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Occupy Wall Street: More popular than you think
(Credit: AP Photo/Andrew Burton)The conservative criticism of the Occupy Wall Street movement is that it is a "growing mob" (House majority leader Eric Cantor) of "shiftless protestors" (The Tea Party Express) engaged in "class warfare" (GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain) whose grievances - whatever they are - are far outside the political mainstream.
The polls don't back that up.
A new survey out from Time Magazine found that 54 percent of Americans have a favorable impression of the protests, while just 23 percent have a negative impression. An NBC/Wall Street Journal survey, meanwhile, found that 37 percent of respondents "tend to support" the movement, while only 18 percent "tend to oppose" it.
The findings suggest that the right's portrait of the movement as a collection of lazy hippies who need to stop whining - to "take a shower and get a job" (Bill O'Reilly) - isn't resonating with most Americans.
That's because while the protesters' aims are vague - Bill Clinton said Wednesday that they need to start advocating specific political goals - their frustrations are easily identifiable and widely shared. The Occupy movement may be a big tent (one with room for opposition to fracking, calls for campaign finance reform, and a host of other positions), but nearly everyone involved says they are angry that a small group of wealthy Americans have grown increasingly rich while "the other 99 percent" have been left behind.
That's a belief that seems to be shared by Americans across the political spectrum. In 2010, as CBSNews.com reported in a story on the income and wealth divide last month, researchers and Harvard and Duke asked Americans how they thought wealth is spread among income groups, as well as how they thought it should be spread. Overwhelmingly, Americans said they wanted a more equitable distribution of wealth; they also underestimated just how large the wealth divide has grown. (See chart below.)
(Credit: CBS)As the study's authors noted, "All groups - even the wealthiest respondents - desired a more equal distribution of wealth than what they estimated the current United States level to be." Republicans, Democrats, independents, as well as rich, middle class and poor all said that wealth shouldn't be so concentrated among the highest earners.
That goes a long way toward explaining the Occupy movement's potential staying power and cultural resonance. While most Americans wouldn't camp out in the freewheeling quasi-society that has sprung up in Lower Manhattan, the vast majority seem to share the protesters' sense that the economic deck is stacked. They've seen the government bail out the banks that helped create the economic crisis, seen corporate profits hit all-time high after all-time high, seen CEO pay balloon to 350 times that of the average worker. They've seen average hourly earnings (adjusted for inflation) stagnate for half a century while CEO pay increased 300 percent since 1990. They've seen social mobility decline and friends and neighbors join the ranks of the long-term unemployed while the wealthiest Americans have had their tax burden reduced and have increased their share of the nation's wealth. (For the details behind these statistics, see the extraordinary valuable graphics put together by Business Insider.)
There's no denying that some of the protesters fit critics' characterization of them - many, though certainly not all, of the most committed demonstrators are the sort of outspoken young leftists that O'Reilly seems to disdain. And there's no question there is a wide variety of opinions about how to move forward - both within the movement and the public at large. But the polls and the data suggest that the protesters' underlying concerns resonate widely. Occupy Wall Street may have an uncertain future - demonstrators in New York may be de facto evicted Friday morning - but it clearly seems to have tapped into a widespread sense that the economic system is out of whack. And that makes it far more difficult for critics to blithely dismiss the protesters as outside the American mainstream.
Does anyone have a plan for redistributing the wealth out of the pockets of the 1% into those of the 99%? Most people supporting OWS don't have a clue about how the monetary system works, let alone how to fix it.
The only documentation I've seen that provides any real solution is the Monetary Reform Act. http://www.gatheringspot.net/video/general-discussion/american-history-you-werent-taught-school This legislation would require banks to deposit the necessary funds to fulfill 100% reserves.
http://www.themoneymasters.com/monetary-reform-act/
Sec. 4. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT (100%) RESERVE REQUIREMENT. Section 19(b)(2)(A-D) of the Federal Reserve Act is hereby amended to raise the Reserve Requirement ratio for financial institutions, in equal monthly increments of eight and one-half percent (8.5%), to one hundred percent (100%), during the said transition period. No existing reserve requirements shall be reduced, but shall be increased as the overall Reserve Requirement ratio incremental increase surpasses them. The initial minimum overall Reserve Requirement ratio shall be fixed at eight and one-half percent (8.5%) for all accounts, effective in one month. United States Notes, Federal Reserve Notes, Treasury Deposits and Federal Reserve Deposits shall be included in Reserve calculations in the transition period. No waivers or exemptions to this section may be granted, and any in existence are hereby repealed.2
If you really want to fix the economy, take some intelligent action. This proposal has already been drafted, but it needs public support to get before Congress. We have the power to enact meaningful economic change by urging our representatives to sign this into law. Just follow the instructions at http://www.themoneymasters.com/monetary-reform-act/ A link is provided for you to find out who represents you in Congress. All you have to do is write the letter and mail it in.
It's a lot easier, safer, and arguably more effective than marching in the streets.
Do you know how a seed grows into a plant? Do you know of each inner workings that leads to another? By this lack of knowledge-- do the seeds you plant cease to germinate? In order to create do you have to know the biochemical-transpersonal energetic quantum fielding of the seed that you just planted in order for it to grow?
