The Occupy Wall Street movement inspired an Occupy Red Bank discussion on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 15, at Marine Park to discuss the current issues impacting the state of our nation. PHOTOS BY KRISTEN DALTON Phil didn’t want his last name to be known, but he did want the 40 or so people gathered at Marine Park last Saturday to know that the Occupy Wall Street movement for tax reform and job creation is gaining positive momentum.
Behind the crowd, he knelt down next to his son, hugged him and said, “Listen, this is good stuff. This is the kind of world you can have if we make this happen.”
The NewYork City resident had been protesting on Wall Street in the financial district of New York City for five consecutive days before joining Red Bank’s last-minute call for discussion — something he said he wanted to check out while in the area for the weekend.
“It’s one of the best things this country has done in decades,” Phil said of the movement. “We want reform. We want change and we’re using the system to change the system.”
Two of the estimated 40 people who attended the grassroots gathering wear T-shirts painted with political messages. The system: a democracy where the self-proclaimed 99 percent are visibly making their presence known across the country with hopes of drawing attention to how dysfunctional that democracy, arguably controlled by the theoretical 1 percent, actually is.
Red Bank was one of the many cities on Oct. 15 that set itself as a cornerstone for the national foundation of the Occupy movement.
“It’s time that we come together and have some kind of dialogue about this. Wall Street might be where they work but Monmouth County is where they live,” said Connor, one of the facilitators who organized the Occupy Red Bank discussion. Like Phil, he chose not to reveal his last name.
“They can ignore something when they’re walking past it on the way to work, but when they come home at night and they see that it’s not just there, it’s not just these major cities, it’s their hometowns and home counties too, we’re hoping that really makes a statement,” Connor said.
What started out as a small group of 10 people at 3 p.m. on a windy afternoon quickly grew into a larger gathering 20 minutes later. The event, organized by Connor and his girlfriend, Grace, was publicized on Facebook just two days prior.
“I don’t have the answers,” Connor said, “but I know people have the answers. Vertical leadership is a thing of the past. We need to learn from one another.” The purpose of the meeting was to create a local discussion about a national concern, he said, calling it “an experiment of direct democracy in Red Bank, New Jersey.”
Helene Kugit, of Holmdel, sported a T-shirt with handmade lettering that read, “Campaign Finance Reform: Get Special Interest Money Out of Our Politicians’ Pockets.”
She said she found out about the gathering at the last minute but felt it was worth her while to attend.
“I didn’t do this when I was younger, but now that I’m older, I just appreciate it so much more,” she said, excited for her next stop to be Wall Street on Sunday.
Kathy McCrea, of Middletown, said that as a teacher in the late stages of her career, her financial life is worse than it has been in previous years.
“It seems ridiculous that as I get to the end of my career, my income is going down.”
One man said he was disgusted with what has been going on but reminded the circle of people that this process is a marathon, not a sprint.
Connor agreed and suggested the group further organize into different teams such as media, logistics and outreach. Meanwhile, a notepad was being passed through the crowd for people to sign in and provide their email address.
The media team would be in charge of creating chatter on Facebook, while the logistics team would organize future meet-ups.
“Obviously the occupation is really hard. We need to be publicly visible on a regular basis,” Connor said.
The outreach committee would try to touch base with other Jersey Shore movements and possibly join forces, said Grace, who also suggested working with local politicians.
That idea sparked questions from a few people in the crowd who wanted to know why many of the major politicians have not acknowledged the movement.
A young woman in her 20s said though it’s frustrating not to have their support, it’s also helpful not to hear what they have to say.
“We don’t want politicians to represent a movement that they don’t actually represent,” she said.
Connor said he invited representatives from the Democratic Party, whose offices are located just down the street from Marine Park. When he asked the crowd if anyone from their office was in attendance, there was only silence.
“Guess not,” he said.
“Yeah, they’d be here if we were the 1 percent,” Phil chimed in.
The sentiment of people at the Occupy meeting was summarized best by a woman from Bradley Beach, who shared with the crowd a recent metaphor by TV host and political commentator Bill Maher, which for her epitomized the state of the nation.
“He said the 1 percent is like a piñata showering us with goodies. But the only way to get the goodies is to beat the hell out of it.”