On 17 September, an intellectually enlightened band of protesters who set up camp in Manhattan’s New York to decry the excesses of capitalism were seen as little more than misguided youth, doing what such groups tend to do.

Today only the complacent out of touch with reality would dismiss a movement reflecting the anger and frustration of ordinary citizens from all walks of life across the world.

Even in major cities of UK, the movements is spreading like wild fire.

This is a protest at the gross injustice of bailed-out banks and company chief executives still pouring bonuses into their pockets while everyone else pays the price in cuts and lost jobs.

Bedazzled by the glitter of wealth and extravagance; oblivious of the ugly reality that was clothed in an attractive attire of democracy, free market; individual liberty and equal opportunity the dispossessed have led an existence of hypnotized zombies.

For too long have they been willing fodder for the corporate machine in the fond hope of being in the driver’s seat sooner or later.

Their beliefs were strengthened by a corporate controlled media and entertainment industry that presented a rosy picture of the system they controlled and a distorted picture of any economic system different than theirs.

They had looked with suspicion at anyone trying to break this illusion. But, as Bob Dylan had said ‘the times they are a-changin'; the hypnosis is weakening and the ‘zombies’ are beginning to come out of the slumber.

The ‘occupy wall street movement’ reflects this awakening and exposes the serious crisis the present economic system finds itself in.

The diehard supporters of the system are loath to admit this and are resorting to jugglery of words, using fancy terms to wish away this crisis.

They blame it on unfair trade practices and ‘slave labour’ like wages in the third world, increased ‘liquidity’ supply etc etc but the ghost refuses to leave.

From Tahrir square to the streets of London; from Greece to Zuccoti Park and from the protesters in Syria to the milling crowds at Ramlila ground – the symptoms vary, the manifestations differ but the root cause remains the same.

Analysts, many of whom represent the interests of the establishment are busy dishing out local, regional and social explanations for this world wide unrest because no one likes the prospect of having to leave the cocooned make believe existence. Sooner or later the world has to recognize that at the genesis of this unrest lies in the unviable economic system that has manifested itself as an extreme corporate greed and power in the present times.

The trigger for the protests may be different in different countries but the common thread of frustration with the present state of affairs among the common populace is the same everywhere.

The manner in which the human beings have interacted, supported and empathized with each other during these protests also shows a striking similarity at places thousands of miles apart.

One finds an uncanny similarity in the ‘crowd behaviour’ and the reaction of many ‘analysts’ during the Anna movement and the protests in the US.

They have been called naive, directionless and trouble makers.

They have been called commies in the US and lefties in India. On their part the protesters have set up kitchens, organized medical care set up information cells and taken extreme care to prevent the protests turning violent.

While in India a section of media had been very active in highlighting the protests at Jantar Mantar as well as the Ramlila ground the media in the US have been more uniformly negative.

Fox News host Charles Gasparino called the protest “idiotic” and CNN anchor Erin Burnett mocked the demonstration in her debut.

The New York Times had described the protest as a “noble but fractured and airy movement of rightly frustrated young people” whose purpose was “virtually impossible to decipher2.

Several commentators in the media and financial sector raised fears of unrest in the run-up to the event despite the organizers' insistence that the occupation would remain non-violent.

In an interview with The New American, Ron Arnold of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise claimed that, "American radicals are planning hundreds of simultaneous violent uprisings to topple our system of capitalism... I'm talking about anti-capitalist terrorists in our own country2.

An article in the Boston Globe stated, "It’s hard to take a protest fully seriously when it looks more like a circus – some participants seem to have taken a chute straight from Burning Man2.

This attitude of the corporate controlled media has evoked strong reactions and Keith Olbermann has called the media ‘too corrupt or too dense’ to understand ‘Occupy Wall Street’.

In India also a section of the main stream media had opened a front against the Lok Pal movement.

They were called tyrants by some, lefties and Maoists by others and right wing reactionaries by many. People who openly indulge in horse trading to save governments, hide their country’s wealth in foreign lands and defile the parliament day in and day out had raised the bogey of Parliamentary supremacy. Despite all this we will do well to remember that such protests are here to stay.

Social scientists, political analysts, philosophers, community leaders and public figures will have to analyse the root cause of this unrest and take corrective measures. Even the most ardent supporters of globalization had not anticipated the prospect of globalization of protest.

Whereas the ‘Occupiers’ in the US have more directly indentified the culprit the ire of the protesters in India is directed more at the symptoms of the disorder.

The contribution of big business and the corporate world to the all prevailing corruption in India has so far not received the attention f the protestors in India.

Even the more ‘enlightened’ and ‘educated’ organizers and supporters of the Anna movement are silent on this issue and have directed their ire more at the ‘corrupt politician’ and the ‘bribe taking babu’.

The US protester seems to be more aware of the reality.

According to the famous film maker and dissenter Michael Moore “this protest represents a variety of demands with a common statement about government corruption and the excessive influence of big business and the wealthiest ‘1’ percent of Americans on U.S. laws and policies”.

Political activist, Lawrence Lessig thinks that the anger against the Wall Street is because corruption in Washington finds its roots in the contributions received from the Wall Street.

This raises an issue of conflict of interest wherein the Government protects the interests of the Wall Street.

In India the common man is perhaps too harassed by the day to day corruption, bribery, human rights violations etc to look beyond his nose and indentify the real culprit.

A section of the middle class is in fact in awe of the corporate culture and views them as ‘achievers’ rather than ‘usurpers’.

The manner in which the economic system controlling most of the “free world” generates inequality and concentration of wealth in a few hands is not realized by most. Money, which should normally be used to sustain life and promote development, becomes power and starts gnawing at the roots of the social fabric. Successive governments of the “free world” have not only allowed this pathological greed for money to flourish but actually helped it to grow into a monster that is threatening to devour the system that created it.

Such is the power of money that it has become the only virtue. Gone are the days when intellectuals, poets, teachers, philosophers were the role models. The role models today are the successful and their only achievement is accumulation of assets or wealth for their companies.

Back to the protests, whether or not the protests evolve into a more meaningful set of demands, or even become a more lasting political force, remains to be seen. But the cry for change is one that must be heeded.

Article by Dr Kailash Chand OBE and Prof Navdeep Singh Khaira.