Do you have to know how a car works-- from the engine componets to the electrical system to the stress factors that allow for the car to work in order to drive? To change the oil? To know that the combustion engine is acharchic and wasteful? Do you need to have a PHD in engineer, geophysics, oil production and metalurgy in order to drive or choose a new vehicle? Do you require a PHD in Product Design and Industrial Design to choose a new vehicle? To drive with Compassion? To kindly use the brakes that you have no idea how they work-- but you know when to stop and start or take a new turn to a new land where a new way is coming into being?
Do you need a degree in economics in order to buy groceries? Is this required to know what is best to eat? Do you need a biochemical chemical degree in order to feed yourself and loved ones foods that are healthy and wellness promoting?
Or
Is all that is required of you is to cultivate coherence within yourSelf and join with others to create a New Earth that is already here and already growing into Being. No degree needed. Truly the Meek Shall Inherit the Earth.
Fairy
Hi Noa,
There are other solutions than the monetary act around. Ron Paul does not endorse this act because it still leaves governments in charge of creating money, therefore enpowering them to continue with wars of agression and any other plans corruptable politicians can come up with to line the pockets of those who bought their election. There has been an on-going debate between the monetary reformers as to whether the gold standard should be reimplemented - I believe that this act does not call for money to be backed by gold and it could therefore continue to produce inflation. I have yet to hear a good debate between the gold standard people (Ron Paul, G. Edward Griffin) and the monetary reform act people (Dennis Kucinish, Ellen Brown). All these people agree that the current system is the root of the problem so I trust them all but I would hope they would get together to have a debate about these issues soon because I agree that this information is vital.
Ffg- We may not need to know how a car works but we do need to know what direction we want to head in before we get in the car. This information is vital for making decisions about our future and we all need to be responsible about informing ourselves so that we can create a better future rather than relying on experts and social engineers who may or may not have our best interest at heart.
That was my point, Wendy. Relying on others who proclaim to be experts in order to create change... expecting the change to come from the pundits instead of cultivating change within. There are no PHD's required to open the HEART and create change within the self.
I find all this harranging about how "we are not ready for the shift." and "those people protesting know nothing about how the finacial system works" to be a bit much. Fore all that is being done is keeping the status quo the status quo.
One does not need to know how fractional banking works... When one already knows they have been screwed over by those in power. This does not take a conspiracy theorist, a PHD or a so called expert to know this on a very real level based on experience.
I commend the protesters world wide, the global meditators world wide, the true visionaries world wide envisioning and creating a New Earth through the use of LOVE, HEART and Wisdom.
Fairy
May be difficult to pull off if the reports about there being no longer any gold in Fort Knox are true. Add to that the fact that the Rothschilds and other elites have been hording gold for years and would still come out in power.
Gold belongs in the Earth. It is an essential mineral for the health of the Planet Earth.
IMO, the Gold Standard is a human creation based on the rape of the Earth. Everytime Gold is used or is seen as a symbol of wealth, this contributes to the enslavement of the planetary body, Earth and humankind. I believe the Gold Standard is best done away with. Make Gold a devalued substance and return as much gold as possible to the Planetary Body of Earth.
Fairy
Yeah, I believed that money backed by gold was best until I learned more about it. The elites would love us to return to the gold standard now that they own most of the world's gold!
But if you review the documentary, Money Masters http://www.gatheringspot.net/video/general-discussion/american-history-you-werent-taught-school you'll see that the colonists were very prosperous when using a fiat currency because its value came from the goods and services traded in the community. When the banksters replaced it with a gold backed currency, the economy nose-dived because the banksters used fractional reserve banking to manipulate the money supply. Since gold is a finite resource and scarce on this planet, a currency backed by such scarcity will carry with it an inherent shortage and put a ceiling on an economy's growth.
Money is just a token. It could be represented by sea shells or monopoly money. It doesn't matter. When money's value represents what is actually produced and traded within a community, a sound economy is created.
Governments who exist to honestly serve the people are quite capable (and historically successful) at printing their own money. But your concerns about our government printing the people's money are valid, Wendy, since we know our government is too corrupt to be trusted. Fixing the government must be a pre-requisite to fixing our economy.
Funny, I thought Ron Paul endorsed the Monetary Reform Act, because his name is prominent on their website. http://www.themoneymasters.com/monetary-reform-act/ But my google search produced nothing that connected the two. I wonder if Ron Paul has seen this.
Money Masters
Milton Friedman
"As you know, I am entirely sympathetic with the objectives of your Monetary Reform Act...You deserve a great deal of credit for carrying through so thoroughly on your own conception…I am impressed by your persistence and attention to detail in your successive revisions..Best wishes, Milton Friedman" Nobel Laureate in Economics; Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace
Milton Friedman:
END THE FED
The main website for the monetary reform act (created by the American Monetary Institute - AMI) is found here:
http://www.monetary.org/
Bill Still is just promoting it as well. Ron Paul's plan would put gold and silver backed currency in competition with fiat currency, eliminate the Fed and return the power to print money back to the Federal government.
I agree that both plans have their pitfalls and the Monetary Reform Act may be the better solution - I'd still like to hear more of a debate between everyone involved.
Well, now I'm confused, Wendy. The two statements you made regarding Ron Paul's position on this issue contradict each other.
Is he in favor of government printing its own currency or not? And if the US government doesn't take charge of the monetary system, who else could we trust to do it? The main problem with our monetary system now, is that a private, for-profit banking cartel controls it.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/occupy-wall-street-movement-worldwide/sto...
World Wide Protests happening right now. As said previously, Occupy Wall Street is more popular than you think.
Fairy