Yes you can, you just have to let the municipal authorities know in advance and you can’t permanently annex public spaces or block traffic because you feel like it. The “right to protest” isn’t “the right to do whatever you like and call it a protest.”

Too right! Although considering 2 million people marched through Madrid at the weekend in protest against austerity and we didn’t hear a thing about it from anyone, I don’t know…

And to all the people suffering from a serious case of denial “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality” – Dante. Hell might need an extension.

Well said Derek

Derek, I agree with your points. But what a lot of people don’t get is these occupy wall street people in at least the US are mostly a bunch of morons who don’t even understand what they are protesting. They were breaking into shops (stealing), houses, and harassing fast food employees for free food. All the small businesses around that area were complaining last year that their businesses were being vandalized and business were deteriorating because of the occupiers. I think most people understand the corruption but the occupy movement didn’t make any difference. They have to many idiots participating that turned people off the movement; the actual intent/reason behind the movement does make sense. It just was not controlled properly and was a great situation to exploit. The housing crisis and bailouts is all the because of corporate criminals; that is undeniable.

Kevin, every movement like this attracts a few idiots but thats all it was, a minute few. Don’t stereotype the majority because of the few, thats playing straight into the hands of the media and its the same when they report on so called crimes around the occupations. To say it made no difference, you couldn’t be further from the truth, it engraved itself in the worlds consciousness and forced the media to tackle issues they don’t want to, anyway movements take years with lots of highs and lows but people expect instant results which is rife through society today. Whether Occupy continues or morphs into something else rest assured its the only choice we have left considering the future we are heading into.

I guess so. I cant think of another way people will get their voice heard unless they become a corrupt politician, etc.

Lovely comment Derek. Agree 100%! Denial is big in this country.

“Kevin, every movement like this attracts a few idiots but thats all it was, a minute few. Don’t stereotype the majority because of the few, thats playing straight into the hands of the media and its the same when they report on so called crimes around the occupations.”

And you know they were in the minority because you recorded independant evidence? The fact is that, as political action goes, “camping on public property and trying to decide what to do next” is low on the list of “effective ways of getting stuff done.”

There ain’t no difference between the fed, central banks and the likes of JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs. They are all controlled by the same interests and sing from the same hymn sheet.

Yup, apparently the population of new york is 606 people.

Their annoyance is with the fact that many of them can’t get a job and therefore be no benefit to society due to the ineffective system they are stuck with. Here are 10 reasons people felt the need to be part of it. http://www.buzzfeed.com/jpmoore/reasons-people-are-occupying-wall-street

Gary, I live in the United States and have also lived in Queens, NY. A bunch of them own houses in Queens and apartments throughout Manhattan from their rich parents/families. Property is not cheap at all in New York. I have friends from NY who were making FB statuses about going to Wall Street and joining the protests (all for fun and this is high school). I have 2 neighbors who were unemployed at the time and they find it so ridiculous this Wall Street Protest. I live in North Carolina one of the worst hit states for unemployment, no one is protesting. People who lost their jobs get unemployment; people who didn’t have any jobs to begin with don’t get unemployment. These people at the Wall Street protest, most could care less about politics/business; yet alone define basic economic words. Breaking into people’s houses, disrupting traffic, and attacking fast-food employees is protesting corruption? Listen to the video. Most people in the US find them very annoying, it’s a very small minority; there are over 300 million people in the US. The organizers of this will have anyone join them, doesn’t matter if they are criminals.

I agree with you that it doesn’t seem to be a very political movement at times. But I can’t see how you fail to understand the importance of the downtrodden people of America letting themselves be heard. Yes, there may be some people in the movement who are there to cause trouble, this does not make what they are saying a less important message.

When you are talking about millionaires also you forget where their money came from in the first place – the people who work for them. They public have every right to demand higher wages and at the very least a job.

There are highly educated people who can’t get any jobs and families who can’t afford basic healthcare. This is not right.

