I've never really known much about wall street other than shares getting traded and bells being rung. However, witnessing the emergence of demonstrations in protest of big business has intrigued my curiosity deeply. So i tried to get a deeper look into these protests and I definitely agree with their plight.
Most of the protestors have one message, they're tired of business execs getting bonuses while their companies get bailed out by government. I'm with them on this. It doesn't make sense that they are getting bailed out when there are millions of regular people and families that are worse off.
The excuse companies have is because they need their product to stay so they can produce for the American public. I can't disagree with that notion, but isn't that what capitalism is? If you have a product and it goes belly up, then you lose.
Big business doesn't want govenrment control, yet they claim it's what the government is meant to do. So when i see these people making a stand to these corporations, it puts a smile on my face. This is what being an American is all about.
Seeing people of all race and age gather together for one goal is spectacular. It shows that no matter what, something can still unify this nation. It's also not just the lower class but the middle class as well. Both sides gathering together to show the top 1% that we mean business.
I'm not willing to go as far as to say that big business has bought congress and that's why they get the bail outs. I'm not that cynical in my life yet. However, I do feel that the corporations are getting off too easily.
With tons of families suffering in the recession, no one is here to bail them out. The "Daily Show" on comedy central did it best. A skit that involved a family that was down on it's luck. The comedians convinced them to turn themselves into a company so that they could apply for government bail out bonds. In the end it didn't work but it was a great satire of just how odd the system is.
To the government, families don't deserve money even when it isn't their fault that we are in this mess. On the other hand, corporations who got themselves into this mess get a freebie. So it makes me wonder if these protests shouldn't just be for the corporations but the government agencies that got them out of this mess. However, this is an argument for another time.
The protests that are going on right now though are what we need as a country. We need to have pride in the fact that we won't stand for this injustice any longer. Hopefully we keep occupying wall street until something is done.
Nice job on your column. I do agreee that business executives are just taking the easy way out if they are in big trouble. But what about the working class?
ReplyDeleteinteresting piece and generally pretty easy to read.
ReplyDeleteNot sure it needed quite so much of the writer in it; that was a little distracting.
The column does miss the mark by not putting the protests into any kind of context. It's a mistake to assume every reader will have an encyclopedic knowledge of the topic.
Data about the protests would cure that.