Originally published on the CGS blog on October 20, 2011.
On Sunday I experienced one of the greatest aspects of living in Washington DC. I heard Dr. Vandana Shiva, world renowned environmental and social activist, speak at the Right2Know March for labeling Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in food products, and then walked only three blocks over to the Occupy DC camp, where people have come to protest their unhappiness with corporate greed and the state of the economic system, among many other things.
I was struck by the similar mentalities yet fundamental differences of these protests. The Right2Know March began in New York On October 1st, and ended here in Washington DC at Lafayette Square on Sunday, October 16th. Their goal is clear; they fight to create and pass legislation that requires all genetically engineered food ingredients to be labeled. Nutritionists, organic farmers, and concerned moms spoke out that it is our “right to know,” what is in the food we eat (Read more here). Right2Know, like the Occupy Wall Street Movement, is fighting for the rights of common people.
The Occupy Wall Street Movement, however, does not have the clear legislative goal that Right2Know has. Instead they protest, sleeping outside in chilling autumn weather with no end date determined, for more complex reasons. They claim to represent the 99% of the American public who increasingly has little to no political power. They blame this on corporate greed, political agendas, money, and other evils. This lack of a specific focus or plan has been criticized by many. But that lack of a goal seems to be in itself the point at this stage in the game. “We are trying to change people’s mentalities,” someone from Occupy DC told me this weekend. They do not have a political agenda yet because this is still the beginning. Right now there is not one single piece of legislation, such as required GMO labeling, that would solve all the social problems they are protesting against. Anne Applebaum wrote in the Washington Post Monday morning, “The emergence of an international protest movement without a coherent program is therefore not an accident: It reflects a deeper crisis, one without an obvious solution.”
But just because they do not have one simple, specific, legislative demand is not to say they don’t have ideas and structures for the future. A list of demands is posted on their website, although they are clear to state these are individual’s demands and do not reflect the entire movement. However as the days go by, more and more progress is being made. They have formed a Demands Working Group, and that group has now set a date, July 4th 2012, when they will hold a National General Assembly meeting. This meeting will be a place for two elected officials from each 435 Congressional Districts to meet and produce a Petition of Grievances, addressing current issues and voicing their demands. Prior to this Assembly elections will be held to decide who the 870 delegates will be. They outline some of the issues they wish to address on their website. This is starting to look a lot like the beginnings of a focused, political agenda.
Although much of the frustration of Occupy Wall Street is vented at the power of money in the U.S. political system, it has become an international protest. This Saturday, October 15th, “protests were held from North and South America to Asia, Africa and Europe, with over 1,500 events in 82 countries, as part of a global day of action,” (occupywallstreet.org). They recognize that one cannot talk about the impact of corporate greed without acknowledging that it is no longer just U.S. corporations, but multinational corporations, who hold so much power in the economic system. A protestor described the global movement to me as a “cycle that is becoming a vortex.” Momentum gained in one city or country does not simply stay there, but is spread throughout the movement, and therefore worldwide.
So the difference between the Right2Know march and Occupy Wall Street movement may not be a better strategy or clearer focus, it may in fact just be a different level of maturity in the movements. Right2Know and other partner organizations have been fighting to label GMOs for years now, whereas Occupy Wall Street is still in its infancy as a movement. Uniting nationwide, and even worldwide, to fight broad social issues is a task that will take time. The critics may be right that the movement will fizzle because of its “lack of focus,” but after speaking with protestors, and looking at their websites and the 99% Declaration, I don’t think that will be the case.
