Our country is feeling the aftermath of the 2008 Economic Crisis. Several weeks ago, a movement popped up in downtown New York City and has since moved to numerous cities around the country. People are protesting the outcome of greed among financial institutions and the lack of regulations, which have created a tsunami effect on our current economy.
Please copy and paste the following links and read the articles/watch video footage of the Occupy Wall Street Movement sweeping this country.
http://piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/26/michael-moore-of-wall-street-protests-its-going-to-spread-across-the-country/?hpt=pm_t5
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/28/us/occupy-wall-street/index.html?iref=allsearch
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Mrs. Sundberg
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15 comments:
Personally, I do not think that The Wall Street culture is entirely laced with greed. Money earned is earned, and if legal, that person should be respected for doing so. It is the selfish, fraudulent CEO's in which the people are protesting against. Not all of Wall Street is corrupted and dishonest, just certain people which put themselves, one person, in front of their entire country. Approximately, there are over three hundred companies with roots based in Wall Street. Assuming each corporation, which may or may not even be on Wall Street still, has eight potentially fraudulent, and/or greedy people, that makes 2400 hundred people. (This may encompass CEO's, CFO's, Presidents, Managers, etc). For a figure of a comparison, As of 2009, the "peak" of the crisis, Goldman Sachs employed 31701 people. Goldman, a very large company, is in a category with few others when it comes to size. Claiming that their are around 5 companies or regulatory agencies which employ 30,000 people (i.e Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, Federal Reserve Board, SEC, etc), the rest of the companies we can say are average, to small. Small companies can have 5,000 employees, and occupy 150 real estate plots, While moderate sized companies may have 10,000 employees and likewise, occupy 150 spaces. This grosses to 2400000 people unofficially, yet approximate. So with these same statistics, with 8 potential criminals in each company", a grand 3.3% of Wall Street Workers, are guilty. This is presumably lower because believe it or not, some CEO's and high up workers are actually honest.
So, I think that the protest may be needed, yet not so overbearingly. About 96.7% are doing the right thing, and the 3.3% should be the ones taking the hit, solely. Also people off Wall Street such as hedge fund owners are being called greedy and pointed at when speaking about crisis. These people deserve their salaries 100%, due to the nature of their work. People who are absorbed in government and balance the 3.3% are the only people to be accused of withering the financial system. Unfortunately, Frauds have destroyed honest bankers reputations, and tainted the Wall Street culture.
I somewhat agree with what Michael Moore said about Capitalism. I believe that people who work hard and invent something or who come up with an ingenious idea, deserve to be paid well. However, I don’t believe that people who move money around and sell it to other people deserve big bonuses, especially bonuses that come from the bail out money that the government gives a company to help prevent them from becoming bankrupt. I believe that the money from the bailouts should have been used to save the company and prevent having to lay off workers or completely shutdown the company.
In terms of the Occupy Wall Street protest, I agree with what the protesters are protesting for. I don’t believe that all of the people who run business and receive billion dollar bonuses should earn these bonuses while thousands of people are in poverty. However, I don’t believe that Occupy Wall Street protestors should be bringing their children to the protest. Many children are too young to understand what is going on with the economy and it is way too cold for children to be out for several hours in this kind of weather. Yes, it is hard to say no to cute little kids but this is taking it too far. In addition, I believe that the protesters should be a little more specific in what they are looking for. The protestors are protesting for a very broad and general topic. I believe they should be more specific in what they are protesting for and maybe give some ways in which they want to see the change occur, such as firing the economist working in the government. Also, if the protestors make their requests more defined, change is likely to come quicker.
I agree with some of the actions taken by cities to control the movement. I agree with the removal of propane tanks and generators in Zuccotti park in New York City, because it is a potential fire hazard. With all of the tents and blankets, one leak or problem with the propane tanks and generators, you could have a massive fire in the middle of New York City. I don’t believe that the City would remove them just to keep the protesters off the internet. Most protesters probably have internet on their smart phones. However, I don’t completely agree with the tear gas incident that occurred in one city. I believe that there were other ways to control the protesters rather than using tear gas.
