Editor’s note: This article was not written specifically about Eastern students or Eastern affiliates who have been involved with Occupy Philly and other such protests.
Almost daily, the news reports dozens of instances of tear gas in Oakland, police arresting protestors in Atlanta, and signage across the world. What on earth is the Occupy Wall Street movement about? Why are its protests making headline news?
First off, tear gas is never a good sign when protesting. It sure gives the protest a bad name. These protestors in Oakland, California, were so out-of-control in their defiance of authority that the police had no choice but to arrest them.
Watching the news reports on CNN, it is clear to me that these people have gone from protesting to rage, all in a matter of weeks. Those who think the Tea Party movement is violent have not seen the violence erupting in Oakland. The Tea Party is not even close to being this violent. We do have a couple of kooks in the movement, but thankfully these kooks are tame by comparison to these Occupy Wall Street people.
According to an article written by John Nolte of Big Journalism, there have been a reported 167 incidents, including rape, arson and throwing garbage at police. This number is updated every day, and I am sure there will be more. Is that not sad? The Tea Party never did anything like this. We did not pee on police cars, get an 11-year-old drunk or have the dog chew on the American flag. These protests are completely and utterly out of control. There have been even reports of a woman gang-raped in Glasgow, England.
I have a question for the Occupy Wall Street protestors: Do you have any sense of decency?
True, Obama just compared the Occupy movement to the Tea Party, but that was a total lie. At least we obeyed the police when they told us to move. But, no, you people think it is okay to pee on police cars. What is wrong with you? Why can you not protest in peace? I know we have the First Amendment, but you are taking it way too far.
The only reason the Occupy Movement is making headlines is because people are doing things that are out of control. If they are so anti-American and anti-capitalism, why not move to Europe? We are an exceptional country. If you do not like capitalism, there are places all over the world that don’t have that. Go there.
Occupy Wall Street is a waste of time and, frankly, out of control. There is no reason for protestors to behave as they are. It is time to act maturely and protest in peace.