Occupy Baltimore wants to hit corporations at home
Citizens participating in Occupy Baltimore protest financial institutions and corporations at the corner of Light Street and Pratt Street downtown. - Kaitlin Newman/ The Towerlight
Occupy Wall Street, the group of protestors who claim U.S. corporations are monopolizing money and believe the nation’s financial system will collapse in its current state, have begun a new tactic that may rub off on other Occupy groups, including Occupy Baltimore.
On Tuesday, approximately 500 anti-Wall Street protestors marched past the homes of some of the richest executives in the country, chanting that the wealthy need to pay more taxes and expressing the unfairness of the current financial situation.
Towson senior anthropology and Latin studies major Tim Fadden attended some of the Occupy Wall Street protests and is now focusing his attention on Occupy Baltimore. Fadden said participants of Occupy Baltimore won’t be able to mimic Occupy Wall Street’s new means of protest because Baltimore isn’t a city filled with millionaires.
But protesters can still target large financial corporations, according to Fadden.
“[People] will see us camped out in front of the three or four biggest banks in the United States at the cross of Light and Baltimore Streets. All the banks stand within range of each other,” he said. “We want to be a presence and a physical space for more people to see what participatory democracy looks like. It’s a great way to educate people while bringing attention to the matter at hand.
The local forecast calls for showers within the coming days, and Fadden said that this will be an opportunity for protestors to show they’re in this for the long haul.
“There’s rain coming up. This’ll be a chance to show how Occupy Baltimore responds to the weather, and I think they’ll respond to it well,” he said. ”The commitment is much larger than you think. We’re all just that committed.”
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I noticed that, where you this group is camped, has ready access to food centers, bathrooms, and such. Frankly, I am not impressed at the display of anti-capitalism. The biggest problem I see is that all of the tents, wrapped hammocks, and such were all store bought. There is not one person who was there on their own skills and means. I laugh at them every afternoon on my way home.
Um Mr (or Ms?) Russell, well, you would be surprised at just how many millionaires DO live in Baltimore; well, actually, they live in select neighborhoods in Baltimore City, and in Baltimore County (Worthington Valley, Ruxton, Brooklandville, McDonough, Sparks, and on up through the north and west of the county.) You’re just not aware of them. They live in the county, and have their offices in the financial banking district downtown around the harbor and the courthouse, and also in and around Towson and Hunt Valley. That’s where these people are, and there are bunches of them. Downtown Baltimore (the central business district) turned into Little Wall Street almost 10 years ago. What? you think the Harbor is what makes Baltimore go? Think again. Baltimore financial/legal is a powerful link and conduit now between Wall Street and Washington DC.
About the comment from Marc about camping outside at the harbor, you just don’t understand that this isn’t about camping in the wilderness, “survivalism,” OR not having stuff bought from stores or corporations. That’s absurd. It is not about “There is not one person who was there on their own skills and means.” It’s about getting focused attention put right on top of the HUGE corporations, mostly all of them banks, to face up to the fact that the economy was destroyed by them because of their recklessness and the bank bailouts (free money!!!!). This protest is about caring about *everybody* — about how everybody is affected by the collapse of Main Street where EVERYBODY makes a profit; it is *not* about just caring about yourself where only *you* make a profit. I hope that helps students understand just how the world is a complicated problem to solve.
Some people regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Not enough people see it as a healthy horse, pulling a sturdy wagon.
~ Winston Churchill
I’m excited that The Towerlight has written articles on Occupy Wall Street and now Occupy Baltimore but this could be expanded dramtically. There are no statements from the people down at Occupy Baltimore, there is no information about the General Assemblies we hold every day, and there is much more to the Occupy Wall Street occupiers who marched to millionaires’ homes. If your photographer was able to make it down to the Inner Harbor to snap a few pictures of the occupiers, why didn’t you all talk to the people that were standing right there!? Also, there are a handful of students here in Towson who are engaged in Occupy Baltimore on a very intimate level. Where are there voices? Did you search for them?
And as Jeff said, there ARE a number of millionaires that live in Baltimore. I was sitting across from Tim when he was on the phone with you and you misinterpreted what he said. The occupiers in New York marched to the homes of CEO Jamie Dimon, billionaire David Koch, John Paulson, Howard Milstein, and CEO Rupert Murdoch. These people represent the 1% at its best. There is simply not that dynamic here in Baltimore so it would be pointless to do a march to millionaires’ homes downtown. I’m sure if you would have done more research you would have made that connection.
I’m loving the coverage, but I’m quite disappointed with the lackluster way it has been written.
This is NOT… I REPEAT, NOT a class war. It’s not about “Where the Rich People Are”. If you want to pin point where the millionaires are in Maryland you are not really understanding what the movement is about and you are drawing lines/evoking paranoia. Corporate greed is the target. The march on specific %1 homes in NYC was well researched and they didn’t just visit a rich neighborhood to yell at them for being rich. The gesture seems to me to be more symbolic.
God you people are so foolish. You have no concept of economics or market causality, yet you insist on making these short-sighted, supposedly enlightened remarks. You seriously think the best course of action would have been to let the major banks fail? Give me a break. Shut up and go get a job. I work for what I have and don’t blame other people for what I don’t. If you hate corporate America so much, go learn a trade. Become a welder or mechanic or organic farmer and contribute something to society, instead of sitting around with your anthropology or sociology degrees with nothing to do. Talk about greed – you want to tax the people who worked hard and are successful because of it? Ummm, yeah, you have a engrossing sense of morality.
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