Global OccupyWallStreet protests supported by Europe politicians; GOP politicians call it Communism

[Sarah Ibarruri]

Why Is Occupy Wall Street Going Global?
By Christopher Alessi
Oct 18 2011, 9:19 AM ET 3

The Occupy Wall Street protests that began in New York City a month ago gained worldwide momentum over the weekend, as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in nine hundred cities protested corporate greed and wealth inequality. Protesters from London to Sydney echoed the anti-capitalist, populist rhetoric of the Occupy movement in what was deemed a "global day of protest".

Critics of the Occupy protesters say they are naïve and incoherent; others accuse them of being anything from Communists to anarchists. However, many proponents see the Occupy movement as a nascent populist counterweight to the Tea Party movement. The Occupy protesters "represent a genuine spark of grassroots political action--a chance, finally, to redeem the promise of Obama's 2008 campaign," write John B. Judis and Jonathan Cohn in the New Republic. However, Cornell University professor Sidney Tarrow cautions against seeing the Occupy movement through the lens of the Tea Party: The former has few policy plans and is comprised of a "shifting configuration of supporters".

European leaders were more unequivocal in their support of the weekend protesters, openly sympathizing with widespread anger at the continent's big banks. German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble said he was taking the protests "very seriously," while incoming European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said, "The young people have a right to be furious." In the UK, Foreign Minister William Hague acknowledged, "in the banking system a lot has gone wrong." The protests in Europe have an even greater sense of urgency than in the United States, as policymakers call for recapitalizing European banks to avoid sovereign debt contagion from Greece.

See full article here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/10/why-is-occupy-wall-street-going-global/246879/