Almost everyone has heard of the Occupy Wall Street protests and their catchy "we are the 99%" slogan, but what merit do the actual protests hold?
None.
The purpose of the protests is 1. to create more and better jobs, 2. have more equal distribution of income, 3. have less profit (or no profit) for banks, 4. and lower compensation for bankers.
Let's go through these goals one by one.
1. Protesting on Wall Street will not create more and better jobs. Period.
2. An equal distribution of income goes against the American dream. Why can't talented and motivated people pursue positions that have higher salaries? This argument makes no sense.
3. Limiting the amount of profits on banks or any corporation would set this country back fifty years. Banks need to make money the same way companies like Apple and Microsoft need too. While we are at it, why don't we just pass legislation limiting the profitability of all companies. That would really stick it them.
4. Why should bankers receive less compensation? They are paid as much as they are because they bring a ton of value to the company. They are the best and brightest people in the industry, and they should be compensated as such.
The protesters argue that this is in response to the 2008 Financial Crisis in America, and that this is a preemptive strike against further problems. However, this country does not make drastic changes based on "preemptive measures." When the Enron scandal hit, we had Sabranes-Oxley to fix the accounting fraud going on, and when the 2008 Financial Crisis hit, we instituted measures to prevent something like that from happening again.
The saddest part of this movement is the "we are the 99%" catchphrase. These people think they are doing well, going after the top 1% of Americans. However, in one last dose of hypocrisy, these people need to be evaluated on the world stage. If you make over $34,000, you are in the top 1% of income on a world basis.
Let me say this again. The vast majority of the Occupy Wall Street protesters are actually in the top 1%, or will be at some point in their lives.
Their slogan should be we are the top 1%, fighting to reduce the income of the top .0001%. It's only now to you realize the true hypocrisy of this argument.
Okay, well first let me say how unfair it is to say these people are in the top 1% on a world stage. How is this calculated? Because in many developing countries, $1 is worth a lot; our currency is more inflated. And even if that fact is not just pure BS, is it really relevant? There are many comments that could be made about people in the US in retrospect to the rest of the world, but they aren't of much importance. Especially since the Occupy movement is really just a US thing, it isn't trying to impact the global world.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do agree that the protests will not create better jobs or really get anything done. I do like them though, on the sheer basis that they raise public awareness of the issue. But, no, they aren't really going to change anything. Still gotta respect the Occupiers- they see something wrong within our country, and they actually step up and take it upon themselves to create change. How many of us out there can say the same thing?
And a final comment, on point number 2, yes, a completely equal income distribution would be even beyond a socialist society, so that isn't what we want. What we want is to stop the wealth gap from further increasing. As it stands now, we are not even remotely close to all having the same salary. And I think it was kind of irrelevant to drop the "American Dream" bomb here, because that is so subjective in today's society, you would really need to provide context and analysis.
Also, the last sentence is gramatically incorrect. Maybe you should hire a blog editor... I hear the person that edited In God We Trust is super amazing.
The 34,000 comes from World Bank economist Branko Milanovic presented in his 2010 book The Haves and the Have-Nots. The number takes into account inflation and currency rates to make that 34,000 United States dollars.
ReplyDeleteThis is very relevant because the world is watching us and resenting us as we bicker about how to split up our money, when 99% of the world give anything to have the kind of money we have.
"We are the 1 percent"