Occupy Evansville drew a diverse group of people of all ages and races to its initial occupation of the Four Freedoms Monument. The gathering was on time and the description of the amplification techniques and protest etiquette was communicated clearly right up front. The crowd was made up of children with their parents, young adults, and a large contingent of older veterans waving America flags. In the first two hours there were no altercations and barely any rudeness.
The group came spoiling for a march on something and after nominations of Vectren, Fifth Third, the Arena, Old National Bank, and the Ford Center, a consensus opinion was reached to march a lap around Vectren and to go back to the Four Freedoms Monument to caucus. There was an elderly veteran in a wheel chair that was collecting signatures for John Friend’s petition for Vectren to freeze rates and for the IURC to hold all meetings involving Evansville in Evansville who was doing a brisk business.
The march around Vectren while serving to burn off some energy met no resistance and no unruliness happened. All of the marchers stayed on the sidewalks and kept moving as they had been directed. There was little talk of mass demands as have been reported in other sources and there were no chants of soaking the rich. Thus far day one just seems to be a gathering of patriotic people as evidenced by the flags who happen to be disappointed with the way that our country is being run. There were some signs that had the look of what we have been seeing on TV but no meanness was vented.
It is worth noting that Vectren was in fortress mode with police cars circling and guards inside and out. Plenty of cars driving by would honk in approval with an occasional fist salute held aloft from the windows. All in all this seemed to be a healthy exercise in democracy. We hope that it stays that way.
What exactly does Ocuupy Evansville stand for or what does it want to accompolish.It appears to be protesting everything just for the sake of protesting. I would be interested to be enlightened.
Occupy Evansville (and every other Occupy protest in the nation) exists to show solidarity with and support the causes of Occupy Wall Street – the profusion of corporate greed in America, and how much our government has cast aside its vow to serve the people in favor of serving whichever corporation provides them with the most money.
Sorry, I didn’t catch any desired accomplishment there…
Did the march go down to the Civic center? What about the FDP homes recently built? What about the government subsidized “high end” main street condos? Aztar? Berry? CVB? GAGE?
Who picks and chooses the focus of this anger?
From our observation anyone can bring up a target to march by. There is then a show of hands and it is strictly majority rule. Anyone who wanted to could speak on any subject at all on Saturday. The only friction at all was when a union guy and a lady with a Obama hat tried to silence a Ron Paul supporter that wanted to close the Federal Reserve Bank. They tried to shout him down but the rest of the crowd silenced them. The Evansville meeting was surprisingly courteous and inclusive compared to some of what has been on TV..
Where is the press, inquiring about who is relenting partisanship to the others?
These are positions that are (or certainly could be) polar opposites.
Might we be missing an important unifying dialogue… by asking the union guy, the Obama lady and the Anti-Fed guy how they find common ground to protest together?
Is the press scared they might find that main stream media is a big focus, too?
Well we are certainly not afraid of that. The unifying structure seems to be discontentment with the status quo. The Tea Party and Ron Paul groups blame government and right now the Occupy groups blame Wall Street and Government. I think as the thought process becomes more mature that the focus has to end up on government. After all Vectren is breaking no laws by charging what they do and in most cases the Wall Street folks were within the law too. What is sad is that our laws are so complex and manipulative that much of the collective brainpower is squandered documenting legality and finding Snegal ways to circumvent the spirit of law while being fully within the letter of the law.
Editor:
Certain Tea Party people ALSO blame Wall Street (which is really just an arm of the Fed, anyway).
Joe,
You are more of an optimist than I. But like they say, hope springs eternal.
I’m reminded of 1 Kings 3-16…
The TEA party, on the other hand, didn’t split the baby… they were united, demanding, that the baby not be born laden with so much damn debt!
Isn’t it worth stating that all those people that accused the TEA party for standing for some state of total anarchy… should be screaming even louder (and perhaps accurately) at this “occupy” crowd?
Please keep in mind that the only first hand experience that the CCO has with Occupy is with Occupy Evansville and not with the group in NYC. The people here were peaceful and respectful in every way. I was in the 9th grade when I led a protest march to support the defense of Lt. Calley. It got allot of press for a 9th grader from Sturgis, KY. Our group raised about $300 for the defense fund and got cussed at and spit at way back then. In the end it was healthy as the questioning of authority always seems to be. These kids are asking good questions. I hope they and the people of Evansville get some answers. There should have been much more questioning of authority here for many years. This is the look of hope and change that can work if minds are willing to learn and flexible.
At least Evansville’s version of the Occupiers, including the guy with the full Batman suit, didn’t kill any grass:
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/occupiers-killing-stimulus-funded-sod-dc
Someone may have chanted “no ERC agenda, no justice” but it was hard to tell.
Looked like an early Halloween party, esp. with the bat man guy.
I can only speak for myself when I say I am using the occupy movement to voice my dissatisfaction with the Federal Reserve monetary policy, government debt, and an absolutely mad foreign policy.
End the Fed, Bring Home the Troops, and Balance the friggin’ Budget! That’s where I stand, but I cannot speak for everyone there.
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