WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.640 Welcome back, Lerner. If you've ever felt overwhelmed 00:00:03.640 --> 00:00:06.320 by how much wealth is concentrated at the very 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:09.439 top, well, you are definitely not alone. Not 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:11.320 at all. You probably remember the images, right? 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:14.099 Thousands of protesters taking over Zuccotti 00:00:14.099 --> 00:00:16.339 Park in Manhattan, the chant, we are the 99 percent. 00:00:16.500 --> 00:00:18.780 Right. It's totally iconic at this point. It 00:00:18.780 --> 00:00:22.160 really is. But what you might not know is that 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:24.379 the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, 00:00:24.679 --> 00:00:28.280 they were quietly monitoring this movement. A 00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:31.239 full month before a single sleeping bag ever 00:00:31.239 --> 00:00:33.479 hit the concrete. Which is just wild to think 00:00:33.479 --> 00:00:36.039 about. Totally wild. So today we are taking a 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:38.640 deep dive into the Occupy movement. And to do 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:41.340 this, we are looking at a massive stack of comprehensive 00:00:41.340 --> 00:00:44.240 Wikipedia excerpts. These track the phenomenon 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:47.750 from its... really unlikely inception, all the 00:00:47.750 --> 00:00:50.350 way to its complex global legacy. It is an incredibly 00:00:50.350 --> 00:00:52.789 layered story. I mean, we are looking at a rare 00:00:52.789 --> 00:00:55.270 moment where a seemingly abstract idea about 00:00:55.270 --> 00:00:57.869 economic fairness physically manifested into 00:00:57.869 --> 00:01:00.289 a worldwide, highly coordinated disruption almost 00:01:00.289 --> 00:01:03.039 overnight. Exactly. And our mission for this 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:05.560 deep dive is to explore those origins, break 00:01:05.560 --> 00:01:07.739 down the movement's completely unique leaderless 00:01:07.739 --> 00:01:10.400 structure, trace its explosive spread across 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:14.099 the globe and extract the aha moments about how 00:01:14.099 --> 00:01:16.560 modern protests are actually born and what they 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:19.200 leave behind. OK, let's unpack this. To really 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:22.219 understand Occupy Wall Street, we have to recognize 00:01:22.219 --> 00:01:25.500 the global mood in the summer of 2011. It didn't 00:01:25.500 --> 00:01:28.159 just spontaneously combust in a vacuum. Right. 00:01:28.260 --> 00:01:30.819 If you look at the timeline in our sources, Occupy 00:01:30.819 --> 00:01:33.090 was. heavily inspired by a wave of international 00:01:33.090 --> 00:01:35.909 unrest. You had the Arab Spring, which showed 00:01:35.909 --> 00:01:38.549 the world the staggering power of massive, decentralized 00:01:38.549 --> 00:01:41.950 public gatherings to challenge deeply entrenched 00:01:41.950 --> 00:01:44.370 systems. And before that, there was the 2009 00:01:44.370 --> 00:01:46.650 Iranian Green Movement, right? Yes, setting an 00:01:46.650 --> 00:01:48.750 early template for social media -driven organization. 00:01:49.609 --> 00:01:52.269 We also see the Spanish Indignados movement popping 00:01:52.269 --> 00:01:55.069 up in the sources, where hundreds of camps appeared 00:01:55.069 --> 00:01:58.370 around Spain in mid -May 2011. They were out 00:01:58.370 --> 00:02:00.829 there protesting austerity measures. Just to 00:02:00.829 --> 00:02:03.170 ground us real quick, when we say austerity measures 00:02:03.170 --> 00:02:05.049 in this specific context, we're talking about 00:02:05.049 --> 00:02:07.989 massive government cuts to public services right 00:02:07.989 --> 00:02:10.590 after the 2008 financial crash, correct? That 00:02:10.590 --> 00:02:12.949 is exactly right. governments were slashing public 00:02:12.949 --> 00:02:15.590 spending to balance budgets. And the everyday 00:02:15.590 --> 00:02:17.669 citizens, the people who felt they had absolutely 00:02:17.669 --> 00:02:19.810 nothing to do with causing the financial crisis, 00:02:20.090 --> 00:02:22.460 they were the ones absorbing the blow. Yeah, 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:25.319 paying the price. Precisely. That same frustration 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:28.340 led to the Democracy Village, a protest camp 00:02:28.340 --> 00:02:30.400 set up directly outside the British Parliament 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:33.479 in London in 2010. All of these global movements 00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:35.819 were