Jacobin Radio w/ Suzi Weissman: The Legacy of Occupy Wall Street

Alan Minsky (https://pdamerica.org/about-pda/national-staff/) discusses the Biden infrastructure plan, one that he calls an historic bill for an historic moment. As Director of PDA, Alan is involved in the politicking to get this bill passed and we get his take on the stakes involved, who of the Democrats could scuttle it and why. Though we have had the COVID relief or CARES Act passed, Biden’s infrastructure bill is different because it creates permanent and progressive public policy. COVID gives Congress the opportunity, for the first time since the 1960s-1970s, to reclaim its power to address the social ills of the US through classical social-democratic policy. That is what makes the fight so momentous and consequential, and we get the story. Arun Gupta (https://inthesetimes.com/article/occupy-wall-street-protests-anniversary-class-social-movements) traveled the country visiting and writing about the many Occupy sites (https://arunkgupta.com/category/occupy-movement/), chronicling the emerging politics that brought the issues of inequality, wealth redistribution, and even democratic socialism to the forefront of political attention. Arun’s In These Times article for Occupy’s tenth anniversary looks at how Occupy shaped a decade of dramatic protests. It’s title: “Occupy Wall Street Trained a Generation in Class War (https://inthesetimes.com/article/occupy-wall-street-protests-anniversary-class-social-movements).” We get Arun’s take on the politics that emerged in Occupy, and discuss its legacy, significance and relevance today.