The Occupy movement is about more than individuals. Some say that voting is the way to change the system. But our system is broken. Big corporations are now considered people and can donate huge sums of money to political campaigns. And these days, he who has the most money wins.

Why is this so? We might posit that people need to do their own research before going to the polls. I whole-heartedly agree, but this just isn’t possible for some people. If you’re working two jobs with overtime to help pay off your mortgage, car, credit cards, student loans and put your kids through school, it’s difficult to find time to do this research. What replaces that research?

For some, television serves as their only form of recreation due to long work hours and empty bank accounts after paying bills for the month, that is if you can even pay all of your monthly bills. The same television that contains nonstop political ads during the election season. Some people are so disenchanted with the system and feel they can’t change anything by voting so they simply don’t bother to go to the polls anymore. So what do we in the Occupy movement have to complain about? A lot of us are middle class or college students so we have it pretty good, right?

Well is this about justice or just us? The Iowa unemployment rate might be 6 percent and the national unemployment rate is 9 percent. However, the unemployment rate for African Americans is 14.7 percent. At a minimum this is sad, but really it’s just completely unacceptable. The national poverty rate is 15.1 percent, a statistic that is calculated with a very conservative formula introduced in 1964. 15.1 percent, that’s 42.6 million Americans, the largest amount in the 52 years that the U.S. Census has been recording poverty data.

Some people in the Occupy movement may be there for themselves alone, but many are there not only for themselves, but for others who don’t have a voice. As for the Occupy movement having no clear set of goals, there has been an official statement released by the Occupy movement that states why all of us, all over the world, are so upset and frustrated with the current system and situation that we are in.

Are those demands all over the board as opposed to being direct? Yes, they are, but that’s what happens when one political movement speaks for 99 percent of the population of the United States and works by consensus instead of a majority rules system that ignores the needs and concerns of minority groups. We could break up into smaller groups and offshoots, but again I ask, is this about justice or just us?

For many of us, this is about justice. Give the Occupy movement a chance to grow and evolve, all political movements start out somewhat disorganized. And for those who don’t know what the Occupy movement is about, get online or ask someone what it’s about. You can’t claim you don’t understand something until you have tried. You can find Occupy groups on Facebook and Twitter and people in these groups will be glad to share why they are involved with the Occupy movement and what they hope to gain from their involvement. America has settled once again into being a sleeping giant, but that giant is getting restless.