effectively beta testing a new blueprint 00:02:35.819 --> 00:02:38.000 for public occupation. But the people who actually 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:40.080 ported that blueprint over to Wall Street were 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:42.340 a pretty unexpected group of architects. Oh, 00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:45.960 definitely. In mid -July 2011, a Canadian -based 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:48.599 anti -consumerist magazine called Adbusters, 00:02:48.840 --> 00:02:51.360 specifically its co -founder Kali Lassen and 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:53.340 C. senior editor Michael White, they sent out 00:02:53.340 --> 00:02:56.099 an email pitch. Just a standard email that changed 00:02:56.099 --> 00:02:59.539 everything. Yeah. They proposed a peaceful physical 00:02:59.539 --> 00:03:02.620 occupation of Wall Street to protest corporate 00:03:02.620 --> 00:03:05.979 influence on democracy. And, you know, the glaring 00:03:05.979 --> 00:03:09.180 absence of any legal repercussions for the bankers 00:03:09.180 --> 00:03:12.900 behind the 2008 crash. The imagery they used 00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:15.840 to sell this concept was absolutely vital. The 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:18.379 Internet hacker group Anonymous caught wind of 00:03:18.379 --> 00:03:20.759 AdBuster's idea and decided to throw their weight 00:03:20.759 --> 00:03:23.360 behind it. And they made that poster. Yes. They 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:26.639 released this now iconic promotional poster. 00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:29.800 It featured a very graceful, serene ballerina 00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:32.039 dancing calmly on top of Wall Street's famous 00:03:32.039 --> 00:03:34.580 charging bull statue. With the protesters in 00:03:34.580 --> 00:03:36.979 the background. Exactly. Protesters and gas masks 00:03:36.979 --> 00:03:39.620 emerging from the fog behind her was a brilliant 00:03:39.620 --> 00:03:42.530 visual juxtaposition. Peaceful, elegant resistance 00:03:42.530 --> 00:03:45.349 standing directly on top of this massive, aggressive 00:03:45.349 --> 00:03:48.229 symbol of financial capitalism. It's such a striking 00:03:48.229 --> 00:03:50.710 visual. But, I mean, a cool Internet graphic 00:03:50.710 --> 00:03:52.870 doesn't automatically organize a protest. They 00:03:52.870 --> 00:03:55.469 needed a unifying message. They needed a hook. 00:03:55.669 --> 00:03:57.830 Right. And that brings us to the slogan, they 00:03:57.830 --> 00:04:00.400 glued everything together. We are the 99 percent. 00:04:00.580 --> 00:04:02.599 We hear that phrase constantly today. But our 00:04:02.599 --> 00:04:04.620 sources point out there is actual staggering 00:04:04.620 --> 00:04:07.400 math backing it up. Let's look at the real numbers 00:04:07.400 --> 00:04:09.680 behind that catchy PR. What's fascinating here 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:12.120 is how this specific set of data transformed 00:04:12.120 --> 00:04:15.879 a vague, generalized sense of economic unfairness 00:04:15.879 --> 00:04:20.079 into a highly effective viral rallying cry. The 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:22.800 slogan was rooted in a congressional budget office 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:25.560 report. OK. The data showed that between 1979 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:28.589 and 2007, the incomes of the pop one. percent 00:04:28.589 --> 00:04:30.670 of Americans grew by an average of two hundred 00:04:30.670 --> 00:04:32.509 and seventy five percent. Which sounds like a 00:04:32.509 --> 00:04:34.769 massive amount on its own. But the contrast is 00:04:34.769 --> 00:04:37.029 what really hits hard. The contrast is everything. 00:04:37.209 --> 00:04:40.670 Over that same time period since 1979, the average 00:04:40.670 --> 00:04:43.209 pre -tax income for the bottom 90 percent of 00:04:43.209 --> 00:04:45.110 households actually decreased by nine hundred 00:04:45.110 --> 00:04:48.490 dollars. Decreased. Wow. Decreased. Meanwhile, 00:04:48.750 --> 00:04:51.350 the top one percent saw their income increase 00:04:51.350 --> 00:04:54.779 by over seven hundred thousand dollars. Providing 00:04:54.779 --> 00:04:57.980 this stark numerical contrast gave the public 00:04:57.980 --> 00:05:01.540 an immediate identity. It framed the issue not 00:05:01.540 --> 00:05:04.500 as some abstract rich versus poor debate, but 00:05:04.500 --> 00:05:07.240 as the vast, overwhelming majority of society 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:10.500 being systemically left behind by a microscopic, 00:05:10.819 --> 00:05:13.220 ultra wealthy fraction. So anyone could look 00:05:13.220 --> 00:05:15.759 at that math and instantly realize, hey. I am 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:19.040 the 99%. Exactly. And that mathematical realization 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:21.399 led to thousands of people actually pitching 00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:24.420 tents in Zuccotti Park on September 17, 2011. 