Image by Getty Images via @daylife
The Occupy Wall Street Movement is growing and now they have corporate support.
I'm sure that by now, you have heard about the Occupy Wall Street movement. If you haven't, it is an interesting thing to read about. Basically, people who are frustrated with the government, with not being able to find good jobs and the growing divide between the rich and the poor have started an ongoing protest. It started in the middle of September and it is still continuing. In New York City and other cities across the country, protesters are gathering and refusing to leave. They have dubbed themselves the 99%.
As the protest continues, it has garnered media attention and has captured the imagination of the internet. As the number of protesters swell, many celebrities have shown up to give support. Now, however, the movement has corporate support.
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, which has fought hard to keep the corporate culture of it's founders Ben and Jerry, two hippies from Vermont, even after the company was purchased and is now owned by Unilever. As part of the company purchase, the founders made the Unilever Corporation create a fund for social causes. Although the company is most vocal about organic farming and sustainable sourcing, they have publicly pledged their solidarity to the protesters.
Here is the excerpt from their website:
The Occupy Wall Street Movement is growing and now they have corporate support.
I'm sure that by now, you have heard about the Occupy Wall Street movement. If you haven't, it is an interesting thing to read about. Basically, people who are frustrated with the government, with not being able to find good jobs and the growing divide between the rich and the poor have started an ongoing protest. It started in the middle of September and it is still continuing. In New York City and other cities across the country, protesters are gathering and refusing to leave. They have dubbed themselves the 99%.
As the protest continues, it has garnered media attention and has captured the imagination of the internet. As the number of protesters swell, many celebrities have shown up to give support. Now, however, the movement has corporate support.
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, which has fought hard to keep the corporate culture of it's founders Ben and Jerry, two hippies from Vermont, even after the company was purchased and is now owned by Unilever. As part of the company purchase, the founders made the Unilever Corporation create a fund for social causes. Although the company is most vocal about organic farming and sustainable sourcing, they have publicly pledged their solidarity to the protesters.
Here is the excerpt from their website:
To those who Occupy: We stand with you.
We, the Ben & Jerry’s Board of Directors, compelled by our personal convictions and our Company’s mission and values, wish to express our deepest admiration to all of you who have initiated the non-violent Occupy Wall Street Movement and to those around the country who have joined in solidarity. The issues raised are of fundamental importance to all of us. These include:- The inequity that exists between classes in our country is simply immoral.
- We are in an unemployment crisis. Almost 14 million people are unemployed. Nearly 20% of African American men are unemployed. Over 25% of our nation’s youth are unemployed.
- Many workers who have jobs have to work 2 or 3 of them just to scrape by.
- Higher education is almost impossible to obtain without going deeply in debt.
- Corporations are permitted to spend unlimited resources to influence elections while stockpiling a trillion dollars rather than hiring people.
I think that this is the first of many companies that will be coming forward to show support for the movement. As the protest grows, companies who have a corporate culture of supporting grass roots movements won't want to be on the wrong side of this growing social movement. In an effort to understand the movement better, I am planning to join the protesters in Washington D.C in order to find out why they are there and exactly what made them leave their homes and join the cause. I will be sure to keep you up to date with what I find out.
What do you think about this movement? Have you heard much about it? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for ManhattanJobsBlog and Nexxt. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for ManhattanJobsBlog and Nexxt. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
Become a member to take advantage of more features, like commenting and voting.
Register or sign in today!