Editorial: Protesters have solid platform

The Occupy "______" movement has earned a lot of flak from the media for not having "a clear, unified message." Critics say the movement is nothing more than an amorphous mob of hippies playing bongo drums, complaining about everything and nothing at the same time with no course of action and no game plan.

The funny thing is, the movement seems to have a pretty clear message—it even has a tag line. "We are the 99 percent" isn't just a phrase that is being thrown around for fun. The "99 percent" is the crux of the issue this movement is trying to shed light on. A vast majority of this country's market is controlled by a tiny sector of wealthy individuals. These wealthy individuals' greedy decisions in 2008 caused an economic collapse that regular people had no control over. While the banks and corporations were bailed out by the government for their massive failings, everyone else who was affected, the "99 percent" of Americans who are simply trying to make it, didn't get bailed out at all. Instead, they were left without retirement, healthcare and jobs, serving penance for sins they didn't commit. That seems like a pretty unified message.

It's interesting that critics point to the fact that the movement doesn't have a list of demands or a single plan to effect all the changes they want. Since when do massive movements start out like that? The Civil Rights movement didn't begin when Rosa Parks went up to a bus driver and handed him a 20 page outline of all the necessary legislation that needed to be passed in order for institutional racism to go away. Rosa Parks just sat there and refused to move. That action was enough to trigger massive social change. This isn't any different—the "99 percent" movement isn't giving detailed outlines for courses of corrective action because they don't have one. All they want is for the government and corporate America to stop ignoring them, to force them to recognize that a dialogue needs to occur.