The Occupy Wall Street Movement
Studying various aspects on business and financing activities in the Edwards School of Business, the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement was important to me as it related to business activities and ethics discussed in class. In September 2011 the Occupy Wall Street movement had begun its protests against social economic inequality. At first, it was hard to participate in the movement having been raised to believe that personal success is directly related to the amount of work, focus and dedication you put in. The OWS movement had no leader to express what the movement’s goals or demands were leaving the large rally’s and protests to be perceived as just venting or complaining of inequality. This was one of the main reasons I did not support
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These issues came to the forefront, in this year’s US election when republican candidate Mitt Romney, was exposed for paying 14% tax. Lower than many middleclass families. It is these incredibly startling figures that call into question the integrity of the US tax system. A system which has been criticized by the one of the richest men in the world, Warren Buffet who has made no secret about “paying less tax than his secretary” (Macdonald, N, 2011). Compare these influential people of power to hard working people like my father and other Canadians who do very well financially, but pay a tax rate of over 40% of their income. One could argue that north of the border it is the wealthy minority who are being served an injustice. Given the circumstances in the US where the divide between the rich and poor continues to grow or as the OWS calls the 99% versus the 1% the movement may be more relevant. The US does not have the many social programs Canada has put in place and subsidized by our government and much higher personal tax rate. These tax dollars in Canada have circled back to many of the poor in the form of welfare, low income housing, and many programs to help people enter the work force if they so choose.’ Once one decides to begin working ‘Most Canadians start off with a …show more content…
The movement attacked large wealthy corporations and members of the financial control that profits generated by these corporations/individuals only benefitted a small minority. As the Occupy movement picked up steam and spread globally in large part due to social media, thanks to the hashtag #occupy, Facebook groups and through extensive news coverage, more than 80 countries were participating the Occupy Wall Street movement within the next month. As the movement grew stronger and larger, Government, authorities and the remaining ‘1%’ started to question the main objectives of the movement. The lack of organization, leadership and direction led to unclear demands and with rising violence and vandalism during protests, the movement began to lose credibility and dismantle with help from the authorities. The aftermath of such a sudden social movement has started to raise awareness into how easily wealthy corporations and individuals are getting off not contributing fairly to society. This issue has become a focal point as highlighted in the latest US election as opposing parties battled for more balanced changes to the tax system. This shows that the movement did in fact have some legitimate reason for the government to recognize these unfair conditions.
These issues came to the forefront, in this year’s US election when republican candidate Mitt Romney, was exposed for paying 14% tax. Lower than many middleclass families. It is these incredibly startling figures that call into question the integrity of the US tax system. A system which has been criticized by the one of the richest men in the world, Warren Buffet who has made no secret about “paying less tax than his secretary” (Macdonald, N, 2011). Compare these influential people of power to hard working people like my father and other Canadians who do very well financially, but pay a tax rate of over 40% of their income. One could argue that north of the border it is the wealthy minority who are being served an injustice. Given the circumstances in the US where the divide between the rich and poor continues to grow or as the OWS calls the 99% versus the 1% the movement may be more relevant. The US does not have the many social programs Canada has put in place and subsidized by our government and much higher personal tax rate. These tax dollars in Canada have circled back to many of the poor in the form of welfare, low income housing, and many programs to help people enter the work force if they so choose.’ Once one decides to begin working ‘Most Canadians start off with a …show more content…
The movement attacked large wealthy corporations and members of the financial control that profits generated by these corporations/individuals only benefitted a small minority. As the Occupy movement picked up steam and spread globally in large part due to social media, thanks to the hashtag #occupy, Facebook groups and through extensive news coverage, more than 80 countries were participating the Occupy Wall Street movement within the next month. As the movement grew stronger and larger, Government, authorities and the remaining ‘1%’ started to question the main objectives of the movement. The lack of organization, leadership and direction led to unclear demands and with rising violence and vandalism during protests, the movement began to lose credibility and dismantle with help from the authorities. The aftermath of such a sudden social movement has started to raise awareness into how easily wealthy corporations and individuals are getting off not contributing fairly to society. This issue has become a focal point as highlighted in the latest US election as opposing parties battled for more balanced changes to the tax system. This shows that the movement did in fact have some legitimate reason for the government to recognize these unfair conditions.