Occupy Wall Street began in Times Square over a month ago and has since spilled over into over 140 cities across the country, including Boston, MA. The protestors’ motives are set with good intentions, but their only clear goal is that they want to fix the broken economic system our country is facing today. However, their goal is extremely broad, and they give no specific ways to actually fix the problem. The protestors call themselves the 99%, which means they are the 99% of people who are affected by the 1% of people making decisions. It is clear that every person protesting wants change, but it is difficult to identify what exactly that change should be. Without doing so, it is impossible for the protestors to make progress. They are wasting their own time and the resources of the city. The people participating in Occupy Boston need to be united in what they want, but right now their goals are too scattered and unorganized.

In order to make an impact, the protestors need to have a defined set of demands. Change cannot occur unless they specify what they want to change, and how they plan to do so. The protestors are making a genuine effort to get something done, but the problem is that no one knows what exactly that “something” is. For example, students are attending Occupy Boston because they are angry about the fact that they will have a difficult time paying off student loans. They are protesting the debt they will be in, but are not coming up with demands to fix the problem. The issues students are fighting only represent one of the problems being expressed at the protests. The issues in the list of grievances released range from the bonuses Wall Street executives are receiving to the wars in the Middle East. In other words, instead of having one united protest, Occupy Boston has a combination of several different protests that grew out of the frustration Americans are facing today. Even though they are trying, chances are the protestors will accomplish very little unless they figure out exactly what it is they are trying to achieve.

Occupy Wall Street has grown into such a strong force because so many people can relate to the protests in some way. However, the people are not relating to the same cause. There are so many different issues that are being targeted in the protests that it has grown into the immense force it is now. It is evident that the country is currently facing a lot of problems, but the wide range of appeal that has made Occupy Wall Street is more detrimental than it is beneficial. Too many problems are being attacked at once and there is no way that they can all be fixed at the same time. The protestors are not going to get anything done until they have one common goal that they are all fighting for as compared to everyone at the protests fighting simply because they are angry with some aspect of the government or economy.

Although the protestors are extremely disorganized, they are dedicated. They have set up tent cities in Dewey Square and have been living there throughout the protest. However, these tent cities are becoming more dangerous as time goes on and they are forcing a constant police presence which the city cannot afford to fund. However, the police presence is necessary because robberies and violence within the tent cities is becoming more common. The weather is also posing a problem. As winter closes in, the protestors will have to worry about staying warm and healthy. Because of the costly police presence, instead of fixing the economy, the protestors are hurting the economy in their own city.

The wide range of problems the protestors are fighting prevent them from organizing themselves and figuring out what exactly they want the 1% to change. Living outside in tents for prolonged periods of time is not going to accomplish anything unless they make clear demands, more specific than fixing the economy. Until they do that, their peaceful protests are simply wasting time and energy. Their efforts are appreciated and noted by everyone, but they need to become more organized in order to make any real changed in the country.

As of now, the only thing Occupy Boston is doing is crowding the streets of the city. Although the protestors want change to occur, that cannot happen until they change their strategy. Instead of holding peaceful protests which are not really protesting anything specific, they should make a list of demands and changes they want to see. Unless they do that, it is unlikely that the protestors at Occupy Boston, or any other city, will see anything happen.