A Meeting of Minds on Germany's 'Occupy' Movement

[xchrom]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,795254,00.html

The "Occupy" movement began in earnest in New York, where a group of activists formed under the name " Occupy Wall Street" in mid-September to protest against the sheer power of the financial markets. Since then it has grown to become a global movement, with tens of thousands of participants gathering each week for protests, including several thousand in Frankfurt, the center of "Occupy Germany" activities. Occupy supporters in the German financial center have taken over a small park located directly in front of the European Central Bank (ECB).

Around 100 tents have been pitched in front of the banking city's glass-and-steel skyscrapers. "You occupy the money, we occupy the world," one protest sign reads. During the daytime, working groups discuss capitalism, education and culture. During the afternoons and evenings, an "Asamblea" takes place, a gathering held in an outdoor public space during which speaking time is granted to anyone who wants it and democratic decision-making is made at the grass-roots level. The movement is organized via Facebook and Twitter, and an Occupy website provides information for its supporters. So far, those supporters have been overwhelmingly male, and female visitors to the protest camps are relatively scarce. But few could complain about a lack of support. The media is reporting on Occupy, politicians including Chancellor Angela Merkel have expressed their sympathies, and new people interested in what is happening drop by the ECB campsite each day, with some simultaneously raising their own tents.

Each evening, local bakeries deliver leftover rolls and cakes to the camp's mess tent, where warm meals are cooked and served twice each day. The Occupy protesters have made a point of welcoming their neighbors, including homeless people known to drop by. If you're seeking to create a more just society, they argue, you've got to start at home.

Despite all the media and political attention, it still remains unclear precisely what the movement, which is determining its goals through grass-roots democracy, actually stands for. Alexander Sack, a 22-year-old who is training to be an IT systems engineer and recently spent his vacation at the camp, Axel Fialka, a 31-year-old student of cultural anthropology and ethnology and trained retail salesman, and Martin Blessing, the 48-year-old CEO of Commerzbank, a major German bank, sat down with SPIEGEL to debate the aims of the Occupy movement.


***interview at link.

[polichick]

1. Excellent piece - k&r. "The contradictions of the system are coming to a head...

...to such an extent that more and more people have become aware of them, even many of those who are relatively well off. And they are starting to understand that they really can bring about change."


Well worth the reading time!

[dotymed]

2. It seems that todays German economy is comparable

to that of America in the '50's. Of course they have universal health-care and much better benefits, yet they are still a member of the world community and seemingly care much more for the people than the money. The majority of their businesses are Unionized and provide benefits that the 99% of Americans can only dream about.

If capitalism works, it would only work in an environment similar to present day Germany's. But we all know how capitalism feeds on the people and eventually corrupts it's environment. Fortunately, they have implemented many Socialist aspects in their governance. I hope that it can remain prosperous.

[Blue_Tires]

3. ttt