On April 17, Otterbein sociology professor Heidi Ballard will be hosting a series of speakers, including herself, in a talk about Occupy Wall Street in front of the Campus Center. The objective is to teach students more about the movement, what it stands for and how to get involved.
Occupy Wall Street is a response to irresponsible government spending. It’s about separating corporate interests from our government to reduce the impact of money on elections.
Last December, our country very nearly avoided a crisis that most Americans paid no attention to: the near shutdown of our government. After weeks of arguments over a new payroll for our country and government workers that were stymied by tea-party hardliners, Congress created a short-term and less-than-perfect agreement just to please a select group of politicians.
It might not have seemed like a big deal to us, but the Chinese government took notice, and cited our increasingly dysfunctional and divided Congress as one of the major reasons they fear adopting democracy.
Let that sink in for a minute. The United States of America, bastion of freedom and pioneer of representative democracy, was mocked by one of the greatest powers in the world as not having a stable government.
But the biggest problem isn’t how the government appears to be running away with our freedom and making decisions on their own accord — it’s the fact that the American people are so unaffected by it. Billions of dollars are wasted frivolously or simply lost by the Federal Reserve, national decisions on education and birth control are made without any public input and money pours back into the richest people and corporations’ pockets while the rest of the country fights for the crumbs.
Between 1993 and 2008, the wealthiest 1 percent of our country took home 52 percent of all income gains. It isn’t just because a few hundred people in our country happen to be exceptionally smart or hardworking; it’s because tax decreases from the Bush era shifted the power back to the wealthy.
After Bill Clinton reformed social security and Medicare, the Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2001 that our budgetary surplusses would equal $5.9 trillion by 2011. When Bush came into office, he redistributed tax cuts to aid the richest families and companies in our country, and with war spending, the result was a deficit totaling $6 trillion.
I went to Occupy Cleveland and have friends at Occupy Wall Street who send me links to their webcams of the protests, and most of the time, it’s students and workers of all ages talking or giving speeches. But a few Google searches are all it takes to see peaceful protesters roused from their tents with pepper spray and tear gas. Police in full riot gear clash with young men and women trying to speak for their rights, holding signs or holding hands.
Why wasn’t there this show of force for the Tea Party movement, who made racist and homophobic threats at their rallies?
I’m not sure how effective Occupy Wall Street’s methods have been, and I’m not sure if it has done anything other than raise awareness to a bad financial situation. I don’t believe in every view they have; obviously there are two sides to this situation, but it seems that one side has the distinct advantage of billions of dollars and police.
Whether or not you agree with it, the Occupy Wall Street movement is an important and active part of our nation’s history, and a sign of unrest and desire for change. Learning more about it can help us understand more about our country, and maybe alter our perspectives.
