We are in a dangerous period in America. The sorry state of the economy has exposed a volatile divide in how people view the current state of our nation.
This division is now being exploited and inflamed by politicians who believe that they can somehow benefit from the anger and protests.
I realize that there is tremendous anger towards what is called Wall Street. Some of this is justified, they took big risks, got crazy bonuses, and taxpayers bailed out some companies.
As good as it sounds to blame Wall Street for our current economic problems, they didn’t single-handedly destroy the economy, there are others who contributed significantly, the government, which pressured banks to lend to people who couldn’t afford to buy a home, thousands of government regulators who didn’t do their jobs, borrowers hoping to sell the properties they bought for a quick profit, and people who were simply living above their income levels, using their home equity like a piggy bank and maxing out their credit cards.
Does it make sense to target what people call Wall Street? I don’t think so, we need the banking system, it acts as a utility. Without electricity, for example, we can’t do much and without a solid financial system we are dead in the water. Also, let’s not forget that for every top CEO or trader making ten million dollars a year, there are thousands of hard-working employees earning regular wages.
There’s plenty of blame to go around, but the question is where do we go from here?
We can never achieve anything if we pit ourselves against each other. Targeting those who have achieved some degree of success is a zero-sum game. I find it interesting that the finger points to Wall Street excesses, but I don’t complain when dysfunctional Hollywood actors get thirty million dollars a movie. Are we also going to attack athletes who earn tens of millions? Or how about Google, Facebook, Apple, etc., whose founders make millions. Do they do too much?
Whether the compensation is fair or not is not the issue, it is the system we have. I don’t agree with the crazy money some people make, but why are we wasting time attacking them? It’s called capitalism and it’s the best system by far. Occupy Wall Street and its supporters don’t like bailouts (and neither do I), but bailouts are a type of socialism, not capitalism! Government intervention in the private sector is definitely a part of the problem.
One point that the Occupy Wall Street crowd makes is that no one does it alone, that America provides the infrastructure, the system (capitalism, by the way), and the education. True up to a point, but let’s not forget that these things were built and supported with your tax dollars.
Americans have always been able to unite against an external threat or a problem that needs a solution. Yes, we have a terrible habit of waiting until the water level is up to our noses before acting, but I am afraid that we are losing our ability to come together and solve problems. It seems that we have become a nation of culprits.
We can never be the great country we have been with only half the people in the game. Protests are fine, but they shouldn’t make people uncomfortable, hurt local businesses, destroy property, and obscure the real issues.
Instead of these silly protests, why don’t people come up with detailed written proposals with solutions and start doing the hard work to get America back on top?