Occupy protests examined by University community

Occupy Wall Street. Occupy London. Occupy Miami.

What started in New York is developing into a social outcry urging political attention and growing into a global movement.

Miami is the latest city to acquire protesters participating in the “search for sanity in our political and economic system,” which is the movement’s goal.

The first of the planned protests took place on Oct. 15 at the Torch of Friendship in Downtown Miami. Thousands of demonstrators then marched to the Miami-Dade County Government Center chanting “Who are we? The 99 percent.” They have since pitched tents there, denoting their stay.

Perceptions vary as to the specific goals of the movement, though participants share a common frustration for the corporate and government processes, or lack thereof.

Nearing its fourth week, Occupy Wall Street began with hundreds of protesters assembling in New York’s Zuccotti Park; now dubbed Liberty Plaza, it has housed tens of thousands of supporters. Residents of many major cities like Boston, Los Angeles, Portland and Chicago have identified with the demonstration and subsequently spawned their own protests.

“[Occupy Movements are] in most of the major cities and obviously Miami is a major city,” said Kevin A. Hill, associate professor of political science when asked what might have initiated Occupy Miami. He added the struggle the Miami movement might face is similar to that of the other Occupy movements: cohesiveness.

“They don’t seem to have any particular agenda, they’re going to have 500 different views” said Hill. Because the New York protests formed initially as a result of the country’s economic deficit debates, their only purpose was exhibiting outrage.

The leaderless movement has released a declaration itemizing a list of grievances from corporate donations of large sums to politicians responsible for regulation, to employees’ stripped rights and to negotiate better pay.

Occupy Miami activist Muhammed Malik said to Student Media that their unique hardships include “FCAT bureaucracy, student loans, international outsourcing for profit and foreclosure laws.”

University students Arianna Aguilar and Alfredo Quintana are also catching on, starting a Facebook page calling for fellow students to join the group and possibly an Occupy FIU in the near future.

Student Media emailed Aguilar and Quintana for comment but received no reply as of press time.

The International Socialist Organization has been holding a series of “Socialism 101” forums to inform supporters of what could come of the movements. Professors from various departments have also been acknowledging the demonstrations’ impact both at the University and around the country.

With so many spin-off movements rising globally in 1,400 cities and now on college campuses, the Occupy movement is becoming appealing to recent graduates who are unemployed and drowning in loan debt.

The effects of these local movements cannot be measured because they are sequentially moving and developing with the demands of its participants; they have yet to hone in on a clear demand or solution.

Critics of the national protests have compared it to other political extreme organizations.

“The protests are an attempt at a Democratic Tea Party,” said Rafael Rivera of the FIU College Republicans.

Rivera and Hill worry the Occupy events will accomplish nothing more than public violence.

“Democrats don’t want to get to close to the groups because if things get out of control or cops overreact, most people won’t blame the cops they’ll blame the protesters,” Hill said. “That’s what I would worry about in a place like Miami.”

While Hill believes Miami is evenly divided politically between Republicans and Democrats, he said Republicans may try to belittle the protesters.

“Some of the Republican candidates can score political points by saying that these protesters are nothing more than ‘hippies,’” Hill said.