Occupy Wall Street is a movement in response to a system of society where wealth is concentrated in the hands of the few.

Yet its methods are uncommon. Peter Marcuse offers the following explanation:

“It makes 4 points:

1.       Occupy Wall Street doesn’t make specific demands. Understandably. There is a difference between immediate demands and claims of rights, and the Occupy movement is about targeting claims of rights.

2.       This is not only for strategic reasons – it’s not their role – but also on principle; its supporters don’t want to get into the game, they want to change its unfair rules.

3.       They do not seek consensus but understand the inevitably of conflict. They wish to stand with the 99% and recognize that this means losses for the 1%,  but not losses that would seriously impinge on their needs.

4.       The space they have chosen to organize their protest is not classic public space, but space in the heart of the territory in which the activities and forces they target operate. It is both a physically and a symbolically well-chosen space for their purpose.”

Peter further expands on these points in the following blog article, where he also details his personal experience of Occupy Wall Street’s Oct 5th march:

Peter Marcuse’s Blog – Occupy WallStreet – For What? For Whom? Where? Why?

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