Organized Occupation?

Many of the protestors at Occupy Wall Street are working to appear focused and organized but the group’s general appearance says otherwise.

Zuccotti Park looks like a mess. The center of the park is littered with sleeping bags, tarps, and duffel bags and backpacks. Above that there are booths and tables spread about, filled in with a few dozen people. Police officers stand in pairs surrounding the protestors.

And yet some structure can be found amongst the seeming chaos that is Zuccotti Park. Signs point out key gathering points for those eager to assist. Protestors are collected around tables distributing the “Occupied Wall Street Journal”, gathering stacks and taking them throughout the park to hand out to anyone around. Others have gathered around a woman being interviewed by a network television news station. At the top of the park a large group had collected around a set of drummers, holding signs and posing for pictures.

But nowhere can be found a central leader. The gatherings are arbitrary, one passionate young woman being interviewed has garnered quite a crowd around her as she yells about debt relief and student loans, yet no one around seemed to know why she in particular had been singled out.

When asked if they had seen any signs of central organization, two police officers standing nearby said there was none. “It’s a shanty town” one of the officers said, both of whom wished to remain unnamed, “do you see anything that looks like order?”