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One blames the government and the other corporations for failing the people

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12:05 a.m. ET Feb. 25, 2017

Are we really so different?

Im the founding member of the 99% of Newark and East Central Ohio a local Occupy group established in October 2011 and weve had some recent discussion among our members about the overlap between us and those who consider themselves members of the Tea Party.

Looking back to 2009 and 2011, the roots of each are very similar, with much angst directed towards an economy and political system which have failed to work for all of us. In truth, both of these seemingly opposing movements helped give rise to the presidential campaigns of President Trump and Senator Sanders last year.

What is it that appears to divide us? Well, a quick exploration of the facts shows that each side blames a different source for the numerous problems which have tied up our collective progress. With the Tea Party, the blame is placed on government intrusion. As for us Occupiers, we largely accuse the influence of corporations. The common theme in our populist resentment, though, is that our economy is not working for all of us and neither is our political system.

A great deal of our struggle is derived from the pollution of Americas political process in how our campaigns are conducted and covered. If the people can not guarantee representation for our will, then the democratic process in our republic shuts down.

For this reason, our local Occupy group promoted an initiative to create a Democracy Day last fall. While that measure failed by about 1,500 votes, we have decided to host the annual event on our own starting this fall, because the importance of educating the public about what is happening to our political system and why it is helping to cause the economy to malfunction as well is too important to ignore.

Daniel Crawford, Newark

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Occupy and Tea Party members not that far apart - The Newark Advocate