MONICA SZAKACS — News Editor
Standing on a park bench, preaching to hundreds that gathered at the New Haven town green, Scott Marks, New Haven resident, said the people of the working class are the majority.
“The Tea Party brought themselves together to demand the wrong direction that America should go,” said Marks.
People came together Saturday for Occupy New Haven, a subset of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Occupants around the nation are protesting against corporate influence on democracy.
Marks said he believes manufacturing died in the community and this combined with the destruction of unions has led to the concentration of wealth among 1 percent of the populations.
“Why am I here?” said Marks. “It resulted in good people dying on the street from violence in New Haven. Enough is enough.”
In January 2010 the Supreme Court ruled corporations are people and money is speech. In a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of unlimited corporate and special interest donations to political candidates and campaigns. David French, 80-year-old West Haven resident and first time protester, said he disagrees with the Supreme Court decision.
“I’ve been a Republican for 40 years and I am no longer a Republican,” said French. “I say I didn’t leave the party, the party left me. This government has gone much too far to the extreme right. They are extremists trying to take over the government. I and millions of other Americans are fed up and we need to do something about it.”
There were other protesters such as Kelly Hanna, New Haven resident, who are skeptical about the alternate motives of the Occupy demonstration.
“When you get a group of people together with emotion, they can be easily manipulated, so I want people to be aware of it and that it can turn against them,” said Hanna. “I don’t think we are addressing the issue, such as banks, because they are behind finances.”
Hanna, who is also the representative for Medmob (a group organized for people who want to “flash” meditate in the New Haven area), said she came to advocate about meditation, because she said it is a way to be pre-aware of all the filters of the demonstration. Hanna also stressed her concerns of a backlash because of the protests. She used the recent Brooklyn Bridge incident where 700 protesters were arrested for walking on the roadway after being told by police to stay on the sidewalk. She asked, “Why wasn’t there traffic?” The reply she got was that “it was an orchestrated event.”
“I feel we are in a crisis now since this globalized,” said Hanna. “I’m afraid for us. It can really turn against us. If you create a problem there will be a reaction. The President has the authority to declare marshal law and it can turn into a global military state.”
Hans Schoenburg, New Haven resident, disagreed with Hanna and spoke out against corporate greed alongside protesters.
“I support the movement wholeheartedly. I’m proud of it,” said Shoenburg. “It makes me proud of my generation. I want a fundamental shift with the national political debate, but mostly I want people to participate in Gift Flow as an alternative to Wall Street.”
Gift Flow’s headquarters is located in New Haven, but it caters to people around the country. It’s a database of free goods and services. It’s a social network where people can post what they need and post resources, which are the gifts.
“It’s a way to give away and save waste, basically to get what you need without money to prevent waste,” said Shoenburg. “This movement is inspiring. The reason I’m here is because it’s a positive solution. It’s an inclusive economy.”
