Occupy Salt Lake celebrates diversity of opinion

The number of tents pitched in Pioneer Park seems to be growing daily as the Occupy Salt Lake City movement gains more traction. The protest of Wall Street financiers, bankers and big money controlling politics started in New York and has spread to more than 60 locations across the nation.

“I just came down here to check it out. I don’t know what I’m angry at either, but there are so many problems with our nation. The poor get poorer and the rich get richer. Isn’t that enough reason to be pissed off and protest?” a woman known only as Miss Jane asked me as she tried to pass me a hit of her cigarette.

Critics of the movement argue that there’s no cohesive message or unifying principles to the protests. But that’s just not an issue for Miss Jane, a 32-year-old entrepreneur with an English degree and dreadlocks.

“The Tea Party protests the government, as if the politicians listen to us. It’s the money of the top 1 percent that controls Washington. Why not protest that? And who gives a damn if the message isn’t totally perfect, we’re an angry, frustrated group of people, not a college essay. We don’t need a cohesive and organized thesis statement,” she said as she leaned into me and took a long, slow drag on her cigarette.

The Occupy Salt Lake City movement is a constantly changing organization with people coming and going. But all of them have a different reason for marching through Utah’s capital city, remaining outside the Salt Lake City Branch of the Federal Reserve and participating in other acts of civil disobedience.

Finding solutions to a system where the 400 richest Americans have a net worth greater than the bottom 150 million, and the top 1 percent have more wealth than the entire bottom 90 percent is difficult, if not impossible. But the challenge is inciting the 99 percent to action.

For a 37-year-old Salt Lake City resident who wanted to be identified only as Will, the protests are about the inequality he sees in the financial system.  He comes down to the park on his lunch breaks and free time. The real kicker though, is that Will is a married father of two beautiful kids, the bishop of his Mormon ward and an investment specialist.

“I guess you could say I’m in the closet about being a liberal. All my friends, family and coworkers would be totally shocked to find out I support the Occupy movement because I think most associate it with hippies and drug addicts looking to cause some trouble. They don’t know middle-aged white guys like me support it,” Will said. “Having been on the inside of the banking system, I just see a need for some serious, institutional change. Things just aren’t getting better and unless something changes, we’re all going to be in trouble. This isn’t about race, religion, age or sexual orientation. We’re kind of a melting pot here and that’s what makes this movement so strong. It’s the diversity of opinion and background.”

With almost nothing in common, Will and Miss Jane are the Occupy movement. They are the 99 percent.