About 3,000 people gathered at
the Federal building to protest the criminal relationship between the U.S.
government and the largest banks as part of a day of action raising the slogans
“Stop the Cuts! Tax the Rich!”
At about 3 p.m., the Dec. 2 Day of Action
kicked off with speakers from five different groups condemning the pro-business
actions of the federal government.
Bold statements were made about
how the U.S. government does not care about the needs of the working class, but
instead cares only for the rich. The crowds exclaimed, “No more cuts! The 1 percent
got bailed out, the 99% got sold out,” in solidarity with other Occupy
movements.
These slogans of the Occupy movement
are increasingly resonating with people in the U.S.—and certainly in San Francisco,
where there are now around 100,000 people living in poverty, according to the
San Francisco Business Times. The sheer number of foreclosures is enough to
destroy a community.
The marchers that day explained
that there are people who directly profit, collecting vast sums off of the
people’s social ills. The banks created the economic mess we are in today yet
three years ago the banks received the largest bailout in world history.
The march went from the Federal
Building to Wells Fargo, then to Verizon, and finally to the boycotted Hyatt
Hotel.
The march counted with a large
participation of unions, churches, students, and community organizations demanding
justice and directing their outrage at the banks and the capitalist system. A
member of Veterans for Peace said that the wars abroad, which the government
tells us are for “spreading democracy,” are in fact an illegal sham and that
“the real fight is here to fight against war.”