00:05:24.839 --> 00:05:27.519 But once they got there, they faced a literal 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:30.139 logistical nightmare. Oh, absolutely. They were 00:05:30.139 --> 00:05:32.180 fiercely committed to participatory democracy, 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:34.620 meaning they flat out refused to elect centralized 00:05:34.620 --> 00:05:36.839 leaders or establish a traditional hierarchy. 00:05:37.800 --> 00:05:39.660 Imagine trying to run a high -stakes corporate 00:05:39.660 --> 00:05:41.519 board meeting with thousands of strangers in 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:43.459 a public dark. How do they actually function? 00:05:43.660 --> 00:05:45.779 They managed it through massive gatherings called 00:05:45.779 --> 00:05:48.000 general assemblies. Because they didn't have 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:50.759 permits to use amplified sound systems like megaphones 00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:52.319 or speakers, they had to improvise. Right, the 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:54.720 human microphone. Yes, the human microphone where 00:05:54.720 --> 00:05:56.699 the crowd would literally repeat the speaker's 00:05:56.699 --> 00:05:58.939 words in unison so people all the way at the 00:05:58.939 --> 00:06:01.060 back could hear. And to vote on things without 00:06:01.060 --> 00:06:03.399 shouting over each other, I saw on the notes 00:06:03.399 --> 00:06:06.120 they used a highly specific system of hand signals. 00:06:06.620 --> 00:06:08.939 Twinkling fingers pointed upward to show agreement 00:06:08.939 --> 00:06:12.279 or crossing your arms in an X to signal a hard 00:06:12.279 --> 00:06:14.560 block on a proposal. Which is fascinating to 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:16.379 watch. It sounds a bit like trying to debate 00:06:16.379 --> 00:06:19.199 policy using jazz hands. Yeah. But this actually 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:21.279 has some serious historical pedigree, doesn't 00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:23.720 it? It does. Our sources trace this consensus 00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:25.800 -based communication method back to the Quaker 00:06:25.800 --> 00:06:28.720 movement, all the way back to participatory democracy 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:31.740 in ancient Athens, and more recently to the spokes 00:06:31.740 --> 00:06:34.800 councils used during the 1999 anti -globalization 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:38.120 protests in Seattle. It was a very deliberate, 00:06:38.199 --> 00:06:40.839 painstaking attempt to build a working microcosm 00:06:40.839 --> 00:06:43.160 of the perfectly equal society they wanted to 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:45.319 see. Which brings us to a mechanism they used 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:48.000 called the stack. When you have thousands of 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:51.060 people wanting to talk, you need a cue. But in 00:06:51.060 --> 00:06:53.420 New York City, They utilized what was known as 00:06:53.420 --> 00:06:55.540 a progressive stack. I want to make sure I understand 00:06:55.540 --> 00:06:58.300 this correctly. How did that alter a normal first 00:06:58.300 --> 00:07:00.800 -come, first -served line? So instead of letting 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:02.920 people speak in the exact order they raised their 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:05.660 hands, the assembly facilitators would actively 00:07:05.660 --> 00:07:08.000 urge people from marginalized groups like women, 00:07:08.139 --> 00:07:11.699 people of color, and the LGBTQ community to step 00:07:11.699 --> 00:07:13.819 forward and speak before people from historically 00:07:13.819 --> 00:07:16.759 dominant groups. Like white males. Exactly. Those 00:07:16.759 --> 00:07:19.560 dominant groups were asked to step back and wait 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:22.050 their turn. And this practice became a massive 00:07:22.050 --> 00:07:25.670 flashpoint of debate. Inside the camp, facilitators 00:07:25.670 --> 00:07:28.170 viewed the progressive stack as a necessary correction, 00:07:28.449 --> 00:07:30.990 a practical way of giving a voice to the voiceless 00:07:30.990 --> 00:07:33.449 in a society that had traditionally silenced 00:07:33.449 --> 00:07:36.550 them. But outside the movement, critics pointed 00:07:36.550 --> 00:07:39.589 to it as fundamentally unfair. They labeled it 00:07:39.589 --> 00:07:42.230 a form of forced equality that judged speakers 00:07:42.230 --> 00:07:44.470 by their demographics rather than the merit of 00:07:44.470 --> 00:07:47.389 their ideas. And that tension over how to operate. 