Occupy Wall Street is a modern day historical ode to Thoreau-like civil disobedience. The occupiers were protesting the fact that Wall Street caused the 2008 financial crash, but were not held accountable. In fact, while average citizens suffered, Wall Street received bailouts. The occupiers saw a world where the interests of every day Americans were being ignored in favor of those who benefit from globalization. Much like Thoreau, the occupiers saw a government who was ignoring the needs of the average citizen to promote unjust ends, i.e. in today’s world, the Wall Street elite and multi-national corporations. The protestors broke laws by trespassing and blocking traffic, i.e. occupying areas where they had no legal right. Some would say that the Occupy Wall Street movement did not accomplish any goals because it did not change any policy of the American
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As stated by M. Patrick Yingling in his article Civil Disobedience to Overcome Corruption: The Case of Occupy Wall Street, “The point of Occupy Wall Street was not to demand a particular policy change; the point was to start a
As stated by M. Patrick Yingling in his article Civil Disobedience to Overcome Corruption: The Case of Occupy Wall Street, “The point of Occupy Wall Street was not to demand a particular policy change; the point was to start a