaceful protest. Organizers encouraged a 'police neutral' approach - basically whether you love them or hate them, you should remain neutral to police presence at all times. This worked well. The police chief even got up on a podium and thanked the Austin crowd for protesting in a manner that was respectful and peaceful. And protesters were grateful as well that the police did not crack down in Austin in the way they have in New York, Denver, and other cities. Though police lined the streets all the way from City Hall to the Capitol building, they seemed to be present to just ensure over all peace - not only from protesters, but also from pedestrians and people driving their cars downtown.
Slogans ranged from "You bailed them out and sold us out!" and "We are the 99%" to "Occupy this street, occupy Austin!", and these were all shouted vigorously during the march. A popular protest item has been the mask that most of us would recognize from the film "V for Vendetta" and which in this last year has come to be associated heavily with the resistance group called "Anonymous".
It's hard to say exactly what will ultimately be accomplished through these global protests. Perhaps one thing which the Occupy Austin movement should be most concerned with is the issue of straying too far from the point. It becomes redundant when speech makers break away from the original goals of the protest to also attempt to turn the rallies into anti-war movements. The last anti-war protest I went to was sparsely populated and not well organized - only partial proof of how this topic has been beaten past the point of no return in the last five years. It's not that Austin doesn't care about the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, it's more that it doesn't tie quite so neatly in with the concept of protesting corporations getting richer while average Americans get poorer.
Other than that, it is a very exciting to be able to witness these movements. History is in the making and many individuals are choosing to become active participants of this.
