About This Quiz
On Sept. 17, 2011, between 1,000 and 2,000 activists took to the streets of Lower Manhattan's financial district to protest wealth inequality in the United States. Test your knowledge of how the Occupy Wall Street protests work.The Canadian anti-consumerist magazine Adbusters urged people to "Occupy Wall Street" in the same way Egyptian protesters flooded Tahrir Square, successfully demanding the ouster of dictatorial President Hosni Mubarak.
The protesters have reclaimed the Financial District park's original name, "Liberty Plaza Park," which is now Zuccotti Park, after real estate investor John E. Zuccotti.
The Sept. 17 march was nicknamed the U.S. Day of Rage as a nod to Egypt's "Day of Rage" on Jan. 25, 2011, when people first occupied Tahrir Square.
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In a reference to the concentration of wealth among the richest 1 percent of the population, Occupy Wall Street adopted "We Are the 99 Percent" as its slogan.
Conservative blogger Erick Erickson started "We Are the 53 Percent," in reference to the percentage of Americans who pay federal income tax.
In order to help feed and shelter protesters in Zuccotti Park, people around the country have donated more than $500,000 to the New York cause.
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Occupy Wall Street quickly spread to other cities around the nation and the world, and Chicago was the first to catch the protest fever.
Occupy Oakland launched a general city strike on Nov. 3, 2011, and effectively shut down the Port of Oakland, the fifth-largest business port in the U.S., for a day.
The New York Occupy Wall Street protest operates on “people’s assembly” principles enacted by Spanish activists known as indignados.
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General assemblies of Occupy activists communicate their approval by quietly “twinkling” their fingers above their heads.
Occupy Wall Street is an intentionally leaderless movement that functions around collective thinking and decision-making.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 14 million were unemployed at the start of the protests.
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According to data gathered from Occupy Wall Street-related Web sites, 45 percent of the protesters have full-time employment.
Daily food costs in Zuccotti Park average between $2,000 and $3,000.
Police overtime doesn't come cheap; the New York City munipical government has spent more than $3 million for protest-related police patrols.
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For any expenses more than $100, Occupy activists have to put the purchase to a vote.
Although the Tea Party started similarly as a grassroots people-powered movement, it has taken hard-line stance against Occupy Wall Street and its principles.
An October 2011 CBS/New York Times poll found that 43 percent of Americans approve of Occupy Wall Street goals, whereas only 9 percent approved of Congressional performance.
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An estimated 60.7 percent of Occupy activists hold a college degree.