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The Occupy Wall Street Movement vs. The UK Riots

by Tash Jones

ENGLAND What started off as a mini-attempt of chivalry in Tottenham escalated into a full-UK bombardment, The riots grew overnight, despite the News footage and Police being less on show than a builders bum who regularly bends over. Until the third and fourth day of the devilish antics were upon us, you could have easily – had you been a certain type of citizen – ignored all that was going on under our noses in our nation. Said person: ignorant. Unfortunately by the time Monday and Tuesday arrived (Riots started on Saturday), we were plagued and pummeled by conspiracy theories that this shop was going to be destroyed, this area being dismantled and this ‘person’ (who was tweeting with grammar as appalling as a dogs, was somehow going to be the one harmful sourcein this whole riot because they used the phrase ‘let’s riot’). I’m not sure if it’s me beingcynical but I find it incredibly dubious myself, and for the police to believe that ‘one’ person was behind these riots.

Cyber Candy, Birmingham, England, after the riots.

To summarise, a man was allegedly shot by a policeman after shooting him, proof had only found that the victim was shot, and secondly this proceeded the tuition fees protest.

Here’s a one sided view to the tuition fees protest: HERE.

The riots over here escalated into violence, and I’ve used this as a comparison to the Occupy the Wall Street Movements. The British riots were largely due to the fact that people are working for small wages, ethnic minorities who have not had a stable upbringing, who are in gangs and therefore uneducated so do not make it onto higher education because they’ve been distracted and not encouraged or given self-belief at a young age, and according to the government turn to knives and violence. There are some statistics behind that but that it is a tad far-fetched to assume.

Double-decker bus, burning in thhe 2011 riots, England.

On the other side of the Ocean, Wall Street, which refers to the money guzzlers of New York, or perhaps those more fortunate than you and I, is currently home to the latest string of tabloid news stories. It seems that over in America the protests are surrounding private establishments and are about the taxes if you had to pin-point an idea, though are most likely about the economic system as a whole.. Obviously, a fuss is kicked up stating that the rich should pay more, which seems fair. The sources that I’m currently engulfed in are saying it’s not a ‘Tea Party, it is instead a ‘mobocracy’. The same news broadcasters who have denied coverage of the event for days, roughly 12 days it took for any real mainstream overload to reach us.

Capitalism: A love Story, a film by Michael Moore, is now jumping from its hind legs. Moore, in an interview with The Vancouver Sun, has summed up the difference between the News Coverage and the truth, the people who aren’t supporting the protests to those who are etc.

He suggested that those at the top ‘don’t understand something that happens when it’s not happening within the system’. They feel like protestors are just causing a raucous and do not know ‘what they really want’. But according to Moore, the group [those involved in the movement] are ‘very much in touch with the majority of Americans.

The trouble with people is they are entirely one-sided. Either completely pro-the riots and lack understanding of people who sit at home and watch the news – and claim them as the ones responsible, even though they’ve probably lived a similar life to you, except they’ve managed to secure a relatively-well paid job and therefore have health insurance. Or, on the other hand there are those who oppose it and label people with an array of taboo words who get involved. In my analysis, there doesn’t appear to be a difference between the way the papers and general public perceive the riots on either side of the Atlantic. However, the actual – physical location of these movements seemed better placed in America.

On October 15th we will be Occupying the London Stock Exchange. At the same time thousands continue to occupy Wall Street and hundreds of cities from Paris and Madrid to Buenos Aires and Caracas are staging actions and occupations together for a global day of action.

For more information: occupylondon.org.uk/

2011 London rioters attempting to loot.
Day 14, Occupy Wall Street, 9-30-11.
British firemen containing fire at Tottenham riots.
British firemen containing fire at Tottenham riots.
Occupy Wall Street crowd, 2011.

Pictures obtained via Wikipedia.org.

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