Gary, I understand that. My father was unemployed for 2 years and wasn’t protesting or blaming anyone. He was looking for 2 years a job, not protesting and whining; since his area of work in banking was most affected. People make millions not just off of other people; there are various ways people make money. This idea about re-distributing wealth is absurd and socialism. The reason America got to the point of success it’s at is because of capitalism. I support Laissez-faire and Capitalism; the US government has bailed out corporations. That is not Capitalism and is wrong; they are right about that Wall Street. Though most don’t even know what they are protesting really to begin with. Why would America copy Canada or Europe in terms of healthcare and business; those polices have been proven failures. Obama has also made the economy worse, even though he inherited a mess from Bush. He keeps placing rules and restrictions on companies. Their responses have been lay-offs, temp-jobs, and part-time jobs. Over half the country doesn’t agree with this Wall Street movement and Obama’s socialism. The Catholic Church also has a pending law-suit against him after he is forcing them to provide certain healthcare coverage that goes against their beliefs (which anyway I think are dumb) but they have that right.

We are two different people and I don’t think we will ever agree on much. My last point is though that the bailing out of corporations is a direct result of the rottenness you inherit with capitalism. When you have such close relationships between big business and government this is exactly what happens.

So Kevin, do you consciously support the Glass-Steagall Act, or are you just ambivalent to it? How do you feel, specifically, about Citizens United? Because given your “make an effort to get a job” comment, I’m inclined to believe that you have no idea what you’re talking about.

@Gary – Bail-outs are not part of Capitalism, they go against it. The problem is that the government wants the perks of both; that doesn’t work. I know most people like to mock the American people as stupid, but the track record in terms of: inventions, companies, medicine, and technology disapprove that. Most Americans want Obamacare repealed and are against us copying European Socialism and Canadian Healthcare. That’s fine Gary, we’ll just have to agree to disagree; nothing wrong with that. Unless we have an intolerance to differences of opinions. I am a Libertarian not a Democrat or Republican.

“I’m inclined to believe that you have no idea what you’re talking about.”

@JayK – You can be as inclined as you want with that arrogance of yours. But the fact is most companies have responded very negatively to Obama and financial analysts have as well. I am taking Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and Business Management, all my teachers have criticized Obamacare, Obama polices, and Obama’s socialism. He is the first President to have us downgraded by the S&P, and the deficit hit 16 billion, and the unemployment rates are soaring. He invests in pointless stuff that offers no return; he hasn’t invested in any infrastructure at all. Republicans aren’t any better either. I don’t claim to be an expert but there are certain facts that can’t be denied.

Define success Kevin.

What do you mean define success? How do you define success? Working at McDonalds could be my dream job, therefore it is a success. If your asking about what society defines as a success; it is different in all countries. All though most of the world has this idea that success is about wealth, power, career, and influence. It all depends.

I never condemned the original reasoning behind the movement. I condemn the exploitation of it and misusing of it for crime by so many people. Most people around the world (that’s if there not on cloud 9) know the banks, governments, etc. are all corrupt. They also understand whoever has the bigger pocket usually wins in elections. Just because someone doesn’t 100% endorse the “Occupy Wall Street Movement” doesn’t make it fair for them to be labeled naïve, stupid, or that they “don’t know what they are talking about.” It is extremely arrogant to dismiss people based off of them not supporting this “movement”. This movement has been hijacked and is not really protesting what it was suppose to be protesting.

Kevin if you agree that those corporations shouldnt have been bailed out why wouldnt you protest? would you prefer to pay less taxes and have people die because they cant get medical treatment?

You just don’t get it. With government healthcare more people will die; all those waiting lists and requirements. Obama has no right to penalize those who don’t get health insurance. They can’t get it because they can’t afford it. To get free healthcare you have to be dirt poor; it doesn’t help the struggling middle class. That’s fine give dirt poor people free healthcare as long as its not at the cost of others. Most people have jobs, college, social activities, etc. I don’t really care and I don’t want to especially sleep in a tent in NYC and be in a group of criminals. Like I said it has been hijacked by criminals.

Kevin your at it again . Now it’s the occupy movement your bashing . They ate just trying to bring about some equality . Who do u really work for Kevin

Sorry but it’s awfully hypocritical for people in Ireland/Europe to be pointing out what is wrong with Americas economy/capitalism. While Ireland has over a 100 billion Euro deficit for only 5.5 million people on an island. If Americas way of capitalism/economy was so flawed it would not have risen to the worlds largest economic power and it still is one of the largest. That doesn’t mean capitalism doesn’t have flaws; but socialism is not freedom. All that has to be done is put more laws on ethics. I have only heard her anger from people in Ireland about hospitals and getting treatment takes a long time.

