▁on ▁October ▁ 1 , ▁ 2 0 1 1 , ▁as ▁a ▁protest ▁against ▁corpor ate ▁gre ed , ▁its ▁influence ▁over ▁the ▁economy , ▁its ▁cor ruption ▁of ▁government , ▁and ▁en su ing ▁inequality . ▁Although ▁people ▁possess ▁differ ing ▁view points ▁and ▁divers ity ▁of ▁views ▁is ▁a ▁central ▁ten et , ▁commonly ▁held ▁them es ▁seek ▁an ▁equal ▁playing ▁field ▁in ▁the ▁economy ▁with ▁more ▁equal ▁opportun ities ▁for ▁all ▁people ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁account ability ▁for ▁corpor ate ▁and ▁financial ▁mal fe as ance . ▁Many ▁of ▁those ▁in ▁the ▁movement ▁argue ▁that ▁struct ural , ▁system ic ▁change ▁is ▁necessary ▁and ▁that ▁increment al ▁reform ▁is ▁ins u fficient ▁and ▁in ▁any ▁case ▁not ▁possible ▁without ▁popular ▁counter v ail ing ▁power ▁to ▁the ▁power ▁of ▁money ed ▁interests . ▁It ▁is ▁located ▁at ▁Ki ener ▁Pla za ▁in ▁dow nt own ▁St . ▁Louis ▁near ▁an ▁area ▁which ▁includes ▁many ▁financial ▁institutions ▁such ▁as ▁commercial ▁banks ▁and ▁the ▁Federal ▁Reserve ▁Bank ▁of ▁St . ▁Louis . ▁Occ up y ▁St . ▁Louis ▁consists ▁of ▁concerned ▁citizens ▁and ▁individuals ▁from ▁many ▁different ▁ide ologies ▁and ▁background s ▁whom ▁wish ▁to ▁address ▁economic ▁and ▁political ▁issues . ▁It ▁uses ▁cons ensus ▁decision - making ▁and ▁is ▁a ▁horizontal ▁organization ▁util izing ▁facil it ators ▁in ▁lieu ▁of ▁leaders ▁and ▁has ▁no ▁official ▁sp ok esp erson . ▁ ▁The ▁enc amp ment ▁has ▁consisted ▁of ▁more ▁than ▁fifty ▁t ents ▁with ▁a ▁couple ▁hundred ▁continuous ▁occup iers