Topher Morrison
PurpleSerf.com
Is Occupy Wall Street a new Tea Party? The simple answer, no.
If anything else, Occupy Wall Street is unfashionably late to the protest party. It seems frustratingly clear that this part of the occupation is merely transient. While I don't want to gloss over the libertarian streak clearly evident in signs protesting America's wars, police abuses and bailouts, many in the Occupy Wall Street crowd have been protesting the age old vice "greed" as if it has just reared its ugly head. In this case their protest is about as productive as protesting lust.
To ignore that big government (a frequent target in Tea Party demonstrations) and Wall Street (the target of this protest) collude to our detriment is to sacrifice an opportunity to point a public finger in the right direction. This is not a failure of capitalism, but of brazen corporatism! Washington and Wall Street created this mess by appropriating and creating nearly $13 trillion of our money in order to buttress teetering financial institutions.
Ben Bernanke, one of the architects of the 2008 bailouts, has now admitted the recovery is "close to faultering." Evidently their plan has failed leaving us with a debased currency, stratospheric debt and intolerable unemployment. Much of the Occupy Wall Street is a reaction to this failure, not to the cause. The occupiers are seeking ends not a return to restraint. They see Wall Street getting theirs and they want in. They are concerned about unemployment, lack of benefits and Wall Street's exorbitant bonus structure not the close relationship between elected officials and CEOs. The opprobrium being foisted on Wall Street, is justified, but many are not seeing the forrest for the trees.
In short, much of Occupy Wall St. are 3 years late. The real protest should have taken place in front of the Department of Treasury, the Federal Reserve, the White House and the FDIC. If these elements of Occupy Wall Street are sated with more government spending in the form of free college tuition, universal health care and a living wage in the form of a Restoring the American Deal Act, watch the movement dissolve as quickly as it arose.
There are highlights in the Occupy X movement, however. Occupy Chicago has camped in front of the Federal Reserve for 11 days and there seems to be a mix of conservative and liberal elements. Occupy Boston melodically chanted "fuck the Fed" to the beat of drums.
PurpleSerf.com
Is Occupy Wall Street a new Tea Party? The simple answer, no.
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| "Eat the Greed!" Two things are certain, neither the rich or the greedy will ever go away so what do we do from here? |
To ignore that big government (a frequent target in Tea Party demonstrations) and Wall Street (the target of this protest) collude to our detriment is to sacrifice an opportunity to point a public finger in the right direction. This is not a failure of capitalism, but of brazen corporatism! Washington and Wall Street created this mess by appropriating and creating nearly $13 trillion of our money in order to buttress teetering financial institutions.
Ben Bernanke, one of the architects of the 2008 bailouts, has now admitted the recovery is "close to faultering." Evidently their plan has failed leaving us with a debased currency, stratospheric debt and intolerable unemployment. Much of the Occupy Wall Street is a reaction to this failure, not to the cause. The occupiers are seeking ends not a return to restraint. They see Wall Street getting theirs and they want in. They are concerned about unemployment, lack of benefits and Wall Street's exorbitant bonus structure not the close relationship between elected officials and CEOs. The opprobrium being foisted on Wall Street, is justified, but many are not seeing the forrest for the trees.
In short, much of Occupy Wall St. are 3 years late. The real protest should have taken place in front of the Department of Treasury, the Federal Reserve, the White House and the FDIC. If these elements of Occupy Wall Street are sated with more government spending in the form of free college tuition, universal health care and a living wage in the form of a Restoring the American Deal Act, watch the movement dissolve as quickly as it arose.
There are highlights in the Occupy X movement, however. Occupy Chicago has camped in front of the Federal Reserve for 11 days and there seems to be a mix of conservative and liberal elements. Occupy Boston melodically chanted "fuck the Fed" to the beat of drums.
It is possible, given these recent ancillary developments, there merely has been a strong effort by traditional organizations to re-inject themselves into relevancy before the elections. It has been reported that labor unions have thrown their weight behind Occupy Wall Street. Maybe it's the name Wall Street itself, which calls for the traditional left to come out and try to continue where they left off, but given the new direction and the new focus on the Federal Reserve these protests may turn out to be quite different. Lets hope they are.
Want to know exactly who we're up against, who we should be protesting? Click here.
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