In a past article, I addressed the semi-unified, unemployed, homeless mob known as Occupy Wall Street. While this generalization does not necessarily apply to every individual involved in the protest, it certainly applies to enough to be considered a valid description.

Summarized, my negative opinion toward the Occupy Wall Street crowd stems from their lack of productivity or goal. Occupy Wall Street has succeeded in getting funding, attention and numbers. Where they have failed is in unity and an alternative to capitalism — a system they consider flawed or broken. We all are lucky to live in a country that allows us to bite the hand that feeds us. We are lucky to have the choice to live either productively or aimlessly, happy or desperate, poor or prosperous. While difficult to rise from the lower class to the upper class, it is not impossible or significantly more difficult as people today make it seem. Generations of Americans have lived at or below what class their forefathers were in and that is not likely to change.

The problem with Occupy Wall Street is not their protesting; they are exercising an important American right. The problem is in the lack of progress. So far, this protest has not helped the economy or the people hurt by it, which is its declared mission. If anything, it has made things worse.

Moving on from this elaborate exposition, recently another Occupy movement has emerged that actually is making a measurable and positive difference: Occupy Rochester — not to be confused with Occupy Rochester, N.Y. — The social center of my hometown is downtown Rochester, where many small businesses are located along Main Street. Recently, this street has undergone extensive construction and now the entire road is blocked off. It is now nothing more than dirt and bulldozers.

This was the inspiration for Occupy Rochester. A friend of mine from high school, Gabe Gibbs, and his father Greg Gibbs, came up with the idea after shopping in the area started to decline because of lack of access to the stores.

“We just knew businesses were taking a hit. So rather than let them go out of business, we decided to rally the troops,” Gabe Gibbs said. “We are no way affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement. We named it (Occupy Rochester) as a spoof.”

The plan behind Occupy Rochester is simple. Every Saturday at 3 p.m., supporters of the movement gather at the downtown coffee shop, and this group then disperses and shops as much as possible and raises revenue for the nearby shops. The Gibbs’ intend to see this plan through the end of the road work. Created on Friday with the first rally carried out on Saturday, the group quickly is growing. Although still small, Gibbs and supporters feel this idea has a lot of potential and will continue to grow as awareness grows.

Admittedly, this movement has little direct effect on the majority of students of MSU because only an extremely small percentage live in the Rochester area. However, although most MSU students cannot participate in this movement, this method of activism is what should be appreciated. By providing capital through private means — a private stimulus — businesses can be saved without burden to taxpayers. As history has shown us, in business, private investment always works better than public.

Occupy Rochester is not just a movement of the people, it is a movement that is making a difference. Had Occupy Rochester been similar to its namesake and focused on attacking capitalism and calling for vague changes in the most successful economic system in humanity’s history, it would have been a failure, just as Occupy Wall Street ultimately will be.

Instead, Occupy Rochester aims to fix and prevent economic problems through quantitative means: through consumption. This movement aims to provide a simple solution: provide demand so businesses can continue to supply, which keeps them in business. No one is forced to participate, no taxpayer is forced to hand over their money and no one walks away frustrated. As Greg Gibbs puts it, “Occupy Rochester: it’s not a protest; it’s a taste test.”

Jameson Joyce is a guest columnist at The State News and a James Madison sophomore. Reach him at joyceja1@msu.edu.