Occupy Wall Street Protesters: Political Parties Support 'Top Percent’
The “Occupy Wall Street” protests, which began last month, have grown into a national movement that can be found in cities across the country.
Although the protests do not have an official leader, hundreds of protesters are taking a stand against corporate greed and increasing inequality in America.
The Christian Post went to Lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park to ask protestors what they hope to achieve from the movement, and to discover whether protesters believed either political party could be influential in bringing about the change they are hoping for.
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Channing Creager told CP the movement disassociated itself with any political party – and that it was “grassroots.”
“I’d say in general we feel that both parties do not represent the people, they represent only the top percent of Americans and corporations that are giving them money,” Creager responded when asked if the Democrats or Republicans represented the movement’s interests.
Daniel Molina, another protestor, complained of the lack of change the country has seen since Barack Obama has taken his seat in the oval office.
“When Obama came to the presidency it was going to be all about change, but the same policies keep going on and on,” Molina, an unemployed college graduate with a degree in business management, told CP.
Molina said that even if he finds a job it would not pay him what he deserves. Or he added, it will likely be a low paying job, not enabling him to support himself and cover all of his bills.
This is a common sentiment among young educated and qualified protest supporters that are forced to take jobs that barely cover their basic necessities.
He said, “We live to work, and we work to live” and added that “politics cannot solve the problem, only the people can solve the problem.”
Some analysts have called “Occupy Wall Street” the “liberal flip side to the tea party movement,” linking the movement to the Democratic Party. However, those connections seem to be misleading, as most protestors are disillusioned with the entire political system.
Another anonymous protestor told CP, “I think the current parities will not be able to make any change in their current state until we get campaign finance reform truly done and we get lobbying and money out of government.”
The only potential political candidate that was mentioned by the protestors as a possible agent of change was Ron Paul.
Nevertheless, the general sentiment among the “Occupy Wall Street” protesters was that politicians on both sides are “out of touch” with the needs of American citizens and the growing income disparity across the country.
