Locals Share Thoughts on Occupy Movement
Paddy’s Coffee House hosted a community forum on the Occupy movement Wednesday night
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As heated Occupy protests were underway in Berkeley and Oakland Wednesday night, an intimate crowd gathered at Paddy’s Coffee House to discuss the purpose and meaning behind the global movement.
Union City resident and coffee shop employee Jo Oquendo was one of about a dozen gathered at the venue. Frustrated with the education system, soaring tuition and the bleak job market, Oquendo said he supported the movement and echoed many of the sentiments of those protesting at UC Berkeley that day.
“What’s the point of me going to school when I’m going to be stuck waiting?” said the 21-year-old Chabot College student who works two part-time jobs. “It’s hard for people to come up today.”
“If you’re not at the top, you’re screwed,” Oquendo continued.
The idea for Wednesday night’s gathering came from store owner Paddy Iyer after several of his customers told him they wanted to hold an Occupy event in Union City. He said the group wanted to hold a demonstration at the Saturday morning farmers market that’s held at Old Alvarado Park, opposite the coffee shop. He told them such an event would be counterproductive and instead suggested a forum where community members could discuss what the Occupy movement meant to them.
“It’s a faceless, leaderless movement and it's not trying to address the issue of jobs, it's not trying to address the issue of bailouts … What it is is a statement of fact that there is an inequality in society right now,” Iyer told the small crowd before opening the floor to others.
“This current generation is having too much of a burden to bear based on what my generation and what the generation above me have bestowed on them,” he said. “There is a distinct feeling of anger in that generation.”
But not everyone agreed with Iyer or were as furious as Oquendo.
Hussein Mukaled, a 50-year-old manager at an electronics company, said the older generation shouldn’t solely be held accountable for society’s current ills. He said Americans today are fueled by greed.
“The standards have gone astray,” Mukaled said. “People want to make millions now … People used to work 40 years to own a home. Over the last 10 years, people wanted to own four homes and flip it. That’s not right.”
Edgar Mationg, a 28-year-old Chabot student, said that though the situation the U.S. wasn’t the best, Americans are still better off than a majority of the world.
“People need to look at how poor they are compared to the rest of the world,” he said. “I have an iPhone and a laptop. Three-quarters of the world don’t have that.
Though the forum ended at 7:30 p.m., several late stragglers sad to see the discussion had ended took it upon themselves to huddle and speak their minds.
Duncan Paras, a 17-year-old member of community group Filipino Advocates for Justice, has been an active participant in Occupy protests.
Last week, Paras, a senior at James Logan High School, spoke at a rally in Oakland where he aired at his frustrations. He reiterated his support for the movement Wednesday night.
“It’s about what’s right,” he said. “Is it really fair for only a few people to have all that money?”
Paras localized the country’s economic crisis by highlighting cuts to education and afterschool programs here in Union City.
He also said youth his age need to better understand the movement and that media reports of violence have tainted its mission.
“To be a movement that big and have people cause trouble really diminishes it,” Paras said.
Among Nicole Manzana’s concerns were that many Americans are still apathetic to the reality of the crisis.
“A lot of people don’t think they’re affected,” Manzana, 21, said. “If people don’t think nothing’s going around here, I want you to drive around, look at the foreclosed homes and see that there are signs.”
In This article
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Paddy's Coffee House
3900 Smith St, Union City, CA -
Filipino Advocates for Justice
31080 Union City Blvd, Union City, CA -
James Logan High School
1800 H St, Union City, CA
gato pelon
8:49 am on Saturday, November 12, 2011
Great meeting! Sorry I missed it......
Tim
9:34 am on Saturday, November 12, 2011
What a bunch of self-entitled, lazy bums....
“What’s the point of me going to school when I’m going to be stuck waiting?” said the 21-year-old Chabot College student...
So you're at a 2 year junior college and haven't amounted to anything yet. Why don't you stop whining and work hard, get your bachelors first before you throw in the towel.
This Occupy movement is a big joke. No one takes them seriously. They have no unified voice, no direction, and a good portion of them are vandals. So much in fact that small business owners in NYC have had enough.... http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/11/small-business-owners-fight-back-against-occupy-wall-street/
Tim
9:42 am on Saturday, November 12, 2011
“It’s about what’s right,” he said. “Is it really fair for only a few people to have all that money?”
I agree, let's dump capitalism and adopt the economic policies of North Korea. They don't have capitalism there, and no one outside of their government has any money. At least this would be fair, right?
Duncan Paras
2:08 pm on Monday, November 14, 2011
Do you not think that there are people out there "working hard" or getting their bachelors? If you have a steady job or a sufficient amount of income for you to live comfortably, I congratulate you.. Actually I envy you, not many people nowadays have that luxury. The poverty rates are rising in a level where the future generations will have a more difficult time trying to achieve "higher education" and acquiring the jobs the need to make a living. This country is so focused on individualism that the 1% have surpluses amounts of money and leaves the rest of the people to itself. Billions and billions of tax dollars go to the Military to go and wage wars on "terrorists" because they hit the US in 9/11, the story goes on deeper than that, we were in the middle east, exploiting their resources, way long before 2001. Imagine if we never went to war, imagine all of the possibilities for a better educational system, Jo Oquendo would have a higher chance to "amount to something" the poverty rate would possibly less than 15%. The unified voice you're searching for is there, you're just too arrogant to listen to the cries of the people. When I say, "it's about what's right" I meant, is right that so few of the people in this country have enough to sustain him/herself for plenty of years after he/she dies, but there are millions of people in this country who are struggling to survive everyday? Listen to your reasoning, you're saying that the people who have money are worth more.
Timothy Swenson
3:12 pm on Monday, November 14, 2011
Duncan, you state "not many people nowadays have that luxury" when referring to people that "have a steady job or a sufficient amount of income for you to live comfortably." How many is "not many"? Would "not many" be less than 50%? I think the opposite is true and the majority of local residents do have steady jobs. I'd like to see the numbers that you have to back up your statement.
Also, your comment was interesting, but a bit rambling. I don't see how "we were in the middle east, exploiting their resources, way long before 2001" relates to the current economic situation. You state "Imagine if we never went to war, imagine all of the possibilities for a better educational system". Do you feel that these are interconnected and that all of the federal funds used for war would have been given to the State's to be used for education in the large mounts that you talk about?
You mention individualism as if it is a negative thing. That's been a hallmark of America almost 100 years, but can it suddenly be blamed for a recent issue?
Tim
7:52 pm on Monday, November 14, 2011
Your premise is inaccurate. You are assuming that our economic environment is a zero sum game. This is simply not true. Yes, the wealthy are getting wealthier but that doesn't mean that you can't amass enough wealth of your own to live comfortably. It requires hard work which is something that is lacking in the mindset of many of these people. There is no clear message other than assaults on police officers, assaults on other individuals, many allegations of rapes.... I do sympathize with those that are suffering in this recession, but I cannot support this so called movement. Perhaps if they were organized and respectful of others including law enforcement (like the TEA party) they would have more support. That would mean a peaceful protest on the weekend followed by cleaning up after yourselves and going home at the end of the day.
Tim
8:12 pm on Monday, November 14, 2011
For those of you out there supporting these Occupy groups, check out this video of the Oakland protesters.... http://blog.sfgate.com/djsaunders/2011/11/14/occupy-oakland-video/