I have been following the national Occupy movement for the past couple months and am excited to see it finally existing in my physical environment. Since the beginning of Occupy Wall Street, I have been looking carefully at the movement’s progress, goals and actions.
When talking with friends and seeing mainstream media, it is clear there is a lot of misconception about what the movement is actually about. It takes several YouTube videos and underground news articles to see what the people really want: engagement in our democracy to undo the wrongs the American people are suffering from.
It is about the American people finally waking up from a several-decade-long slumber. Many people are getting hit by the financial crisis and seeing the middle-class standard of living evaporate. Discussions about how we got here and how our political system has failed us are important.
But an even more valuable question is, “How have we failed our system?” Our political system is based on democracy, and the rights that we value are defended through exercise. This is why I am so excited to see the Occupy movement: We are finally participating. It is clear that the lack of participation is major part of how we got here. Maybe demands of the movement are not obvious and clear-cut goals are not apparent, but people are talking and engaging. That is the first and most important step to reassess what we actually want for our future. I hope to see this engagement increase from University students and become a long-term value for fellow Americans.
It is most critical for our generation to engage in this kind of dialogue about our future. Our parents’ generation was handed a new infrastructure, a booming economy and a real opportunity to succeed after obtaining a high school diploma. Currently, as a junior in college in 2011, our infrastructure is falling apart, education is suffering, we are depleting our energy resources and job opportunities are bleak. The list goes on. How did we get here? Does it have to get worse before it can get better? How much worse?
In response to the naysayers about this movement, I’d like to encourage them to go talk to people in the Occupy Eugene movement.
Hear their stories. You will see they have jobs and bills to pay. They have worked hard to get where they are; allowing standards to continue to lower is not the right answer. How low are we going to let them get? Our country is constantly fighting to raise the living standards of “developing” countries. Our own country suffered during the Great Depression, which included your and my ancestors. My grandparents knew they did not want to pass that on to their children. In the ’50s and ’60s, my grandfather had a job that comfortably supported himself, five children, a wife, a car and a house. Are we ready to forget the American Dream? Many Americans within our families were part of the struggle to get us in the comfortable positions we’re in. I hate to break it to the apathetic ones, but we’re going to have to work hard to keep it. Engage in the movement toward a better future before it makes your plate empty.
I pay tuition and actively participate in my education at the University, and I support the presence of Occupy Eugene on our campus.
Amy Krol
University undergraduate
Letter: Students should support University occupation
Daily Emerald
October 30, 2011
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