Occupy!: Scenes from Occupied America [Paperback]

This is an excellent selection of texts covering eye-witness accounts of Occupy Wall Street in several cities but especially New York. Moreover, it also offers fascinating and contradictory reflections from political commentators and philosophers. It has powerful descriptions of people disrupting an order that has systematically ratcheted up political, social and economic inequalities. It is moving on a personal as well as political level. Get this book and hit the streets.

The editors of this 2011 book wrote in the Preface, "The genesis of this book is that we were lucky enough to be in New York... at the start of the occupations of public ground that began in September 2011... Something was unfolding, which was becoming one of the most significant and hopeful events of our lifetimes... We wrote, we got our friends to write, we edited, and we compiled. Soon we had a broadsheet newspaper... Our first two OWS-inspired 'Gazettes' formed the basis of this book."

A writer acknowledges the complaint that "the occupiers don't have a clear agenda," but contends, "Economic justice is the point. Doesn't their presence on Wall Street say that?" (Pg. 20) Another writer took down a "list of potential demands," including debt cancellation (e.g., for student loans); taxes on small financial transactions; full employment; universal child care centers; paid sick leave for all, etc. (Pg. 4-5). Another essayist says, "There's something wrong in the world where you are promised to be immortal but cannot spend a little bit more for healthcare... We don't want a higher standard of living. We want a better standard of living." (Pg. 69)

Another writer states that "Occupy Wall Street rejects the fantasy that 'what's good for Wall Street is good for Main Street' ... and name this division a fundamental wrong, the wrong of inequality, exploitation, and theft." (Pg. 88)

This book---along with others such as TIME What is Occupy?: Inside the Global Movement, This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement, and Voices From the 99 Percent: An Oral History of the Occupy Wall Street Movement---is an excellent one for anyone interested in learning more about the OWS movement.

Occupy!: Scenes from Occupied America, provides a heartening anthology penned by those involved in the grassroots movement. Compiled by progressive journalists Astra Taylor and Keith Gessen (along with other editors from `N+1'), this pastiche of personal insight offers eclectic reflections from the frontlines of the movement. Presented in chronological order, each entry deciphers what it means to occupy, organize, and change the plethora of issues facing America's foundation.

Each is an experience of its own. One tells the history of the iconic drum-circles and their discrepancies in the park. Others analyze issues like the "breaking windows theory", a tactic deployed by the NYPD, which illustrates why brutality often comes from personal premise, not official order. Explained elegantly, many also provide the historical background necessary to attest viewpoints and suggestions. Occupy! is a testament to the movement.

More sophisticated writings, such as those by Slavoj Zizek and L.A. Kauffman, provide philosophical critiques and advice to ensure the movement's longevity and status. Zizek, a Slovenian philosopher, inspires in his speech from Oct. 6, "They tell you we are dreamers. The true dreamers are those who think things can go on indefinitely the way they are. We are not dreamers. We are the awakening from a dream that is turning into a nightmare".

Unlike the criticism tied directly to the phrase "occupy", most issues presented are quickly and adequately followed by objective solutions. The most obvious criticism would be a lack of insight from the movement's opposition. Another may be that many contributors show patterns of the same privilege the movement combats against. All but two label themselves as a writer, editor or scholar, which is unclear until the final two pages. Ironically, affluence can yield an attitude of entitlement, which could destroy the idea of solidarity overnight. One small step in the wrong direction can prove detrimental to any movement.

Conservatives, beware. From the Marxist rhetoric when you open to the preface, to the closing excerpt from Thomas Paine's The American Crisis, Occupy! serves as an anecdotal guide for those who cherish the ideology of the "99 percent". Filled with countless perspectives on every aspect of the movement, Occupy! is the perfect manual for the "American Spring".