They refer to themselves as “The 99%.” The average Americans. The segment of the population squeezed by a stagnant economy and record unemployment. They’ve adopted the grievance tactics of the Arab Spring: there will be no one-day-only protests. The “Occupy” protesters in New York, Washington and cities across the country and across the world, have refused to budge. As a number of protesters have said, they will stay out for “as long as it takes.”

For what? In D.C., the unity is not very apparent. Chad Price, a senior at WJ, attended a General Assembly meeting at the Occupy D.C. movement at McPherson Square.

“Basically, anyone could write whatever they wanted [on a sign],” said Price. “They had no unified theme…one of the signs read ‘Stop Corporate Geed [sic],’ and another had the words ‘Islam is the Way’ hastily scrawled on.”

Each protester comes out for different reasons: financial reform, income disparity, opposition to government bailouts of corporations, a call for the arrest of bankers responsible for the financial collapse of 2008. The list goes on and the reasons are as numerous as the protesters themselves. The protests have received the attention of Michael Moore and Barack Obama. Unions have supported the protests. So have the ANSWER coalition, Code Pink and the online hacking group Anonymous – each group with their own goals and their own reasons for lending their support to the protest movement.

The longevity of the protests has fascinated experts who have studied popular movements. While the Arab Spring movement was unprecedented, their strength came from a clear message and a determination to ensure that their goals were met. The Occupy Wall Street movement, however, has not adopted any well-defined message. Indeed, many more well-organized groups have not shown the dedication to their cause on the same level as the protesters who refuse to leave the protest areas. They have attracted media attention from around the world, and the movement is only attracting more supporters – as well as critics, like Republican presidential candidates like Herman Cain.

In the end, the fate of the protests is still unclear. Just as no one could have predicted their arrival into the national spotlight, no one can predict the ultimate outcome. Will there be some radical change in policy, or legal action against those accused of causing the financial collapse – and will this be enough to satisfy the protesters? Will police ultimately clear out the protesters, citing safety and health concerns? Will the protests just slowly thin out and fade from memory? Or will they remain in the streets indefinitely? The only thing that is certain is that the protests have already had a profound impact on decision makers, reopening the dialogue on how the economy affects the average person. Beyond that, there is only uncertainty as to whether or not the dialogue will lead to something more.