Occupying a Plutocratic World
Our world is a very strange place. The famous naturalist Charles Darwin, in his Theory of Evolution, discusses about the 'Survival of the Fittest' phenomenon. And Man, being the pinnacle of the evolutionary tree, is no exception to this rule. Despite civilization creeping into our society, and science and technology advancing in leaps and bounds , it's sad to note that, we find a huge disparity around us; be it socially or economically: the minority rich continue to get richer, and the poor, more impoverished. A striking analogy to Darwin's theory, isn't it?
Though there are several reasons for this rich-poor divide, one preponderant factor is the economic structure and the setup of a nation. Financial entities like banks also play a crucial role in an economy. But what if the bankers and the politicians, the people behind these important decision making posts fail to carry out their responsibilities? This is where the Occupy Protests come in. Originally started by a Canadian activist group Adbusters, a Canadian anti-consumerist magazine, it refers to the ongoing demonstrations in New York city, that spanned out across the globe today, accusing the bankers, financiers and politicians of ruining global economies and condemning millions to poverty and hardship through greed.
The participants of the event, who have called themselves the "99 percenters", are mainly protesting against social and economic inequality, corporate greed, and the influence of corporate money and lobbyists on government, among other concerns.(sic) But what kind of economic inequality are we talking about? Take the below three factoids:
>> The 400 wealthiest Americans have a greater combined net worth than the bottom 150 million Americans.
>> The top 1 percent of Americans possess more wealth than the entire bottom 90 percent.
>> In the Bush expansion from 2002 to 2007, 65 percent of economic gains went to the richest 1 percent.
Though there are several reasons for this rich-poor divide, one preponderant factor is the economic structure and the setup of a nation. Financial entities like banks also play a crucial role in an economy. But what if the bankers and the politicians, the people behind these important decision making posts fail to carry out their responsibilities? This is where the Occupy Protests come in. Originally started by a Canadian activist group Adbusters, a Canadian anti-consumerist magazine, it refers to the ongoing demonstrations in New York city, that spanned out across the globe today, accusing the bankers, financiers and politicians of ruining global economies and condemning millions to poverty and hardship through greed.
The participants of the event, who have called themselves the "99 percenters", are mainly protesting against social and economic inequality, corporate greed, and the influence of corporate money and lobbyists on government, among other concerns.(sic) But what kind of economic inequality are we talking about? Take the below three factoids:
>> The 400 wealthiest Americans have a greater combined net worth than the bottom 150 million Americans.
>> The top 1 percent of Americans possess more wealth than the entire bottom 90 percent.
>> In the Bush expansion from 2002 to 2007, 65 percent of economic gains went to the richest 1 percent.
It's being said that 'According to the C.I.A.’s own ranking of countries by income inequality, the United States is more unequal a society than either Tunisia or Egypt.' Hence not only is this frustration of America justified, and as former vice-President Al Gore, a supporter of the OWS movement, correctly remarks, these protests are also a 'primal scream of democracy.' Since its inception in July 2011, when Adbusters made a proposal for a peaceful demonstration to occupy Wall Street, the financial district of New York city, the following few weeks of frenetic planning culminated in the protest movement that began on September 17. The Occupy Movement, whose real motive is still fuzzy, has drawn its inspirations from the Arab Spring that's reverberating across the Middle East of late.
Despite public sympathies, the movement is not without its criticisms though. The US media has castigated them for a lack of focus and being leaderless. Those behind OWS have hit back saying that '... Not every one needs to have a leader with clear demands. That’s the old way of launching revolutions. This revolution is run by the Internet generation, with egalitarian ways of looking at things, and an inclusive process of getting everyone involved. That’s the magic of it.' Now, as the Occupy movement spreads to Auckland, Hong Kong, London, Rome, Paris, Frankfurt, Washington and other cities today, it is time to pause and take stock of what the present economic situation is really like. Without mincing words: not so rosy.
The USA, the world's largest economy, is still shaky and recovering from the late 2008 credit crunch (it resulted in the collapse of large financial institutions, the bailout of banks by national governments (which are in turn the tax payers' money), and downturns in stock markets around the world) and is struggling to infuse jobs into the economy. Europe, sadly, has a worse story to tell. The PIIGS countries (Potugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) are reeling under a sovereign debt crisis, thanks to Euro, thereby introducing a slew of austerity measures much to the discontent of the people. Other relatively safer EU nations like France and Germany have opened up bailout package discussions to free these nations from debt. Unemployment is at an all time high in the UK with nearly 1 million out of the total 2.5 million being youths.