00:07:48.180 --> 00:07:51.500 extended to their protest tactics as well. Initially, 00:07:51.560 --> 00:07:53.639 there was a strict commitment to nonviolence. 00:07:54.259 --> 00:07:56.300 Protesters heavily referenced the writings of 00:07:56.300 --> 00:07:59.060 Dr. Gene Sharp, specifically his renowned list 00:07:59.060 --> 00:08:02.220 of 198 methods of nonviolent action. Which had 00:08:02.220 --> 00:08:04.300 also heavily influenced the Arab Spring activists. 00:08:04.980 --> 00:08:07.560 Precisely. They even organized study groups inside 00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:09.680 the camps to read his book from dictatorship 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:12.279 to democracy. But a study group doesn't necessarily 00:08:12.279 --> 00:08:14.800 hold up when thousands of angry people are crammed 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:17.500 into a city square. Did everyone agree to just 00:08:17.500 --> 00:08:20.160 read books and remain entirely passive? Not at 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:22.769 all. While the vast majority remained peaceful, 00:08:23.029 --> 00:08:25.769 severe internal divides surfaced as the occupation 00:08:25.769 --> 00:08:29.029 stretched on. Some internal factions, notably 00:08:29.029 --> 00:08:31.529 the Direct Action Working Group of Occupy Wall 00:08:31.529 --> 00:08:34.590 Street, began endorsing a concept called a diversity 00:08:34.590 --> 00:08:36.669 of tactics. What does that mean in practice? 00:08:37.029 --> 00:08:39.049 It meant that while they might not initiate violence 00:08:39.049 --> 00:08:42.169 themselves, they were open to much more confrontational, 00:08:42.169 --> 00:08:45.190 disruptive methods that pushed the absolute boundaries 00:08:45.190 --> 00:08:48.250 of strict nonviolence. This ideological split 00:08:48.250 --> 00:08:50.440 created serious friction within the the camps 00:08:50.440 --> 00:08:52.519 and ultimately complicated their public image. 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:55.399 Here's where it gets really interesting, because 00:08:55.399 --> 00:08:58.159 the way the local authorities responded to those 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:00.919 tactics is actually what poured gasoline on the 00:09:00.919 --> 00:09:04.279 fire. Two major incidents involving the New York 00:09:04.279 --> 00:09:06.620 Police Department on the Brooklyn Bridge completely 00:09:06.620 --> 00:09:09.419 shifted the public momentum. Yeah, September 00:09:09.419 --> 00:09:12.139 24th was a turning point. On September 24th, 00:09:12.139 --> 00:09:15.080 2011, during a march uptown, police utilized 00:09:15.080 --> 00:09:18.360 a crowd control technique called kettling. Can 00:09:18.360 --> 00:09:20.139 you explain what kettling looks like on the ground? 00:09:20.360 --> 00:09:23.440 Kettling is when law enforcement uses large cordons 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:26.399 in this case. They used massive orange plastic 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:29.620 nets to physically surround, isolate, and trap 00:09:29.620 --> 00:09:32.659 a large group of protesters in a confined space. 00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:35.440 Leaving them no route to disperse. Exactly. Trapping 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:37.169 them. And while they were trapped in those orange 00:09:37.169 --> 00:09:39.269 nets, a police official named Deputy Inspector 00:09:39.269 --> 00:09:42.389 Anthony Bologna was caught on video walking up 00:09:42.389 --> 00:09:45.110 and pepper spraying several penned -in, entirely 00:09:45.110 --> 00:09:47.610 peaceful female demonstrators right in the face. 00:09:47.750 --> 00:09:49.950 And that video went absolutely everywhere online. 00:09:50.309 --> 00:09:53.870 Yes. That specific visual was jarring for the 00:09:53.870 --> 00:09:56.809 general public. It generated a massive spike 00:09:56.809 --> 00:09:59.370 in sympathetic media coverage. People who had 00:09:59.370 --> 00:10:02.009 previously ignored the protests were suddenly 00:10:02.009 --> 00:10:04.809 paying very close attention. And that outrage 00:10:04.809 --> 00:10:07.850 fueled an even larger march the very next week 00:10:07.850 --> 00:10:10.509 on October 1st, leading right across the Brooklyn 00:10:10.509 --> 00:10:13.490 Bridge. And that march ended with over 700 people 00:10:13.490 --> 00:10:16.250 being arrested on the bridge that day. Protesters 00:10:16.250 --> 00:10:18.279 claim the police actually tripped them. They 00:10:18.279 --> 00:10:20.299 said police stepped back to allow them onto the 00:10:20.299 --> 00:10:22.919 vehicular roadway, escorted them partway across 00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:25.399 the bridge, and then suddenly trapped and arrested 00:10:25.399 --> 00:10:28.740 them en masse. Which led to a major years -long 00:10:28.740 --> 00:10:30.600 lawsuit against the city. Yes, and a federal 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:32.539 judge eventually ruled in favor of the protesters, 00:10:32.840 --> 00:10:35.399 stating they had not received sufficient or audible 00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:38.940 warnings before the trap was sprung. These heavy 00:10:38.940 --> 00:10:41.139 -handed police tactics didn't squash the movement. 