Editorial: Day of rage Sunday, 16 October 2011 04:03

Protesters worldwide united yesterday in a day of rage.  Encompassing Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas, it was the biggest show of power yet by a movement born on May 15 when a rally in Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol square sparked a worldwide movement. Anger over unemployment and opposition to the financial elite hung over the protests. Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement, people took to the streets in 951 cities in 82 countries. Europeans turned out amid debt troubles and austerity plans in Greece, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Portugal and Germany.  More protests were staged in Amsterdam, Athens, Brussels, Geneva, Paris, Sarajevo and Zurich. Rome’s demonstration turned violent. Thousands rallied in New York and Washington, where they protested outside the White House and the US Treasury. Protest organisers say they are inspired by the Arab Spring that led to the toppling of regimes in Tunisia and Egypt.

The protests are hitting a nerve. Millions are struggling financially; many are out of a job or are underemployed. They can’t pay their bills. They are falling deeper into personal debt. They are losing hope that things will improve in the foreseeable future. Worst of all, while they are falling further behind a small minority appears to be leaping further ahead. The International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for global economic growth to 4 percent this year and next, compared with June forecasts of 4.3 percent in 2011 and 4.5 percent in 2012. The Group of 20 finance ministers met in Paris for talks to find a solution to Europe’s debt crisis as it threatens to tip the world economy back into a recession.

Wall Street and the big banks caused the market crash that cost millions of jobs and plunged the US economy into near-depression. Yet three years later, the country’s financial elite continues to prosper while the other 99 percent suffers. The Occupiers have called themselves the other 99 percent — to contrast themselves from the richest 1 percent. Not only has protest survived, it has captured the imagination of multitudes of embittered Americans. It has become a national force with the very real potential to roil American politics fundamentally. A Time poll found that 54 percent of those surveyed view the Wall Street protests favourably, compared with 23 percent who think the opposite. Interestingly, only 23 percent say they don’t have an opinion, which suggests that the protests have succeeded in reaching the mainstream.

The protesters were out to change the world and liberate the poor. One month after it burst onto the scene and inspired similar protests across the globe, the protest remains stubbornly decentralised. But the protesters remain defiant on their revolution and demand quick action on resolving their woes from their leaders.