---
id: "entity-occupy-wall-street"
type: "entity"
entityType: "other"
canonicalName: "Occupy Wall Street"
aliases: ["OWS"]
source_timestamps: ["00:16:28"]
tags: ["social-movement", "finance"]
related: ["concept-democratization-finance", "entity-robinhood"]
sources: ["robinhood"]
sourceVaultSlug: "cardone-bhatt-robinhood-aetherflux-2026Jun25"
originDay: 10
---
# Occupy Wall Street

## Canonical reference

Protest movement that began in September 2011 in New York City's Zuccotti Park, targeting economic inequality, corporate influence on government, and perceived rigging of the financial system in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

## Relevance to this source

[[entity-baiju-bhatt]] cites OWS as a **primary cultural inspiration** for [[entity-robinhood]]. Working in finance-adjacent tech at the time, Bhatt saw the movement as evidence that the financial system was perceived as inaccessible and rigged against ordinary people — providing the moral charge behind the [[concept-democratization-finance]] mission.

## Broader cultural meaning

Widely regarded as emblematic of post-2008 dissatisfaction with finance and a touchstone for the *1% vs. 99%* framing that shaped a generation of fintech, policy, and political movements.


## Related across days
- [[concept-democratization-finance]]
- [[cross-2008-as-formative-trauma]]
- [[cross-gatekeeping-and-access]]