00:10:41.299 --> 00:10:44.509 They acted like a giant megaphone. Which culminates 00:10:44.509 --> 00:10:47.830 in October 15th, 2011, the global day of action. 00:10:47.929 --> 00:10:50.169 The peak of the movement. This is when we see 00:10:50.169 --> 00:10:52.889 the sheer unprecedented scale hitting its absolute 00:10:52.889 --> 00:10:56.230 peak. Fueled by the viral imagery coming out 00:10:56.230 --> 00:10:58.889 of New York, protests erupted almost simultaneously 00:10:58.889 --> 00:11:03.169 in 951 cities across 82 different countries. 00:11:03.350 --> 00:11:06.090 The contrast in how these global protests played 00:11:06.090 --> 00:11:09.639 out is wildly fascinating. We have over 900 cities, 00:11:09.659 --> 00:11:12.419 so let's look at a few distinct examples. Tell 00:11:12.419 --> 00:11:14.279 me about what happened in Hong Kong. In Hong 00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:17.220 Kong, protesters set up a highly organized, peaceful 00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:20.360 occupation in the public plaza directly beneath 00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:23.580 the iconic HSBC main building. Wow. Right under 00:11:23.580 --> 00:11:25.879 the bank. Right under it. And they managed to 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:28.480 sustain that specific camp, living and organizing 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:30.519 in the shadow of one of the world's largest banks 00:11:30.519 --> 00:11:33.440 for nearly a full year before finally being evicted 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:35.500 by court bailiffs. Then you look at Nigeria. 00:11:35.799 --> 00:11:38.399 This wasn't just tents in a plaza. Occupy Nigeria 00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:40.639 practically shut down the country's infrastructure. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:43.120 The Nigerian movement began in early January 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:45.559 2012, and it was triggered by the president's 00:11:45.559 --> 00:11:48.159 sudden removal of fuel subsidies. Why was that 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:50.759 such a flashpoint? Because for the everyday Nigerian 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:53.679 citizen, that subsidy was one of the few tangible 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:56.279 benefits they received from their country's massive 00:11:56.279 --> 00:11:59.870 oil wealth. Removing it essentially doubled the 00:11:59.870 --> 00:12:02.269 cost of basic transportation and food overnight. 00:12:02.529 --> 00:12:05.070 So they took to the streets. The Occupy protests 00:12:05.070 --> 00:12:08.330 there morphed into massive nationwide strikes 00:12:08.330 --> 00:12:11.830 that paralyzed major cities. And it worked to 00:12:11.830 --> 00:12:14.889 a significant degree. The economic pressure successfully 00:12:14.889 --> 00:12:17.309 forced the president to partially restore the 00:12:17.309 --> 00:12:20.350 fuel subsidies just two weeks later. That sounds 00:12:20.350 --> 00:12:23.029 incredibly unified and productive. But then... 00:12:23.259 --> 00:12:24.820 You contrast those events with what happened 00:12:24.820 --> 00:12:27.779 in Rome during that initial October 15th Global 00:12:27.779 --> 00:12:29.879 Day of Action. Rome was a very different story. 00:12:30.059 --> 00:12:32.259 Very different. While thousands of peaceful citizens 00:12:32.259 --> 00:12:34.960 gathered to protest economic inequality, the 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:37.799 crowd was infiltrated by masked militants. Extreme 00:12:37.799 --> 00:12:40.279 violence erupted. These militants burned cars, 00:12:40.539 --> 00:12:43.080 smashed bank windows, and caused over 1 million 00:12:43.080 --> 00:12:46.580 euros in property damage. It was chaos. 135 people 00:12:46.580 --> 00:12:49.139 were injured, including 105 police officers. 