Eick’s Take on the Occupy Movement

Caleb Eick’s essay is about the protests by people who felt economic injustice forming the protest group called “The Occupy Movement,” which began in September 2011 by a group of people in New York City. Eick’s claim is that because the people feel the need to have a voice in the current economic crisis they are rising up, and forming protest groups in turn causing these Occupy Together groups. Eick talks about corporate greed and how this is affecting the people in today’s economy. He states that because of the unhappiness these people feel that these groups are caused by, “the reality of flawed government policy, and the corporate greed permitted are the driving forces of the Occupy Movement” (57). He states that what these protestors are trying to do is end the higher power and the unchanging ideas of the government. He says the point of this movement is to have the voices of the people be heard against the government. His claim is presented in this essay through textual evidence and extrinsic information obtained from other sources.

To back up his claims Eick uses evidence from outside sources that help his claim come through even stronger. Once he makes a point he backs it up with evidence, creating the “They say/I say” dynamic. An example of this is where he says his point and backs it up with evidence is where he is talking about the differences between a socialist and capitalistic economy. He makes his point on page 55 and backs it up from an outside source Kotz and quotes him. He tends to make his own point and back it up with textual evidence every time. He also uses what he saw and personal anecdotes towards the end to make points stand out more.