Occupy New Haven: A Citizen Report

The below is opinion/commentary written by a Middletown resident and is the work of the author, not the Eye writer who posted it. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Middletown Eye or any of the Eye's contributing writers. The reason for posting this in the Eye is to provide readers insight into the experience of being involved in the Occupy movement in Connecticut from the perspective of a Middletown resident.

written by Arun Ranganathan

Governing Under the Influence

On November 5th, I decided to go down to the New Haven Green to check out the Occupy Wall Street protest I had been seeing online and in the news recently. There was a brief Facebook post I read on Jimmy Jive’s page, a local Hip Hop artist and owner of Big Bar radio that said the occupiers were going to march against politicians “Governing Under the Influence,” of the 1% and they, the 99%, invited all citizens to join the march.

As I drove around Chapel Street looking for the “protest” I noticed almost immediately on the far corner of the green there was a tent city erected consisting of about fifty or sixty tents. I parked and walked over and heard the faint drums, horns and distant cries “we are the 99 percent!” I spotted a group of people walking and as they passed by I curiously read the hand painted signs on cardboard that had a wide range of issues on them. As the line reached the end, I quickly joined, walked silently, listened and observed. I felt the intensity and the mixed emotions, which ranged from compassionate anger to frustrated citizens.

It was then that I ran into ran into Tommy Doomsday, a local artist I recognized from a few shows I did. He was happy to see me and I him. As I began to walk with him he told me In the midst of our brief conversation he had been out there since the beginning, almost a month and he wandered off muttering and cursing at his laptop. As he walked away I saw a sign hanging from his back that I think said “Streaming live!” I followed the marchers to the center of the tent city where a podium was erected with the words “soapbox” painted on it. A young man stepped up confidently and said “Mic Check,” the crowd echoed his words. He made a brief speech about the constitution, argued his point about big business influencing politicians, ended with “the truth will not be silenced” and said, “the Soap Box is now open!”

As I listened to everyone walk up to the podium and speak, I could hear how relieved people were that anybody was listening to them at all. The speakers ranged from a homeless man who read a piece called “The Shadows,” the shadows being the 1% hanging over him as he scrounged for a meal, to a former Wall Street banker who was extremely concerned where our country was heading economically and politically. There were Yale students who gave up their dorms to camp out on the green and there were unemployed artists and concerned citizens who clearly felt they had nowhere else to turn to let their voices be heard.

The assembly consisted of a small group of about one hundred people who felt overwhelmed by both local and federal government policies. I quickly realized they represented the 99% I have heard about. They all had a wide range of grievances toward a wide range of issues on just about every level and some people were just there to support and looked just as confused as I was. Some people were upset about being forced out of their homes because they lost their jobs while corporations got bailouts. Other grievances reminded me of Michael Moore’s documentary film Sicko, citizens having to pay huge medical bills that far exceed their incomes and insurance companies' lack of coverage. Other people had issues with Monsanto and the control they have over the U.S. agricultural system and the laws that are supposed to be set up to protect citizens' and animal rights but are being warped by lobbyist. A few people felt that wars overseas were initiated by the big oil company’s influence over our politicians to unjustifiably use the military to stabilize the cost and flow of oil into the US. Some people brought up “The Personhood Act,” the failing education system and others warned the occupiers that rumors were circulating that after election Tuesday the town planned on evicting them.

There were young people, old people, middle aged people, Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, rich, poor, employed, unemployed, college students and professors who all stood in solidarity for what to me felt like an overwhelming emotion of simply being fed up. One thing I was clear about was they have lost faith in the current government and were assembling to gather enough citizens to take back a government that has been taken over by CEOs. These occupiers felt that our political system is “Governed Under the Influence” of big businesses (1%), which favor huge profits over serving the people (99%). That much was clear to me! Out of the many objectives people had the one goal they shared was that big businesses control society to such an extent that American citizens believe politicians have failed to represent our best interest even at the most basic level. I realized the 99% consisted of all American citizens, not just working class but middle and even some wealthy individuals that were fed up, concerned and cared about the state of our country. I learned the 1% were the extremely wealthy Americans and American business owners that had taken over our elected politicians using lobbyist and huge campaign contributions to feed their self interests at the expense of everyone else the 99%. I learned that the 99% felt they had lost their voice in government so they assembled peacefully in New Haven and simply asked that they be heard.

With that said I urge you to try going down to the next event on November 15th and listen to these citizens speak for yourself. You might step up to the soap box and add yet another issue to the long list of things but one things for sure, you will be heard and you will be respected!

Arun Ranganathan
http://www.occupynewhaven.org/