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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Occupy Protests Work Outside Political Process
The Occupy movement, which started in New York, has grown to more than 1,400 encampments around the country. Occupy has chosen to work outside the political process, shying away from appointing leaders and setting agendas. Some protesters, and political observers, argue they must become a more formal movement to bring change. But they are starting to shift the political tone in the country by unconventional means.
Two thousand nurses join with Occupy D.C. for a rally near the White House. They want a tax on stock trades to curb1 Wall Street speculation2 and raise revenue for infrastructure3 jobs and human needs. Since President Obama is opposed to the idea, the demonstrators mock his treasury4 secretary, Timothy Geithner.
"I am Timmy Geithner with the one percent," said one protester.
Consumer advocate Ralph Nader says so far, the movement has had little effect on political leaders. "Congress is going about its corporate5 business as if nothing is happening out there. But, pretty soon they are going to start surrounding each congressional office back home with the Occupy people. And then maybe they will start to get the message," he said.
The Occupy protesters vow6 to work outside the traditional political process, which they see as incapable7 of bringing real change. They prefer to take their message directly to the people. Karen Conner with the Economic Policy Institute says they are beginning to change the political tone in the country. "The fact that the major newspapers are picking up on the message, or the messages if you will, and writing about them in their editorial pages and on their front pages is very promising," she said.
Some political analysts8 believe the Occupy message is starting to replace the dominant9 Tea Party message of the past two years, that big government has bankrupted the country.
John Cavanagh, director of the Institute for Policy Studies, said "The bigger story is we have a country that is broken, that isn’t working for the majority of the people, that is grotesquely10 unequal. And when you change a story like that, it has all kinds of ripple11 effects through society."
Cavanagh points to a recent decision by a major bank to charge customers a monthly debit12 card fee. After a backlash from angry consumers, the bank dropped the plan. "The protests came up and the banks acted or reacted," he said. "I think in the banking13 world there is a lot of discussion right now of what do we need to get these people to go away?"
The protesters vow to stay put. Michael Berkson is from New York. "The vast majority of this country is hurting and that is who should be helped. Wall Street can afford it. A financial tax will not only help the vast majority, and pay for infrastructure spending, but it will curb their greed," he said.
Protestors say they plan to occupy the campaign offices of Republican presidential candidates. There are also big plans for the spring. Their goal is to force politicians to act by exerting pressure from outside the political system.
1 curb | |
n.场外证券市场,场外交易;vt.制止,抑制 | |
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2 speculation | |
n.思索,沉思;猜测;投机 | |
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3 infrastructure | |
n.下部构造,下部组织,基础结构,基础设施 | |
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4 treasury | |
n.宝库;国库,金库;文库 | |
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5 corporate | |
adj.共同的,全体的;公司的,企业的 | |
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6 vow | |
n.誓(言),誓约;v.起誓,立誓 | |
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7 incapable | |
adj.无能力的,不能做某事的 | |
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8 analysts | |
分析家,化验员( analyst的名词复数 ) | |
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9 dominant | |
adj.支配的,统治的;占优势的;显性的;n.主因,要素,主要的人(或物);显性基因 | |
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10 grotesquely | |
adv. 奇异地,荒诞地 | |
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11 ripple | |
n.涟波,涟漪,波纹,粗钢梳;vt.使...起涟漪,使起波纹; vi.呈波浪状,起伏前进 | |
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12 debit | |
n.借方,借项,记人借方的款项 | |
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13 banking | |
n.银行业,银行学,金融业 | |
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