Though escaping a lot of attention, Wall Street has been besieged with protesters for a number of weeks now. Liberal activists bemoaning corporate greed continue to march on Wall Street notwithstanding the arrest of more than 700 protesters this weekend.
Is there any doubt that there is greed on Wall Street? Didn’t they see Michael Douglas as Gordon Gecko? Wall Street isn’t only a well known avenue in New York; it’s also a synonym for money. Be it the stock exchanges, the banks or the brokerage firms, Wall Street is all about the green and that doesn’t mean solar power.
Turn the clock back 40 plus years and people of the same ilk were protesting the Viet Nam war; what differentiated the anti-war protests of the ‘60s was the nationwide nature of the protests. In the late ‘60s a majority of the public was war-weary and nightly news reporting was continuously negative. While the recent dismal performance of the stock exchanges gives no one reason to be optomistic, people all over the country are invested via their 401Ks in Wall Street. People need Wall Street, in the form of the banking institutions, to lighten up and allow loans to flow to Main Street. Frustration with the economy may reign supreme, but most Americans are hoping for Wall Street to rebound, so widespread protests aren’t very likely.
It’s difficult to lay these protests at the door of any one organization. Somewhere deep in the crowd one might anticipate seeing Ralph Nader cheering on the progressive anti-capitalist masses, but Ralph is nowhere to be found. Susan Sarandon, left-wing radical and ardent progressive devotee, has appeared a few times. Rosanne Barr, another far-left, for lack of a better term, nut-case, has shown up. Certainly no radical progressive movement would be worth its salt without Michael Moore making an appearance; and he did. Barr, Sarandon and Moore are once again on the field in an attempt to recover relevance after the miserable performance of their messiah Barack Obama; nothing like a few multi-millionaires protesting on Wall Street to show the hollowness of their “movement.” Sean Penn should show up any day.
The “Occupy Wall Street” movement has camped out in a park close to the center of world finance, mostly young activists, who have little understanding of capitalism, carrying banners like “Don’t be shy, join us” and “Hitler’s bankers – Wall Street.”
Youth movements often lack a direction and this one seems no different. Interviews with numerous protesters demonstrated very little understanding of economics and far more random, “damn the man,” attitude. The liberal nature of the crowds has been highlighted by the number of college professors that have participated. Perhaps a little more educating and less anti-capitalistic encouragement might be in order?
One professor said, “It’s a free movement, people feel they will engage as they like,” but admitted that the protests were “unlikely” to secure the change it demands to the financial system. But what are the changes they are suggesting? Just saying that Wall Street and corporations are greedy doesn’t suggest a solution.
Saturday the protestors decided to march to Brooklyn, blocking the Brooklyn Bridge’s pedestrian walkway and roadway, stopping traffic and requiring the police shut down the bridge for several hours and resulting in hundreds of arrests.
Signs carried by the demonstrators read “End the Fed” and “Pepper spray Goldman Sachs.” Now that’s a plan! Performance of the Federal Reserve Board has been nothing to write home about since the bail-outs at the end of the Bush administration and certainly most Americans aren’t pleased with the $12.9 billion bailout of Goldman Sachs, but exactly what is their message? Ask a dozen protesters and you’ll get a dozen different answers; most just complain that our capitalistic system is broken without any advice as to precisely what should be fixed. What you won’t see are any signs complaining about a half billion dollars being sunk into a failed solar panel manufacturer, a 3/4 billion dollar failed stimulus or Mr. Obama’s anti-business regulations. It’s all about hating “the man.”
Many in the press and on the street are calling the “Occupy Wall Street” movement an Arab Spring for America; while humorous it appears to have nothing to do with failed leadership or overwhelming government corruption. In Egypt, Libya and Syria protests had nothing to do with corporate greed; truth be told, the Tea Party is far closer to the Arab Spring agenda than anything going on down on Wall Street.
Some indistinguishable representative of the “movement,” said in a statement released to the press, “We are the majority. We are the 99 percent. And we will no longer be silent. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants.”
In Egypt the masses remained in Tahrir Square pledging to remain until Hosni Mubarak stepped down. The New York protesters are pledging to remain on Wall Street until…what? Are they requesting the members of the Federal Reserve Board resign? Good luck. Perhaps a few Goldman Sachs employees should stroll onto the streets and cast $20s to the crowd?
If there was any question of the political leanings of the “movement,” its answered by the lack of any signs assigning responsibility to the Obama administration. While a few signs have been seen criticizing Congress, no sign of anyone pointing any fingers the president’s way.
There is no doubt that there’s plenty to be displeased with on Wall Street. The banks have starved the country of funds necessary to grow business. The performance of the Federal Reserve has been pitiful. Yes, Wall Street isn’t only the center of global finance; it is also the home of greed. It’s always been and will always be. Corporations greedy? Socking isn’t it? Corporations exist to make money and to make their shareholders money. This is the nature of our chosen political and financial systems. Just 90 miles south of Miami you can find a land where profit and greed are unknown entities, where people and banks do as the government instructs. Perhaps a few years experiencing the alternative might make Wall Street look a bit less egregious.