I don’t support Occupy Wall Street or the Tea Party; they are both extreme/narrow-minded. You can never say this to either; because they are so full of it. To question their real intentions/motivations only gets one a backlash. Far-left and far-right have never appealed to me and never will. Only if the Libertarian Party had a voice; they are bullied by the Republican and Democratic parties. At least that is one thing they can unite in; the threat a moderate party poses. To the two party monopoly system.

“Most of the people who attended/camped out were high school drop-outs, didn’t bother going to college, jealous people, skipping school, criminals, or simply nuts.”

So that was you conducting the survey. Honestly, what is being protested is a new class of nobility in a society that was founded with the sole intent of there being no classes anymore. All are created equal says the american constitution. But that is no longer the case, and that is what people are in the streets for.

Mr Kevin..becoming increasingly alarmed
at your hysterical tirades…are you taking your medication..or perhaps you need counselling..,.!?

Occupy has a achieved a lot of things in the US so far since its humble beginnings and its only going to continue to grow as Mitt Romney and Obama continue to put business and military interests before people.From Spain and Portugal to Bahrain and Dublin it has inspired people to take control of the direction of their own lives and society and out of the hands of profit seeking politicians and business.Occupy and other movements like the Indignados in Spain where millions have been marching recently are long term radical social movements with fundamentally different ideas than those currently carried out by the established parties.It cannot simply be dismissed as hippies and idealist.Its worth doing some research on as we need something similar in Ireland to remove the status quo.
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175593/tomgram:_rebecca_solnit,_success_is_for_the_stubborn/HEAD

My post isn’t appearing, I think it’s being flagged as spam because of the links so I’ll try without them.

Yeah, I have three doctorates on Obama-ology and a Nobel prize in economics. So I think I uderstand neo-liberalism. I blame the damn immigants.

“Why don’t they get a job” is literally a laughable position to take. It’s a South Park parody of a real political stance. It something somebody says if they get their information about a corruption protest exclusively from one of Rupert Murdoch’s media outlets. Case in point; “This movement has been hijacked and is not really protesting what it was suppose to be protesting”. So, Glass-Steagal? Citizens United? Not going to address those? To write off a massive global movement because someone threw burgers in McDonalds in indicative of a pretty simple world view. Neither are they “socialist” or “far-left”. Neither is Obama.

Blaming Obama for the downgrade shows a lack of understanding of the facts. Regurgitating Romney ad hoc, when he’s is a proven liar, shows its not something you’ve considered, it’s something you’ve just picked up.
(Google “Mitt Romney tells 533 lies”, had to delete link)

Unemployment isn’t soaring. The last figures I can find say it dropped.
(Google the figures, I had a Yahoo article for July)

You say he’s not investing in infrastructure, while in the same post criticising the bailout. So when the news uses the “good” word (investment), you support it, but the “bad” word for the same thing (bailout), you’re against it. Look at GM, which Romney said to let fail. It’s not making a profit, but it’s alive.
(Google)

To be honest, I wish your position in itself didn’t even merit a response. But the problem is that you are in fact the 99%. The uninformed majority of people who don’t care about the machinations of government and big business and get their political views from political catchphrases and news blurbs. There’ll always be corrupt politicians trying to screw everyone over, but a well informed voter base will prevent that. But people aren’t well informed. You are the 99% Kevin, and the 99% are the problem.

Turns out it wouldn’t post because I called them “a**hole politicians”. Deleted the “a**hole” and it appeared. Learn something new every day.

“Why don’t they get a job” I understand jobs are hard to come by, but protesting isn’t going to increase those chances at all. Not that protesting greed/corruption is wrong or anything, I don’t think people should criticize that.
“Neither are they “socialist” or “far-left”. Neither is Obama.”

Are you kidding all my teachers have stated his policies are socialist and they are. I don’t think most people in the Wall Street movement are socialist; I highly doubt many can even properly define what a socialist is to begin with. I don’t doubt that the original founders/campaigners of the movement had good intentions and they know what they are talking about.