00:12:49.460 --> 00:12:52.779 They even broke into a local church and destroyed 00:12:52.779 --> 00:12:56.779 a historic statue of the Virgin Mary. It is a 00:12:56.779 --> 00:12:58.960 stark reminder of how a single, decentralized, 00:12:59.320 --> 00:13:02.879 global call to action can manifest in drastically 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:05.580 different, sometimes destructive ways depending 00:13:05.580 --> 00:13:07.830 on the local environment. If we connect this 00:13:07.830 --> 00:13:10.610 to the bigger picture, that very decentralization, 00:13:10.789 --> 00:13:13.110 the lack of leadership that allowed it to spread 00:13:13.110 --> 00:13:15.190 so quickly became a fatal vulnerability when 00:13:15.190 --> 00:13:17.429 the authorities decided to push back. Right. 00:13:17.509 --> 00:13:20.769 Starting around November 14th, 2011, there was 00:13:20.769 --> 00:13:23.649 a highly coordinated crackdown by municipal authorities 00:13:23.649 --> 00:13:25.850 around the world to permanently clear the physical 00:13:25.850 --> 00:13:28.429 camps. And these were not polite, gentle evictions. 00:13:29.029 --> 00:13:31.789 Police forcibly clear Zuccotti Park in New York 00:13:31.789 --> 00:13:34.330 during a chaotic middle of the night raid, throwing 00:13:34.330 --> 00:13:36.580 tents and personal belongings into garbage. truck. 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:39.139 It was very sudden. In Oakland, California, the 00:13:39.139 --> 00:13:42.919 police clearance was particularly brutal. A street 00:13:42.919 --> 00:13:45.919 march protesting the camp's closure led to a 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:49.559 severe confrontation where Scott Olson, a former 00:13:49.559 --> 00:13:52.460 Marine and Iraq War veteran, suffered a fractured 00:13:52.460 --> 00:13:55.679 skull. He was hit directly in the head by a police 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:58.340 projectile, like a tear gas or smoke canister. 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:00.740 Camps in London and across the United States 00:14:00.740 --> 00:14:03.659 face similar synchronized riot police evictions. 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:06.299 It all happens so fast. But what is truly remarkable, 00:14:06.580 --> 00:14:08.879 however, is the level of surveillance the movement 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:11.360 was under before those crackdowns even occurred. 00:14:11.580 --> 00:14:14.639 This detail blew my mind. According to government 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:16.679 documents released much later through the Freedom 00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:19.299 of Information Act, the FBI and the Department 00:14:19.299 --> 00:14:22.000 of Homeland Security were monitoring the Occupy 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:24.820 movement as early as August 2011. Before the 00:14:24.820 --> 00:14:27.019 occupation even started. Exactly. They formed 00:14:27.019 --> 00:14:29.120 a partnership called the Domestic Security Alliance 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:32.460 Council. Through this council, federal law enforcement 00:14:32.460 --> 00:14:34.799 was actually pooling intelligence and coordinating 00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:37.320 directly with the private security forces of 00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:40.120 major Wall Street banks to target Occupy protesters. 00:14:40.840 --> 00:14:43.259 The fact that federal agencies were sharing intelligence 00:14:43.259 --> 00:14:46.519 with the very financial institutions being protested, 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:49.240 it underscores how seriously the establishment 00:14:49.240 --> 00:14:52.580 took this perceived threat. But as the physical 00:14:52.580 --> 00:14:55.120 camps were swept away, the movement also faced 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:58.159 intense scrutiny and severe criticism from both 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:00.419 within its own ranks and from outside observers. 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:02.879 Yeah. Let's talk about the criticisms. For instance, 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:05.059 the American political philosopher Jody Dean 00:15:05.059 --> 00:15:07.620 argued that the movement's absolute obsession 00:15:07.620 --> 00:15:10.210 with leaderlessness and autonomy is what but 00:15:10.210 --> 00:15:13.330 ultimately doomed it. How so? She suggested that 00:15:13.330 --> 00:15:15.669 refusing to build a formal structure paved the 00:15:15.669 --> 00:15:18.230 way for internal conflicts. It caused a kind 00:15:18.230 --> 00:15:21.370 of toxic paranoia whenever natural leaders inevitably 00:15:21.370 --> 00:15:24.909 tried to emerge, which led to the total dissolution 00:15:24.909 --> 00:15:27.389 of their organizational power. There were also 00:15:27.389 --> 00:15:29.649 very serious accusations regarding antisemitism 00:15:29.649 --> 00:15:32.590 within the protests. Our sources note that there 00:15:32.590 --> 00:15:35.210 were instances of antisemitic slogans, conspiracy 00:15:35.210 --> 00:15:38.009 theories, and signage present at several Occupy 00:15:38.009 --> 