DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

EXECUTIVE MEMORANDUM

Subject (Topic Question): Does the concept of Occupy Wall Street enable others to find their voice?

From: Brandon Inman, Priya Sohi

 

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND

            The Occupy Wall Street Movement began on September 17th, 2011 in Zuccoti Park when Kalle Lasn and Micah White, part of a Canadian group and a magazine known as Adbusters, put out a call for protest. Occupy Wall Street is a leaderless resistance movement consisting of all different races, genders, and political affiliations. These protestors make up the 99% that are fighting against the greed and corruption of the richest 1% of people. The movement was inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tanzania, which used the tactic now known as ‘Arab Spring.’ Arab Spring began on December 18th, 2010, and is a revolutionary wave of civil wars, demonstrations, and protests, which utilize nonviolence and maximize safety of participants.

      

KEY POINTS

#1: Establishment of a common vision allows people to band together for a cause. – Inspired a Shared Vision

          The one thing everyone has in common is that they are the 99% that want to rid the corruption and greed of the rich 1%. The issues the 99% wish to tackle are: corporate influence, corporate personhood, student debt, wrongful foreclosures, “too big to fail banks,” healthcare, living wage, and 99% budget cuts.


#2: A group cannot, not be heard. – Challenge the Process

          One voice can easily be ignored, but when many voices join together against something it is hard to look the other way. Move our Money is a direct result of the occupy movement and allowed people to challenge big bank interest. A coalition of communities bound together to move money from big banks to federal credit unions in an attempt to restructure Wall Street and help the American families. The overall hope is serve the many rather than the few.


#3: Allows people to identify with something greater than themselves that they value. – Servant Leadership (Building Community)

          When a person establishes their values, they begin to identify with organizations or other people who share those values. When a group joins together in an attempt to protect those values they build a community that fights for something greater than themselves. Occupy Our Homes was an initiative established to prevent eviction and foreclosures defending the human right to decent, affordable housing. Occupy Our Homes also sought to house the homeless in foreclosed homes because having a roof over your head is a human right and everyone deserves a place to call home.

 

#4: Others are strengthened to feel capable and powerful. – Enable Others to Act

          Due to the initial protest at Zucotti Park, people became enlightened by the concept of Occupy Wall Street. Many witnessed the change that can come from speaking out and ultimately a revolution was sparked. The “Occupy Movement” spread to over 100 cities in the United States and action has been taken in over 1,500 cities globally.

 

CHALLENGES TO OVERCOME

            The challenges that need to be overcome are how to avoid disturbing the peace, and establishing a coherent vision. If a group is occupying together without establishing which issue they are protesting against at that time, the protest can very easily fall apart. Also, when occupying a space, protestors need to be mindful to not affect the lives of the 99% that may have their businesses in the vicinity, but more so focus on how their actions will impact the lives of the 1%. Making life harder for the 99% defeats the purpose of the overall mission of the occupy movement.

 

ANALYSIS

            The question addressed is ‘Does the concept of Occupy Wall Street enable others to find their voice?’ To put it simply, the answer is “YES!’ The Occupy Movement has spread not only throughout the country but throughout the world. The voices that spoke up ultimately established amazing initiatives like ‘Occupy our Homes’ and “Move our Money.” Notice that the key word here is “OUR.”  Encompassing the masses in the mission is what provides strength and motivation that enables others to speak up and act. There is always the criticism that the protesters are uncooperative or incapable of compromise, but in the big picture not settling is what allows for small gains to be reached, and small gains can accumulate to be a big win.

 

SOURCES

"About." Occupy Wall Street. Occupywallst, n.d. Web. 14 Apr 2013. <http://occupywallst.org/about/>.

"About Move Our Money USA." Move Our Money. Richir Outreach, 09 Mar 2013. Web. 14 Apr 2013. <http://www.moveourmoneyusa.org/about>.

"Background." occupyourhomes.org. occupyourhomes.org, n.d. Web. 14 Apr 2013. <http://occupyourhomes.org/about/>.

"Learn About Occupy." occupytogether. Creative Commons, n.d. Web. 16 Apr 2013. <http://www.occupytogether.org/aboutoccupy/>.

Northouse, P. Leadership: Theory and practice. 6. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publishing, 2012. Print.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Reflecting on the Case

 

During the course of learning about Occupy Wall Street and about the Occupy Movement, I learned that the voice of many or the group is always greater and more powerful than that of a single individual. Throughout the occupy movements across the globe, all had one thing in common and that was that they all had people fighting together for one common goal. Each movement  was for a different cause but every message was heard. 

This changes my perspectives on leadership in the sense that in the occupy idealology, there are no direct leaders because everyone is equal and everyone is a leader. This goes against the typical teaching of leadership which mostly involve either one or two people. After doing much research I found that my personal choices about leadership are more pro-active then a passive picketing or arab spring type. I find these ways to lead or accomplish goals not as efficient as the other ways of leadership that I have learned. 

 

 

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.