Down at the Occupation

Photo by Carwil Bjork-JamesI had a chance to drop in on the Occupy Wall Street protests yesterday. A large group of people are encamped in the park at One Liberty Plaza, just blocks from the Wall Street Stock Exchange. I must have seen over a thousand people there of different ages and ethnicities. The protesters seemed to represent a cross section of America and the growing frustration of many Americans with the uncontrolled excesses of financial institutions and their political agents in Congress.

As I stood talking to an older lady about the protests, a pizza man showed up carrying about ten large pies. Apparently, an anonymous donor had called in a pizza delivery for the protesters. The occupiers lined up at a row of tables and were served the hot slices directly from the boxes. Other donated food items covered the tables: plastic boxes of salad, fruits, vegetables, canned goods, you name it.... all of it private donations. Clearly, the occupiers have real popular support from their fellow New Yorkers.

Now, the New York Times is reporting that similar occupations are cropping up across the country. We have occupations beginning in Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, and smaller towns and cities throughout America. Most of the actions, just as in the Middle Eastern rebellions, are being organized and coordinated over Facebook and Twitter. We may be witnessing an American version of the Arab Spring....