00:15:39.779 events. Yes, that was a significant... issue 00:15:39.779 --> 00:15:43.080 raised by critics. Addressing this, Abraham Foxman, 00:15:43.179 --> 00:15:45.159 the national director of the Anti -Defamation 00:15:45.159 --> 00:15:48.610 League, offered a perspective. He stated that 00:15:48.610 --> 00:15:51.210 while it is not surprising that a massive protest 00:15:51.210 --> 00:15:53.690 focused on banking and finance might attract 00:15:53.690 --> 00:15:56.769 bigots clinging to hateful stereotypes, those 00:15:56.769 --> 00:16:00.009 specific individuals were not expressing or representing 00:16:00.009 --> 00:16:02.490 the larger view of the movement. We also have 00:16:02.490 --> 00:16:04.950 to look at the actual demographics of the people 00:16:04.950 --> 00:16:07.090 sleeping in the parks and marching in the streets. 00:16:07.210 --> 00:16:09.710 Right. The data on who was actually there. According 00:16:09.710 --> 00:16:12.490 to data presented by a senior fellow at the Brookings 00:16:12.490 --> 00:16:15.710 Institution, over a third of the demonstrators 00:16:15.710 --> 00:16:19.019 at the May Day. 2011 Occupy March actually had 00:16:19.019 --> 00:16:21.679 annual household earnings of more than $100 ,000. 00:16:21.899 --> 00:16:25.039 Wait, really? So a huge chunk of the people protesting 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:27.299 the ultra -wealthy were actually quite wealthy 00:16:27.299 --> 00:16:29.820 themselves? Statistically, yes. The Brookings 00:16:29.820 --> 00:16:31.740 author suggested that rather than looking up 00:16:31.740 --> 00:16:34.379 in resentment at the top 1%, the upper middle 00:16:34.379 --> 00:16:36.539 class participating in these protests might do 00:16:36.539 --> 00:16:38.580 well to look at their own privileged position 00:16:38.580 --> 00:16:41.120 compared to the millions of people falling further 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:43.500 and further behind at the absolute bottom of 00:16:43.500 --> 00:16:46.080 the economy. It's a fascinating irony to consider. 00:16:46.220 --> 00:16:49.080 It just shows how complex the motivations behind 00:16:49.080 --> 00:16:51.419 this movement really were. Absolutely. But even 00:16:51.419 --> 00:16:53.799 with the physical camps gone, and despite the 00:16:53.799 --> 00:16:56.940 internal contradictions and the tear gas, Occupy 00:16:56.940 --> 00:16:59.659 didn't just evaporate. It evolved. It took on 00:16:59.659 --> 00:17:02.799 new forms. The activists took the massive networks 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:04.740 they had built in the parks and channeled them 00:17:04.740 --> 00:17:07.960 into highly specific causes. For example, when 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:10.339 Hurricane Sandy devastated the New York area, 00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:14.220 a massive mutual aid campaign called Occupy Sandy 00:17:14.220 --> 00:17:16.900 emerged. Which was incredibly effective. They 00:17:16.900 --> 00:17:19.099 used their decentralized logistics to provide 00:17:19.099 --> 00:17:22.000 crucial, immediate relief to flooded communities, 00:17:22.259 --> 00:17:25.259 often moving much faster than official government 00:17:25.259 --> 00:17:29.180 agencies like FEMA. There was also Occupy Homes, 00:17:29.319 --> 00:17:31.700 an offshoot that fought against big banks by 00:17:31.700 --> 00:17:34.319 reoccupying foreclosed houses and physically 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:36.500 blocking police evictions to keep vulnerable 00:17:36.500 --> 00:17:38.920 families off the street. Perhaps one of the most 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:41.900 tangible, lasting successes to come out of the 00:17:41.900 --> 00:17:43.980 movement's evolution was a project called the 00:17:43.980 --> 00:17:46.440 Rolling Jubilee, organized by an offshoot group 00:17:46.440 --> 00:17:48.599 called Strike Debt. OK, tell us about Strike 00:17:48.599 --> 00:17:50.890 Debt. They essentially weaponized the mechanics 00:17:50.890 --> 00:17:53.809 of the financial system against itself. They 00:17:53.809 --> 00:17:56.430 raised money through donations to buy up what 00:17:56.430 --> 00:17:59.410 is called zombie debt. Things like defaulted 00:17:59.410 --> 00:18:01.990 medical bills and private student loans. Hold 00:18:01.990 --> 00:18:04.650 on, let me get an ELI 5 on this. How do you just 00:18:04.650 --> 00:18:07.089 buy a stranger's medical bill? When a hospital 00:18:07.089 --> 00:18:09.450 or credit card company realizes you can't pay 00:18:09.450 --> 00:18:11.910 your bill, they eventually write it off as a 00:18:11.910 --> 00:18:15.279 loss. They then bundle thousands of these defaulted 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:17.539 accounts together and sell them on a secondary 00:18:17.539 --> 00:18:20.700 market to debt collection agencies for pennies 00:18:20.700 --> 00:18:23.420 on the dollar. It's like