To those wondering whether to pay attention to the "Occupy Wall Street" (OWS) protests, the answer is yes. This is more than just a nascent movement that will grow in the weeks and months ahead. It is part of a worldwide drive for greater social justice.
Like recent examples of peaceful grass-root protests -- from those that delivered the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions to the massive street demonstrations in Israel -- OWS has taken many by surprise. In just a few weeks, a self-organized group of diverse individuals planted the seed for what is becoming a national movement that exponentially gains energy and visibility.
Yet some observers seem to be repeating a mistake that many made in Egypt, Israel and Tunisia -- that of falling hostage to an outmoded way of thinking about seemingly-leaderless grass movements.
Such observers are quick to dismiss OWS because it is fragmented and lacks a detailed list of demands. They argue that it is long on criticisms of the past and short on solutions for the future. They note that it is not structured to navigate the current political setup. Accordingly, they conclude that the impact will be transitory and inconsequential.
While these reactions are understandable, this conclusion about OWS is likely to be proven wrong as it ignores a powerful reality: A peaceful drive for greater social justice can unify people from diverse cultural backgrounds, political affiliations, religions, and social classes.
If you doubt this, go ask the Arab governments overthrown by secular forces that they were slow in understanding and inept in reacting to. You could also ask an Israeli government recently forced to modify its policy stance in an attempt to pacify a national movement that, only a few months ago, did not even register on its radar screens.
OWS may pale in comparison to these country examples. Yet it would be both foolish and arrogant to dismiss three important similarities:
First, the desire for greater social justice is a natural consequence of a system shown to be blatantly unfair in its operation and, to make things worse, incapable of subsequently holding accountable people and institutions.
In the US, it is about a system that privatized massive gains and then socialized huge losses; allowed bailed-out banks to resume past behavior with seemingly little regulatory and legal consequences; and is paralyzed when it comes to alleviating the suffering of victims, including millions of unemployed (too many of whom are becoming long-term unemployed, slipping into poverty, and losing access to safety nets). The result is a visible and growing gap between the haves and the have-nots in today's America.
Second, OWS's followers will grow as our economy continues to experience sluggish growth, persistently high joblessness, and budgetary pressures that curtail spending on basic social services (such as education and health). Other internal and external realities will also play a role.
At home, our elected representatives seem incapable as a group to respond properly to severe economic and social challenges. Continuous (and increasingly nasty) political bickering undermines the required trio of common purpose, joint vision, and acceptance of shared short-term sacrifices for generalized long-term benefits.
Internationally, Europe's deepening debt crisis amplifies headwinds undermining an already sluggish American economy that, in the absence of better policy responses, is on the brink of another recession, Should the economy slip from treading to taking on water, the social implications would be profound given that we already have high unemployment, a large fiscal deficit and, with policy interest rates already floored at zero, little policy flexibility.
Third, advances in social media help overcome communication and coordination problems that quickly derailed similar protests in the more distant past.
Facebook and Twitter are huge enablers of a movement fueled by legitimate popular concerns about inequities. Particularly in OWS's initial phases, they compensate for its lack of leadership structure, financial resources, and access to traditional media outlets.
For all these reasons, OWS will likely gain momentum in the coming weeks, growing in size and scope. It will develop deeper roots and more branches; and it will encourage similar protests in other western countries.
Indeed, the most consequential question is not whether, but how OWS will morph. Judging from international experience, there are two main alternatives.
OWS could (and, hopefully, will) coalesce on a common agenda, helping the current political and institutional setup to course correct. Alternatively, it could fragment, thus failing to make the tricky transition from a protest movement to an effective agent for much needed change.
This is where the media and politicians come in. Rather than dismiss OWS as "noise," they should listen to it as a "signal" of the challenges America faces as a compassionate society, and as a democracy built on the importance of fairness and opportunity.
It is important to understand OWS better and engage it appropriately. Through constructive collaboration, the movement's energy and intensity can - and hopefully will -- be combined with other influences to formulate forward-looking solutions for an America that must desperately regain its economic vigor, provide more jobs, and deliver better on its traditional commitment to social fairness and equal opportunities.
Kristin Knox: Occupy Wall Street Style
Some people are more equal than others...I know I can't play football, basketball, etc. like athletes, but
I am happy to watch the best do their thing. Doctors and lawyers practice their discipline and are rightly
rewarded, as well, for something that they spent many hours and dollars to earn their diplomas. The un-
fortunate disparity we see or actually feel, is a wide margin of reward for finding CEO's, COO's, etc. to actually contract for such a huge possibility of failure in their job, and still be rewarded with the cash that many times gets raided from 401k pensions. My wife and I have both seen pensions simply paid back exactly what we put in, when a CEO bailed with his parachute promised in a contract. He/she then went on to take another job with yet another parachute promised with others' pensions in hock.
The common excuse is that companies have to lure talent in with huge promises to run the monster.
bush and Paulson then Geithner ignored the LAW!!
Tax the Rich ? You Bet !
Where are they ?
And while we are running lets run the goldman sachs people out of town on a rail...tared an feathered :)
The Declaration of Independence
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
" We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, these are Life, Liberty that among and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
We are just identifying the despots, coddled by Washington, feeding on us through Wall Street.
Careful and deceitful misinformation and misdirected anger have enabled a prolonged feeding frenzy on our property and rights.
As a proud follower of Anonomous, I can say we are just getting to the throwing off.
We are reeling from the prolonged unprosecuted, abuses, and usurpations.
While clearly there are many issues motivating OWS, the most troubling is the apparent role that government has played in helping the rich while not helping others. The actual or apparent influence of the rich over government must stop if our system is to maintain the sense of fundamental fairness on which it depends to exist.
OWS should demand public financing of Federal and state elections and major limitations on how individuals and organizations can spend their money in support of candidates, parties or causes. Without such reforms, our system will lack this necessary fundamental sense of fairness.
If people do not believe the system is fair, they have no reason to support it. Indeed, when you have a huge portion of the population suffering with no end in sight and a belief that the government will not only not help them, but instead it is responsible for creating and perpetuating the problems, you have a volatile cauldron of discontent waiting to boil over. If it does, the rich will have a lot more to lose than the rest of us.
First fan for you.....yes, that should be the primary goal.
The only widespread agreement is about the condition of the Nation being in crisis, and Senators saying "good for you OWS" in the media, with no answers. That's like telling the Goths to raid Rome
and leave something for us to eat after plundering and trashing retail stores and groceries.
Did the financial sector created the crisis? No doubt about it! Did they pay for it? Some!
Old houses either closed their doors or have been acquired; still others are in trouble.
We should be less dramatic ( 91% of the work force is employed; 63% or so owned their homes.) We do not want to destroy a system that served us well for centuries. And if you see computers, smart phones, mainly the new iPad and iPhone, in the hands of those who Occupy Wall street– you should remind them that a bank lend the money, an investment banker made the deal so that a company could create, produce and bring the stuff to the market – and that companies like Apple(75 Billions cash) have been successful paying their employees very well because of a financial system that works.
Slow down on the banks – ask for punishment of illegal behavior and keep an eye on the government – it is spending us into Third World.
Voltaire