The following Occupy Wall Street definition is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.  The following definition of Occupy Wall Street was retrieved from Wikipedia on October 25, 2011 from the website page of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_Wall_Street (Occupy Wall Street). We may update this definition from time to time at our discretion.  Possibly, making text updates and possibly updating links, etc.  We suggest that you utilize the version at Wikipedia if you wish to view a non altered version.  Regarding the references listed (footnotes), they are numbered and are listed at the end of the section (not at the bottom of each page). Please visit the Occupy Wall Street at Wikipedia for the most complete version including more recent updates. Occupy Wall Street Pg. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Demands and goals

Perceptions vary as to the specific goals of the movement.  According to Adbusters, a primary protest organizer, the central demand of the protest is that President Obama "ordain a Presidential Commission tasked with ending the influence money has over our representatives in Washington". Documentary film maker Michael Moore said that this protest, unlike others, represents a variety of demands with a common statement, about government corruption and the excessive influence of big business and the wealthiest 1% on U.S. laws and policies. Some protesters say that the President has become irrelevant, and that the other 99% should lead and inspire change.  Some media reports characterize Occupy as being opposed to capitalism, and quote participants who are opposed to capitalism.

Focus

The protest has been criticized for lack of focus and actionable agenda. Ginia Bellafante wrote in The New York Times, "The group’s lack of cohesion and its apparent wish to pantomime progressivism rather than practice it knowledgeably is unsettling in the face of the challenges so many of its generation face – finding work, repaying student loans, figuring out ways to finish college when money has run out." Glenn Greenwald responded, "Does anyone really not know what the basic message is of this protest: that Wall Street is oozing corruption and criminality and its unrestrained political power—in the form of crony capitalism and ownership of political institutions—is destroying financial security for everyone else?"

After two weeks, wrote Salon, the encampment split along two lines: those who want to draft focused demands about the unequal distribution of wealth in the United States; and those who want the protest to remain amorphous and to grow through spectacle.

A "proposal" forum post on occupywallst.org submitted by a single user was misreported as an official list of demands.  According to the admin-edited forum post, "[the] content was not published by the OccupyWallSt.org collective, nor was it ever proposed or agreed to on a consensus basis with the NYC General Assembly. There is NO official list of demands."  Participatory online discussion forums have been emerging for citizens to submit and vote for specific agenda items.

On October 8, an editorial in the New York Times said it is not the job of the protesters to draft legislation; that’s the job of the nation’s leaders, and if they had been doing it all along there might not be a need for these marches and rallies. Because they have not, the public airing of grievances is a legitimate and important end in itself, the Times said. When interviewed by CNBC, a woman who had traveled to the NYC protest from her occupy group in Maine said, “I don’t think we should issue a list of demands at all. That’s not what this is about. It’s about creating a new kind of community, of showing people a new way of relating to one another."

On October 12, the Washington Post asked Kalle Lasn about how he saw the global revolution playing out and how he responded to the criticism of the movement being leaderless and having no focus. He replied, "The initial phase of the revolution, what we are seeing right now, is leaderless, and the protesters are not hopping into bed with any party, even the Democratic party ... As the winter approaches, I think there will be different phases and ideas, possibly fragmentation into different agendas. I think crystal-clear demands will emanate ... The messy, leaderless, demandless movement has launched a national conversation of the likes that we haven’t had in 20 years. That’s as good as it gets! Not every one needs to have a leader with clear demands. That’s the old way of launching revolutions. This revolution is run by the Internet generation, with egalitarian ways of looking at things, and an inclusive process of getting everyone involved. That’s the magic of it."

Demands Working Group

On October 15, an Occupy Wall Street "Demands Working Group" was formed and established a list of solutions. including a call for a national convention to be held July 4, 2012, in Philadelphia. However, New York City General Assembly official statements have been agreed upon by consensus, and not all participants agree with issuing demands. In an email to Huffington Post, General Assembly member Ryan Hoffman said, "Demands have come up before [but] they were shot down vociferously under the argument that demands are for terrorists and that is not who we are. From that debate however, another proposal was passed: that we table all talk of demands until future notice! Therefore, any talk about demands, posts of demands, etc. are null and void. We already tabled those discussions using consensus." The Goals Working Group may produce an alternative document.

Participants

Leadership

According to Fordham University communications professor Paul Levinson, the Occupy Wall Street and related movements represent a resurgence of direct democracy where people collectively make decisions for themselves without having elected leaders. Academics who study grassroots democracy are searching for historical examples of leaderless movements as major political parties contemplate how to embrace or distance themselves from the protesters.