buying storage lockers 00:18:23.420 --> 00:18:26.099 blind. The Rolling Jubilee realized they could 00:18:26.099 --> 00:18:28.619 step into that secondary market and buy massive 00:18:28.619 --> 00:18:31.619 bundles of debt for very little money. But instead 00:18:31.619 --> 00:18:33.940 of hiring debt collectors to harass people for 00:18:33.940 --> 00:18:36.359 the full amount, they simply forgave the debt. 00:18:36.650 --> 00:18:38.849 That is brilliant. They mailed letters to everyday 00:18:38.849 --> 00:18:40.809 people telling them their medical bills were 00:18:40.809 --> 00:18:44.390 zeroed out. By April 2015, our sources indicate 00:18:44.390 --> 00:18:47.829 they had cleared nearly $32 million in debt. 00:18:48.029 --> 00:18:49.990 So what does this all mean? When you zoom out 00:18:49.990 --> 00:18:53.470 and look at the entire chaotic picture. The viral 00:18:53.470 --> 00:18:55.829 ballerina posters, the corporate board meetings 00:18:55.829 --> 00:18:58.769 run with jazz hands, the police crackdowns, the 00:18:58.769 --> 00:19:01.029 massive debt forgiveness. What is the ultimate 00:19:01.029 --> 00:19:03.910 legacy of the Occupy movement? The ultimate victory 00:19:03.910 --> 00:19:06.349 of Occupy Wall Street was never about holding 00:19:06.349 --> 00:19:08.769 a small piece of park real estate in lower Manhattan. 00:19:09.109 --> 00:19:11.849 It was about fundamentally shifting the global 00:19:11.849 --> 00:19:14.210 political discourse. The conversation itself. 00:19:14.690 --> 00:19:16.930 Right. Think about the years right before 2011. 00:19:17.690 --> 00:19:19.829 The dominant conversation in media and politics 00:19:19.829 --> 00:19:22.470 was almost entirely focused on the federal budget 00:19:22.470 --> 00:19:25.970 deficit, cutting taxes and implementing austerity. 00:19:26.029 --> 00:19:27.869 Yeah, that was all anyone talked about. Occupy 00:19:27.869 --> 00:19:30.789 forced a violent, sudden pivot. It permanently 00:19:30.789 --> 00:19:33.390 injected the vocabulary of the 99 percent and 00:19:33.390 --> 00:19:35.130 the one percent into the global consciousness. 00:19:35.450 --> 00:19:38.430 It forced everyone from cable news anchors to 00:19:38.430 --> 00:19:41.289 local politicians to start talking about income 00:19:41.289 --> 00:19:43.720 inequality. It totally changed the framing. It 00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:46.599 was so wildly influential that it actually shaped 00:19:46.599 --> 00:19:48.980 the political space for President Obama's 2012 00:19:48.980 --> 00:19:51.839 State of the Union address, pushing his rhetoric 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:53.940 to heavily address the necessity of the rich 00:19:53.940 --> 00:19:56.759 paying a greater share of the tax burden. They 00:19:56.759 --> 00:19:59.220 didn't pass a specific law, but they changed 00:19:59.220 --> 00:20:02.140 the very words we use to describe our own economy. 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:04.700 I want you to think about that, Lerner. Think 00:20:04.700 --> 00:20:07.000 about the media you consume today, the political 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:09.359 debates you watch, the way politicians constantly 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:12.079 talk about wealth hoarding, billionaire taxes, 00:20:12.140 --> 00:20:14.970 and the sh**. shrinking middle class. So much 00:20:14.970 --> 00:20:17.089 of the modern framing of those arguments traces 00:20:17.089 --> 00:20:19.829 its roots directly back to those protesters freezing 00:20:19.829 --> 00:20:22.900 in a Manhattan park in the fall of 2011. This 00:20:22.900 --> 00:20:25.000 raises an important question, one that gets to 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:27.000 the very heart of how we enact change in the 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:29.619 modern era. Did the Occupy movement's stubborn 00:20:29.619 --> 00:20:32.140 refusal to elect traditional leaders and issue 00:20:32.140 --> 00:20:34.779 a single list of concrete demands guarantee that 00:20:34.779 --> 00:20:36.700 its physical camps would inevitably collapse 00:20:36.700 --> 00:20:39.680 under their own weight? Or, conversely, was that 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:42.779 exact leaderless, horizontal blueprint the necessary 00:20:42.779 --> 00:20:46.099 experimental prototype for every massive, decentralized, 00:20:46.740 --> 00:20:49.380 hashtag -driven social movement that has defined 00:20:49.380 --> 00:20:53.069 global activism ever since? the kind of question 00:20:53.069 --> 00:20:56.190 that keeps us doing these deep dives. Something 00:20:56.190 --> 00:20:58.670 for you to mull over as you navigate the news 00:20:58.670 --> 00:21:01.589 and the systems around you today. Keep questioning 00:21:01.589 --> 00:21:03.750 the world around you. Keep looking for the bigger 00:21:03.750 --> 00:21:05.769 picture and we will catch you on the next one.