Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street Movements - Essay Example

The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street (OWS) are both populist movements; however their approach towards the masses tends to differ. In many aspects, OWS is a representation of Tea Party. While to Tea Party the government is an enemy to the OWS the enemy is the big corporations. The major difference between tea party and OWS is that while in Tea Party is members are unified by desire for less government, lesser taxes and more freedom, OWS members are unified by disinterest for wealth and take advantage of the movements incapacity to set practical initiatives. Both movements have their similarities and difference. The differences can be analyzed in terms of: Who Participates In the Movements? While tea party s made up of more male and more wealth people, Occupy Wall street is made up of the younger who are more socially and ethically widespread. Tea party participants are majorly anti-tax protesters who with democratic and conformist viewpoints according to Writers for the 99%. (2011). Contrary, the participants of OWS include Canadian activists groups known as Adbusters which has caused occupy movements and protester across the globe. On one hand, Tea Party has leaders and comprises of a free association of national and local groups who decide their agendas and policies. On the other hand, OWS is leaderless does not have a major focus on its agendas and policies. However, participants of both movements are protest groups. Why They Began OWS began in September, 17, 2011 and it was begun to protest against corporate greed, social inequality and the sarcastic authority exercised by the key banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process. Tea party was started in February, 2009 in order to protest against the high taxes, increased deficits and the high rate of spending. Tea party began with definite set of goals as well as objectives which helped in defining if an individual belonged to the movement or not. In contrary, Occupy Wall Street did not begin with any centralized platforms though it draws different ideological perspectives in its call for change. What They Stand For Tea party movement stands for fiscal responsibility. It advocated for constitutional amendments on the balanced budget and ultimate phasing out of social wellbeing programs. OWS stands for a raised value of life as it advocates for taxing of the wealthiest who are one percent in order to uplift the poor (99%) The ideologies of the two movements are also different. In as far as the movements’ position on social matters, the Tea party movement falls strongly under the right wing of the government while the OWS movement falls under the left wing according to Suter and Herkenrath (2012). The Role the Two Movements currently Play in the Political Process The roles currently played by the Tea Party Movement in the political process include: The party is urging for reduced federal budget deficits and national debt. Through this, it advocates for the country’s devotion to the unique interpretation of America’s constitution. The movement also urges the judiciary should support the law rather than creating new laws, which do not change the status quo. The movement is also demanding fiscal responsibility from the politicians. It also quests for personal freedom as well as smaller governments with lower taxes for the common people. The Tea Party Movement also plays the role of ensuring that there is reduced government spending and involvement in the lives of the citizens as suggested by Trump (2011). The roles played by OWS in the political process include: One of these roles is checking on the effects of money and other resources on politics. The idea behind this is to ensure that politicians do not waste much of the country’s resources in their campaigns at the expense of the poor. The movement also ensures that there are increased numbers of citizens who participate in voting. It is their belief that, when people turn up on large numbers for voting, they are able to choose a leader of their choice. It also fights against inequalities among the masses as well as the concentrated private power which has led to a situation where the poor (common citizens) becomes poorer and the rich (politicians) becoming richer. The OWS advocates for a democratic government where there are equalities, people are highly valued and there is justice for all as suggested by Van Gelder (2011). General Similarities between Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements Both movements appear to be alike in as far their supporters, banners and the loud noises they make are concerned. This implies that both movements involve individuals’ participation. These individuals are referred to as bad apples’ because they seem not to behave in accordance with the movements core values. Similarly, those involvements portray, tough emotional, reactions towards their opponents. In addition, both movements tend to be booming as they attempt to create a popular pressure on the political arm of the government according to Reyes-Chow (2011). Moreover, the two movements tend to have a hit a chord on their urge for reforms of Wall Street, this is because of the common urge for less corporate generosity as well as a more freedom to the country’s consumers. Both movements are aggravated by the government and its institutions which seem to be guided by self interest and not considering the American people. For instance, they protest against the theme of corruption evident in the politicians and the government institutions. The two movements have devoted their energy to massive gatherings of masses to ensure their visibility and express the passion of their frustration. Another similarity is that both have attracted the attention of the media and political sensationalism. Hence, they have been labeled as anarchist, radical and tassel as suggested by Reyes-Chow (2011). The two movements claim to represent the majority f he United States who are equally frustrated by the status quo. Both movements have had politicians, religious leaders, organizations and entertainers supporting them. References: Reyes-Chow, B. (2011). The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street Movements: Similarities and Differences. Retrieved from: www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-reyeschow/tea-party-occupy-movement_b_1062824.html Suter, C. & Herkenrath, M. (2012)World Society in the Global Economic Crisis. London: LIT Verlag Münster, Trump, D.J. (2011). Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again. Washington: Regnery Publishing. Van Gelder,S. R. (2011). This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement. California: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Writers for the 99%. (2011). Occupying Wall Street: The Inside Story of an Action That Changed America. New York : OR Books, Read More