I do understand where Michael Moore is coming from but i strongly believe that if you work hard and make a lot of money you shouldnt have to pay for people who dont work hard and make little money. However, i do feel it's wrong that big businesses receieve million dollar bonuses when their going bankrupt. As for the protesters, I understand where they are coming from however, they're other ways to go about it other than marching on wall street. Their causing more problems by staying and sleeping out there and its going to cause serious damage if something goes wrong. Also it's not all the big corporations fault. If people really want jobs they should consider buying american goods rather than foreign goods because that will help generate more jobs.
I'm extremely confused with this whole situation and it just pitys me that there is no future as of right now for America. I'm confused at the fact that people are being selfish and forgetting that our country is a whole. It boggles my mind that we have no future considering all the opportunities our parents had at our age, are gone. Going to college doesn't even garuntee you a job or a career when you graduate. People are taking longer than 4 years to even get their bacholors. I feel it. All the morals are society are gone. We have no morals as Americans. It shocks me how Obama cried for change and instead he's just throwing gasoline into the fire by hiring the people who made this problem occur. And all those people talking on the news "protesting" are just hypocritical and are probably investing in wall street anyway.
I don't really understand much about politics and the economy but I do understand morals and values. Money is what makes this world turn and it is the route of all evil. Everyone is out for themselves when it comes to cash. The 1% of the polpulation are so wealthy that they don't even know what to do with all that money, yet they still feind for more. They still will try and screw the whole 99% of the population over to pinch every penny they can. It's not like all of the unemployed aren't hard working or lazy; all of us will work if we have the opportunity to make a living. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer and they are running our country into the ground.
The people that are protesting on wall street are deffinately greedy. People should start being more content with the fact that they even have jobs right now during these economic times. Wall street isn't exactly doing well either, be happy with what you have and what you make, there are other people completely out of work, and can't find jobs. the crisis isn't helping anyone that actually needs the help, its making it far much worse and the rich continue to get greedier and greedier as the days pass. Yes you are controlling the idea of the world economy and if it's not succeeding it may not be your fault you should be getting your pay. But while being part of wall street you should be completely honest as well as to gaining the money you earn. For those that are suceeding well that is great but do not try and get more money meanwhile others can barely get enough money to survive. The money that the government does have should be saved for necessary precautions. Save what you have left over after paying the bills because you need content with what you have because others may not even be making enough to even support themselves.
Personally, I think this whole “Occupy Wall Street” is ridiculous. I really don’t know much of what is going on, but from an outside, third-party perspective I can say that the protestors are accomplishing nothing and neither are the authorities. I don’t understand what these protestors are even thinking, like seriously, what is the point of you sleeping in tents or on park benches with a bunch of strangers? If you’re not homeless or unemployed, stop complaining and go home because this whole protest has nothing to do with you. There are so many people who are in a worse situation, and it’s just dangerous for these extra people to join in on the protest. Also, I feel like these people have some nerve hooking up generators and things just to make their lives more comfortable while they temporarily live on the streets. They are causing huge safety hazards- if there is a legit emergency these people are just going to cause even worse situations then there already are. Most of the people at this protest are just there for the experience- they want to see what all the fuss is about that they’ve been hearing about. This protest has lost all credibility, if it even had some to being with, because it has accomplished absolutely nothing. They should all just go home and figure out a different, more organized way to fix the problems on Wall Street.
I don't agree with Michael Moore's opinion that the money people work for should be equal; those who work harder, or do more work should be rewarded with a larger pay. Although I know there is a percentage of greed and corruption on Wall Street, as in any profession, I don't believe every large corporation should be labeled as stealing from the American people.
The Occupy Protests are only generating more negativity from the public. There are successful methods of protest, and evidently the methods being used by the Occupy participants are not making much progress.