“Blaming Obama for the downgrade shows a lack of understanding of the facts. Regurgitating Romney ad hoc, when he’s is a proven liar, shows it’s not something you’ve considered, it’s something you’ve just picked up.
(Google “Mitt Romney tells 533 lies”, had to delete link).

You think I base my opinions off some crap Romney ads? Romney is an Obama lite; and is a complete phony. I don’t like him either, no one ever knows what he really stands for; he doesn’t even know what he stands for. Years ago he said Roe vs. Wade should never be repealed; now he says if he is President he would repeal it, he’s a total phony/liar.

“Unemployment isn’t soaring. The last figures I can find say it dropped.
(Google the figures, I had a Yahoo article for July)”

Those figures are not accurate because it does not count the millions of Americans who have just given up. Obama keeps saying there are improvements and everything is great; many Americans beg to differ. Finding a full-time job is like impossible; Americans have Obama’s restrictions to thank for that.

“You say he’s not investing in infrastructure, while in the same post criticizing the bailout. So when the news uses the “good” word (investment), you support it, but the “bad” word for the same thing (bailout), you’re against it. Look at GM, which Romney said to let fail. It’s not making a profit, but it’s alive.”
(Google)

I agree it should have failed, but not because of Romney who himself put a lot of people out of work with his Bain/Capital. Infrastructure? Every government needs to invest in that, it is essential. Has nothing to with socialism.

“You are the 99% Kevin, and the 99% are the problem.”

In other words if you don’t support this movement without questions/criticism you are ignorant and wrong.
The problem with the United States is the Republican and Democratic Party; the idea that any of those parties will bring about any good is absurd. Occupy is associated with the Democratic Party and those racist a**holes the Tea Party are the Republican Party. Both claim they have no political agendas? Yeah sure. Insulting and degrading people don’t ever help a movement/cause it just further takes away its credibility/seriousness. I never blamed Obama for the mess he inherited from the genius Bush, I do however blame how he has handled it and how he made it worse.

Hey Kevin, there is not really any link between Obama and socialism. He has some ideas which reflect a some ideas of socialism but his actions could be in no way be described as the actions of a socialist. This page from the socialist party in the UK explains what socialism is better than I can. http://socialistpartyp.wordpress.com/what-is-socialism-what-we-stand-for/trotsky/what-would-a-socialist-planned-economy-look-like/

I didn’t say he was like a hardcore socialist but many of his policies are socialist without a doubt. Gary, I don’t agree with socialism but I will read the link to be at least open-minded towards what you are saying.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=aVlNZ3SIPbo

That’s a bit of a twisted mind you’ve got there stephen.

I noticed that myself

Maybe that’s something to do with their politics.

Paul the Occupy Movement isn’t excluded when it comes to politics. Both Occupy (United States) and the Tea Party claim politics has nothing to do with it; that isn’t exactly true.

We’ll all say the same about you in years to come.

600000 households not paying household charge bet they don’t exist on planet Hogan either !!!

Oh sweet Jesus, shouldn’t you be in bed David?!
Not long now ’till the 2yr pension mark!!

Anyone remember the Tory Boy Harry Enfield sketch.

Nice, but Dim

Why do the media always focus on violence??????? Here is the message that they are trying to get across. Maybe the journal could do a story on what their message is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtVwq7F3E4c&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBkVC7HshBk&feature=related

Thats some fantastic video editing there. Amazing how they almost managed to cut out the normal protesters and just show the extremists.

Which, ironically enough by the way, is a typical 1% owned media strategy for dividing people and stopping discussion and debate about idea’s that might bring mankind further down the evolutionary path.

…Hot Dog…music to this mans ears..apart from the bit about immigrants…

That was a sarcastically wrap to the “I have a doctorate and Nobel prize” bit. The idea was that you can justify any ridiculous claim on the internet based on imaginary qualifications. I don’t really blame the “immigants”. Thanks though.

….could have put it in quotes “JK ” …..then it divorces you from the comment…sorry its the teacher in me it won’t go away despite medication hahahah

Do you actually have trouble distinguishing between “investing in infrastructure” and “bailing out”? Because they’re too very different things.

Here’s a shocking new idea: Maybe he’s not “uninformed,” maybe he just disagrees with you and OWS.