Occupy Washington DC protesters speak out

By our reporter

22 October 2011

Nearly 1,000 protesters converged on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on Saturday, October 15.

People attending an Al Sharpton speech at the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial mixed with the protestors in the Occupy DC movement. Conflicting messages were evident, such as pro-Obama posters and anti-Obama posters appearing side by side. Though seemingly a pro-Democrat rally due to the organizational domination by the trade unions and representatives of the Democratic Party, few of the participants sought to defend the Obama administration.

Typical was Joe from Philadelphia. While saying he “wasn’t sure people could jump right to socialism from capitalism,” he also added: “I believe the working class is the strongest force on the planet, and we need to show it at the voting polls. I’ll admit there are no real choices as far as decent candidates go, however; that’s the reason why nobody bothers to vote much now.”

”Those who make the wealth in society should have the biggest say in deciding how it is distributed, and ultimately, how society is run,” Joe said.

“Doing what you guys are doing out here is exactly how you begin to build a socialist movement and a party of the working class.”

Tracy

Tracy, from North Carolina, said: “We need socialists in this movement. A lot of the people involved in this movement might mean well, but they are a little bit intellectually rough, I would say.”

“I’m amazed that in four weeks these protests could emerge as potentially the single most powerful political force on the planet. We’re not only assembling people sympathetic to leftist politics, but also Republican supporters as well, who feel they identify as part of the 99 percent and are opposed to the power Wall Street has over our political process.”

“I absolutely think that us 99 percenters have something that we can appeal to people on that the two big business parties can’t.”

Miles added: “Corporations being regarded as ‘free’ as a person is absolutely damaging to society. What a single person decides to do is far less consequential than what a major corporation does, which can decide to pay its workers nothing, can wreck society.

“I’m against men getting paid $3,000 an hour. For what? What do they produce? The greatest recession in history?

“When it comes to our leaders, and those getting in the way of the needs of society, if a situation like the French Revolution is necessary, then so be it.”