I think that michael moore has a relatively valid point. I would not agree with everything he says about capitalism because he tends to fall under the more extreme side of defining a term like capitalism. Personally i don't have a very strong opinion on all of this, but that is because i am not politically active. I admire the people who are protesting wall street because of their motivation to make change, but i do not know if the rallies will make a difference or not, or if that is really the most efficient way of bringing about change. Although i do wish them the best of luck, i would not be surprised to see the occupy wallstreet movement fail
I agree with Micheal Moore. I think our capitalist system is becoming more and more corrupted. Why is it that someone who bets against the success of the United States is making more money than a doctor or a fire fighter? How ever that is not the main problem i have with the capitalist corruption. The main thing is see wrong is how many of the wealthy people who do wrong are never punished, they have gained so much power and influence that they can't be hurt. If a doctor makes mistake after mistake, he will loose his license, if the CEO of Bank Of America makes mistake after mistake we reward him with a bailout. Then he uses the bailout money to hand out taxes. To me it just seem ridiculous.
I think thats what the occupy wall Street movement is all about. It is about making a point that we are tired of being treated unfairly. The 99% works just as hard as the 1%. Futhermore the 1% is being taxed less? Thats just outrageous.
Lastly however, i do see Bloombergs points about the safety hazards and just hope we keep the injuries to a minimum during the protests.
I feel that how the CEO's of Wallstreet manipulated money and knowingly corrupted the market, put in simple words, was wrong. Their greed and egos really took over and left us in the recession we are even still currently fighting our way out of. People are still without homes and people are still rebuilding their retirements and life savings. I feel that their actions should be punished. They are CEOs of the biggest banking companies, not idiots. There is no way they didn’t know what they were doing was wrong.
Most of the CEOs went unpunished for their actions and one way to get back at them for their wrong-doings was the idea of a protest. People wanted to raise awareness and show that they were affected and that they exist. This idea, on paper, is not completely farfetched. However, the extent that the protesters are taking it, takes away from this overall idea and their credibility. The manor in which they are protesting paints them as crazy and senseless. It is doing more harm for them than good. As most of us at the moment remain in the 99%, it makes all of us look bad.
While I do agree that the big CEOs deserve all the punishment and more they have received I feel that the protesters need to de-occupy Wall Street if they want any chance of being taken seriously or achieving their main goal.
I am confused about this article. Michael Moore, is in my opionon, dumb for saying all of this. People who work hard should not have to pay for people who don't have a home, or have no money. People should generate more jobs by buying american foods, not foreign foods. People that protest in wall street, is a bunch of non sense because they don't own anything, and they are literally waisting there time, because no one should listen to them
I agree and disagree with Michael Moore. I agree with him on the fact that there are people out there who barely work but make millions that should be going to help the country. But there are also a lot of people out there who work really hard and earn the money they make. Although I don’t think that there should be people who are worth billions of dollars. No one should have a billion dollars; there is really no point in that. The people who have over a billion dollars have more money than they will ever need. If the richest people in the country are at max hundreds of millionaires the country would be a lot better. The money would be more spread out. It wouldn’t save poverty in the US but it could help eliminate the greed that exists.
Michael Moore is right correct on capitalism. When you do something amazing, you should be rewarded accordingly. That's what drives this country. However, they should share some of their wealth. Trickle down economics is theory, but has been proven not to work. The rich just pocket the extra money. Instead, the rich should be rewarded after they help the country, such as making more jobs. Greed is something that cannot be ignored, but it can be suppressed.
I partially agree with what Michael Moore said about Capitalism. While I think there is a lot of greed involved in the banks and Wall Street, not everyone who works there or is involved in that is greedy. The wealthy people shouldn’t have to share their money. While it is nice that if you have it you share it with the less fortunate, it is not required that they do and therefore they should not be penalized for not. However, it should be within their own morals to do so. I also think that people should make more jobs where they can by helping the economy as much as they can. They should not be in charge of helping the less fortunate but it would be great if they did because many people now a days are suffering and need as much help as they can get.
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