WTF? by Tim O'Reilly

Author:Tim O'Reilly
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2017-08-28T04:00:00+00:00

11

OUR SKYNET MOMENT

ON SEPTEMBER 17, 2011, FED UP WITH GOVERNMENT BAILOUTS that had saved the banks despite the fact that they had brought the world to the brink of financial ruin with a toxic stew of complex derivatives based on aggressively marketed home mortgages, fed up that the banks had then foreclosed on the ordinary people who’d bought homes financed with those mortgages, fed up with crushing student loan debt, fed up with the cost of healthcare they couldn’t afford, fed up with wages that weren’t enough to live on, a group of protesters camped out in Zuccotti Park, a few blocks from Wall Street. Their movement, labeled with the Twitter hashtag #OccupyWallStreet or simply #Occupy, spread worldwide. By early October, Occupy protests had taken place in more than 951 cities, across 82 countries. Many of them were ongoing, with protesters camping out for months, until forcibly removed.

Two days after the protests began, I spent the afternoon at Zuccotti Park, studying the thousands of cardboard signs spread over the ground and surrounding buildings, each telling the story of a person or family failed by the current economy. I talked with the protesters to hear their stories firsthand; I participated in the “people’s microphone,” the clever technique used to get around the ban on amplified sound. Every speaker addressing the crowd paused at the end of each phrase, giving those nearby time to repeat it aloud, with the volume amplified by many voices so that those farther away could hear.

The rallying cry of the movement was “We are the 99%,” a slogan coined by two online activists to highlight the realization, which had recently penetrated the popular consciousness, that 1% of the US population now earned 25% of the national income and owned 40% of its wealth. They began a campaign on Tumblr, a short-form blogging site with hundreds of millions of users. They asked people to post pictures of themselves holding a sign describing their economic situation, the phrase, “I am the 99%,” and a pointer to the occupywallstreet.org site.

The messages were powerful and personal:

“My parents put themselves into debt so I could get a fancy degree. It cost over $100 grand, and I have no job prospects. I am the 99%.”

“I have a master’s degree, and I am a teacher, yet I can barely afford to feed my child because my husband lost his job due to missing too much work being hospitalized with a chronic illness. His meds alone are more than I make in a month. I am the 99%.”

“I have a master’s degree & a full time job in my field—and I have started SELLING MY BODY to pay off my debt. I am the 99%.”

“Single mom, grad student, unemployed, and I paid more tax last year than GE. I am the 99%.”

“I have not seen a dentist or doctor in over 6 years. I have long term injuries that I cannot afford the care for. Some days, I can barely walk. I am the 99%.”

“Single mom.

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