Protestors from Occupy Moscow will gather in Friendship Square from 4 to 7 p.m. everyday until they see a change in the business-government relationship.
“We are asking for a separation of business and government,” said Nick Fuller, a member of Occupy Moscow.
Occupy Moscow is a local extension of a national group that focuses on demonstrating that the 99 percent will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the upper 1 percent in the U.S. income tax bracket.
The national group, Occupy Wall Street, began meeting Sept. 17 in Liberty Square in New York. During the past few weeks, hundreds of cities began adopting their own Occupy Wall Street campaigns, and the numbers are expected to continue to rise.
“It has been suggested that we are lazy, ungrateful, tree hugging, unemployed, on the dole, radical students with poor judgment or we would not have time to stand on the street with signs for three hours every night and organize events,” said Mel Leviton, a member of Occupy Moscow. “However, most of us have at least one job, most are white, some are brown, some have two or three jobs, including the students who frequently work full-time while going to school.”
He said the group is far from one dimensional, and incorporates people from many walks of life.
“Some of us are geeks, some are queer, some are parents, some are grandparents, some have disabilities, some are very under-employed, many of us fill more than one demographic,” Leviton said. “Near half live near or below the poverty level and can’t even remember what a vacation looks like.” Heather Smith, Moscow resident and University of Idaho graduate, found the Occupy Moscow group on Facebook when she was looking for the nearest city she could join in occupying.
“I have five kids, and we (Smith and her husband) are the 99 percent. I am a nontraditional student, so I was offended to hear the media portray us as dirty, useless people,” Smith said. “I don’t fit the stereotype so I felt it was needed to come and represent people like me.”
The local branch is slowly growing as more students and community members become informed. Each member has an issue they feel strongly about, ranging from education costs, to housing assistance to political involvement in government decisions.
“There’s a larger movement, and I may not agree with everything, but I do believe in people,” Leviton said. “We get out and rally, and talk about solutions, and act on them. You don’t just stand out with a sign. Everybody is a leader. That’s why we are out here.”