What has led to this hapless situation? Though the causes are debatable, it is somewhat clear that the late 2000 Financial Crisis that began in the USA is the culprit, which later cascaded across the world (a Domino Effect anyone?); the underlying factors of this crisis being the housing bubble of 2006-07 leading to the sub-prime crisis, poor financial regulation and regulatory practices, economic deregulation among others. Ultimately the government and the banks have been held responsible for this recession. So, we are back to where we started!
The 99 percenters claim that the other one percent - the "greedy and corrupt" rich, and especially banks - should pay more, and that elected governments are not listening to the people. This is somewhat in tandem to what our own nation witnessed in the month of August, viz the Anti-Corruption Movement led by Anna Hazare (which is now taking a political turn. Sad!). Most politicians today are nothing but toys in the hands of big, powerful corporates who exert undue influence in government decision making in order to benefit them (Radia Tapes Controversy itself is a big example). While such acts of capitalism and reckless profiteering are highly reprehensible, it's rather painful to observe that, these elected representatives betray the very people's confidence who elected them to power.
So, what's the remedy then? Wealth redistribution, taxing the rich/super-rich more aggressively, accessible education to public are definitely steps in the right direction. However, with due respect, one must note that, no matter how widespread these protests may become, a lack of clear cut ideals will definitely prove a roadblock in reaching out to the public at large. The Arab Spring is a great example of how a mass movement can be incited towards a determined goal. A lack of focus only throws in ambiguity and confusion, and nothing else. But one thing is evident, the Common Man is no longer meek; he has decided to prove he is indeed the fittest to survive. May this new wave of October Revolution usher in a new era of socio-economic reforms.
Despite public sympathies, the movement is not without its criticisms though. The US media has castigated them for a lack of focus and being leaderless. Those behind OWS have hit back saying that '... Not every one needs to have a leader with clear demands. That’s the old way of launching revolutions. This revolution is run by the Internet generation, with egalitarian ways of looking at things, and an inclusive process of getting everyone involved. That’s the magic of it.' Now, as the Occupy movement spreads to Auckland, Hong Kong, London, Rome, Paris, Frankfurt, Washington and other cities today, it is time to pause and take stock of what the present economic situation is really like. Without mincing words: not so rosy.
The USA, the world's largest economy, is still shaky and recovering from the late 2008 credit crunch (it resulted in the collapse of large financial institutions, the bailout of banks by national governments (which are in turn the tax payers' money), and downturns in stock markets around the world) and is struggling to infuse jobs into the economy. Europe, sadly, has a worse story to tell. The PIIGS countries (Potugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) are reeling under a sovereign debt crisis, thanks to Euro, thereby introducing a slew of austerity measures much to the discontent of the people. Other relatively safer EU nations like France and Germany have opened up bailout package discussions to free these nations from debt. Unemployment is at an all time high in the UK with nearly 1 million out of the total 2.5 million being youths.
What has led to this hapless situation? Though the causes are debatable, it is somewhat clear that the late 2000 Financial Crisis that began in the USA is the culprit, which later cascaded across the world (a Domino Effect anyone?); the underlying factors of this crisis being the housing bubble of 2006-07 leading to the sub-prime crisis, poor financial regulation and regulatory practices, economic deregulation among others. Ultimately the government and the banks have been held responsible for this recession. So, we are back to where we started!
The 99 percenters claim that the other one percent - the "greedy and corrupt" rich, and especially banks - should pay more, and that elected governments are not listening to the people. This is somewhat in tandem to what our own nation witnessed in the month of August, viz the Anti-Corruption Movement led by Anna Hazare (which is now taking a political turn. Sad!). Most politicians today are nothing but toys in the hands of big, powerful corporates who exert undue influence in government decision making in order to benefit them (Radia Tapes Controversy itself is a big example). While such acts of capitalism and reckless profiteering are highly reprehensible, it's rather painful to observe that, these elected representatives betray the very people's confidence who elected them to power.
So, what's the remedy then? Wealth redistribution, taxing the rich/super-rich more aggressively, accessible education to public are definitely steps in the right direction. However, with due respect, one must note that, no matter how widespread these protests may become, a lack of clear cut ideals will definitely prove a roadblock in reaching out to the public at large. The Arab Spring is a great example of how a mass movement can be incited towards a determined goal. A lack of focus only throws in ambiguity and confusion, and nothing else. But one thing is evident, the Common Man is no longer meek; he has decided to prove he is indeed the fittest to survive. May this new wave of October Revolution usher in a new era of socio-economic reforms.
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