Occupy San Diego

I visited Occupy San Diego at the San Diego Civic Center Plaza at about 7:30 pm on November 14, 2011 with two other classmates. There were 30 people protesting in the plaza and about 15 police officers in the area. Many of them were unemployed and homeless. Several of the homeless appeared to be suffering from mental illness. A larger number of protesters were veterans; I noticed several of them wearing parts of military uniforms.

Some protesters are victim of this most recent economic downturn, and most claimed to know a someone who was negatively impacted by the economy. I was able to observed how middle class people and homeless people were able to interact with one another. For example, one homeless person was the mediator for the entire group; regardless of his homelessness, the rest of the people listened and showed respect toward him. 

Occupy San Diego movement helped me understand the needs of the poor population Vs. the wealthy groups. People must become politicized in an organized struggle to overthrow the systems. In this movement, everyone is in charge and benefits from the movement. These people are frustrated on how wealthy people seek to maximize their own profits and their workers wages are low. The downside of this movement, is that they are missing the element of a "leader". Because everyone is in charge, their movement is weak. For example, the mediator (homeless guy) read their rules from an old and dirty piece of paper. He said, "No alcohol allowed" but then he laughed and said, "Okay, maybe near the corner". The structure of how this movement is set up is very frail. On the other hand, this movement an example of conflict occurs between the individual and society, a conflict about change and authority.