Forum Post: 99% Lesson #1 - who are they? & HOW to get their message across clearly:

Part 1: Who are They ?
A lot of people say that they’re down there just to Complain, and that they’re freeloading.. but they don’t understand, its not just a protest.. its the Ideal Democracy.. its not necessarily an ideal community, but its the ideal form of a community. we should follow their lead all across the world. yes their whole Day of action statement sounded a little bit pretentious, but i think they deserve some credit... a group that still isn't identified, has started a global uprising... that doesn't happen everyday.. although you may not agree with everything they say or do... there's still room for consideration..

i honestly don't understand how someone could question their reasons for protesting..

how would you like it if there were two groups of people with one cake, one group got 2/3rds of the cake.. the other group was left fighting over the 1/3rd that was left, then on top of that, they have to each give half of their piece to the people that have most of the cake already.

i dont think they're complaining.. they're just finally standing up for ourselves and saying "Hey, whats going on here?!" now of course someone with that amount of power wont give it up that easy... but as john Locke said... Majority Rules. and guess what? there's only 1 of them... and 99 of us. we just have to make people realize... they're the 99% too. because at the end of the day, if all goes wrong, guess who's vacationing in the new resort they just built over our homes? NOT YOU. so stop being emotional, and start being logical. we CAN win this. Pessimists who go around saying we're hippies and communists, probably don't know the real facts and couldn't recite them to me if they had them in hand.

part 2 quote from protestor;

"Who gets credit is really a minor issue as you say. The important thing that we all have to focus on is what the 1% is doing to us and our planet. As one of the 99%, I think this world has to change before the powers that be realize their totalitarian ambitions - if things are let go unchecked, who knows where we'll be in 30 years - I'd rather not find out.

For example, what would their agenda be regarding climate change - that we eventually end up living a frugal existence (when it would probably be too late anyway) - that we're eventually not allowed have cars etc (by 2050?) - after all, the powers that be are quick to blame the ordinary people when it comes to climate change - would any of the above be of any surprise? - after all, the ordinary people are being made shoulder the burden created by the economic crisis that in turn was created by bankers and speculators.

Ordinary people have had enough austerity - now it's high time that the industry and the wealthy made amends - we, the 99% do not owe the 1% a living. The 1% are global social welfare spongers (through bank bail outs, unguaranteed bond payments, tax breaks etc)!

Rise New York!"

Analysis & Criticism:

i like his statement... but there's a minor problem with his reasoning... and its not just him, MANY people make this mistake when protesting for a certain cause. there's too many statistics. when you want to get your point across. you should make people realize the truth, but avoid being overly specific unless the moment calls for it..

this response gave a reason why we are protesting yes, but then someone that reads this would say " wait, i though they were protesting against (whatever they heard)... these people obviously don't know what they're fighting for" when in reality, we honestly DO have a common goal, but its being voiced in way too many different ways. which can be confusing. that's a major flaw on our part, because how can we recruit supporters, if they have no idea what we are supporting....

and then after a while, it seems like we have no clear reason to be protesting...

this is what we need to do, Create a very general list of things that need to be done to improve this country. THEN, go into specifics. we cant work this backwards, because that's when the undecided get confused, and decide that being against OWS is easier then being Pro- OWS. because they think theres way too much issues that they'd have to back up if they ever had to defend the protest.. when in reality, i could count them on one hand.

for people that already know whats going on like me and you, they could read his statement and actually understand its purpose. but for the ones we're trying to convince, it may not be as obvious.

don't get me wrong. he's absolutely right, but i think keeping things as general as possible, then working down to the specifics when questioned, is way easier and less confusing.