Occupy Raleigh developed as a response to the Occupy Wall Street protests that began in mid-September and has expanded through the country. Hundreds of people gathered October 8 in downtown Raleigh to express their concerns with current government and protest the economic situation.

Many interpreted the Occupy movement as rebellion against capitalism, but the movement encompasses far deeper grievances. An Occupy member who wishes to remain anonymous corrected this misconception when he said that everyone who attends Occupy protests has a different reason for attending. Some are against tax rates of the wealthy, some are present because the world isn’t being “green” enough. There are people protesting the closing of Dorothea Dix. Still others are homeless and unemployed and are there because they are disillusioned.

At Occupy Raleigh you will find communists, anarchists, democratic socialists, and just about every other group, all there for a different reason. The only consensus is that there is something wrong with this society. There is something wrong with the way things are going and there needs to be some sort of change.

Members of Occupy Raleigh blanketed downtown once again and began protesting at the capital October 15. The protest resulted in 19 arrests because of violation of an expired permit, but Occupy members refused to back down. They are currently planning for their next course of action and many members are hopeful about the direction of Occupy.

According to the member of Occupy aforementioned, Saturday’s gathering displayed elements of early class consciousness. Many people expressed their grievance that a disgusting sum of money is held by the top 1 percent of the population, while so many are homeless and unemployed. Even people with a college education are finding that they are not much better off than the high-school drop out, and this realization is creating a growing sense of dissent against the government.

Right now, there is no doubt that Occupy Raleigh is in its beginning stages. However, it is unknown where it will go next. Some Occupy members believe that Occupy brought all sorts of political radicals together and that this is no doubt the stirrings of a revolution.

Right now, Occupy is nonviolent. But sooner or later violence may be initiated, either by the police or by an Occupy member. The Raleigh police force already showed a certain degree of force in their arrests last Saturday. If the protests continue to grow, the police may resort to a more aggressive physical presence.

It is likely that just a few years ago, peaceful protesters would never be disturbed by the cops. Nowadays protesters are taken more seriously. In New York, police arrested about 700 protesters in early October. The issue is whether these grievances will be taken seriously enough to actually change something, or if this potential rebellion will end in rubble and retreat like so many before it.

However, Occupy is far from a rebellion at its current sage. Right now Occupy is a movement with countless reasons for existing and limitless suggestions for how to best remedy the situation. As it stands now there are many directions in which the organization could go.

At the moment, the general discontent is holding members of Occupy Raleigh together. But if Occupy ever wants to truly accomplish anything and really make a statement, it needs to solidify what exactly its grievances are, and more importantly, what the government should do about them. Right now Occupy is a giant discussion board, with people shouting their opinions on the current situation and making general statements of how things should and can be better.

 If the various Occupy sub-movements become more organized and consolidate, the movement would garner a huge presence. However, mere numbers do not make a rebellion successful. The ideological basis exists, but the ideal society doesn’t work. Occupy members know that even if the bourgeoisie give into all their demands, the class antagonisms will not be remedied.

Occupy needs to define its demands and reduce these to something feasible to accomplish. Then, Occupy needs to point its force in the direction of achieving those demands and focus on nothing else. It is not likely that a radical revolutionary group will ever overturn capitalism, but it is not unlikely that a few monopolies will be broken up and more egalitarian policies developed. Occupy has potential if it can convey what exactly it wants to people who can make it happen.