General News: Occupy Orange Launched in Middletown
People gathered in Middletown for the launching of Occupy Orange. Photo by Simonetta Romano.
Some veterans of the Occupy Wall Street explained how decisions are made within the movement. Photo by Simonetta Romano.
Bennett Weiss of Newburgh is one of the main organizers of Occupy Orange. Photo by Simonetta Romano.
About 150 activists from the greater Orange County area met in Middletown on Thursday evening for the inaugural meeting of Occupy Orange. The individuals present came to discuss issues that they wanted to find support for – like the impact of home foreclosures, the closing of Valley View Nursing Home and fracking along the Delaware River basin.
People also heard from veterans of the Occupy Wall Street movement who had camped out in Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park and participated in the General Assemblies held every day there where decisions were made by consensus.
No specific plans were drawn up by those in attendance and fewer than half of people in the audience appeared willing to actually occupy a public area in Orange County, like others have done in Occupy movements throughout the United States.
They did have plenty of enthusiasm for finding a way to voice their concerns about the imbalance of power between the few and the many, the so-called 99 Percent, and for meeting again to figure out how to grow their movement.
