Occupy Wall Street Movement - Term Paper Example

 Occupy Wall Street Movement Table of Contents Introduction 2 Moral and Economic Implications 3 The Utilitarian, Kantian and Virtue Ethics and Its Relation with the Movement 4 Responsible Body for income inequality and wealth distribution in the U.S. 4 Outcome of the Movement 6 Conclusion 7 References 9 Introduction Call it a peaceful rally or a protest movement, the Occupy Wall Street Movement surely created a stir in the US and the rest of the world in September 2011. This was followed by the uproar created at Tahrir Square movement in the early months of 2011. The Tahrir Square Movement triggered the common people’s emotion in the US. The citizens of the US were fuelled by rage due to the price hike in the commodities and the unavailability of jobs in the US. People who led and joined the movement had the commonalities of purpose, i.e. they wanted a government which was of the people and for the people rather than being a Government who is a puppet in the hands of rich corporate lobbyists who occupied the Wall Street. They were the main reasons behind the wealth divide in the country and their influence on the government was huge (Gautney, 2011). Opinions on Facebook and Twitter had become a passé; September 2011 witnessed a mass demonstration and a strong support within the US and the rest of the nations. The demonstration was actually quoted as very “loosely organized” by the government as it lacked clarity of demands from the protestors. Soon the protestors agreed to focus on the basic frameworks of the organization. The organization of the Occupy Wall Street movement decided to protest on the streets of Wall Street which was the crux of the debate. However, chased by the police, the organization of Occupy Wall Street movement kept their motto alive and marched their way out to Zuccoti Park, a privately owned park made for public in the lower areas of Manhattan. The movement witnessed almost 300 protestors sleeping overnight in sleeping bags and shouting slogans like: “Wall Street is our Street - We are the 99%” which had claimed to become one of the most popular slogans of all times. Moral and Economic Implications The Occupy Wall Street Movement had a large impact on the entire globe; strong supports were being voiced by the common people of the other countries who felt that the US government was spiraling out of control, leading to a huge disparity in the income and distribution of wealth. The blame for this creation of this gap was largely blamed on the banks that got bailed out easily with the taxpayer’s money. Although the movement had gained popularity, due to lack of a leadership, it was a directionless movement. September 23 witnessed the organization of the movement to lay down the Principles of Solidarity and the rough drafts were posted online. The movement focused on national topics like income inequality, unemployment and bankers increasing fee. It had become nothing more than a national conversation and lacked the voice of a strong common leader. The New York Federation of Teachers had a strong support for the Occupy Wall Street Movement as they continuously sent food supplies and storage supplies; the organizations got continuous food supplies from various parts of the country which was obviously a helping hand to the Occupy Wall Street Movement (Bradford, 2012). The Utilitarian, Kantian and Virtue Ethics and Its Relation with the Movement The utilitarian movement focus is on the right action which is for the benefit and happiness of the majority of the people and is a cause of the goodwill of the people. This concept was introduced by Jeremy Bentham who believed in the idea of utility and later an added theory of quantitative measurement of utility was introduced by John Stuart Mill who believed that some kind of desires and wishes are stronger than desires creating a sense of happiness. Kantianism is a pure concept of catering to one’s dutiful needs rather than emotions or end goals; this concept was introduced by Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher and economist. A virtue is a feeling which describes honesty and purity of one’s mind and soul; virtue ethics was defined by the Plato. Unlike utilitarianism, virtue ethics clearly outlines the natural goodness of the person rather than stressing on the correct actions to be performed. The Occupy Wall Street movement can be well related with the utilitarianism concept revolving around the benefits that can be created for a majority of people; the movement revolved around the common interest and benefits of the residents of the US. The movement clearly orbited around the concept of utilitarianism which clearly resembled the approach made by Stuart Mill. Responsible Body for income inequality and wealth distribution in the U.S. The government’s unfettered attitude towards the citizens of the US had eventually snowballed into the Occupy Wall Street Movement. This movement was basically focused on highlighting certain malpractices of the government. The government was focused more on tending towards the major banks which held a major share in the exchange market of the US and had not defined rational principles and on which the banking laws were made. The banks focused on creating an intentional bubble in 2008, when most of the banks had reached a stage of bankruptcy and in such cases, a capitalist economy believes in seizing the bank’s assets and selling them in auction. However, this was not the case; the banks were funded by the treasury of the US government. This means that the money funded to the banks actually came from the common people’s pocket. Further, grievances like stagnant career opportunities and income inequality among the people had led to such a mass movement. The protestors wanted a clear cut answer from the government regarding the increasing bank fee and the government’s involvement in them. There was no specific incident which led to this mass movement; there was just a frustration that the residents of the US have been feeling over the years. The Occupy Wall Street Movement led its way into the Manhattan City. The protestors wanted a definite answer from the government and this time they were not letting it go (Gelder, 2012, p. 16, 25; Writers for the 99%, 2011, p. 187). After discussing the issues related to income equality and wealth distribution in US, the rationale of this issue would be discussed. The mass movement did not go unnoticed or unheard, and accolades for that go to the extensive coverage about these issues by various media, like newspapers, television, etc. Instead of flinging mud at each other, the republicans and democrats for once found the movement to be a progressive movement of the modern times. The movement was accused of an absent leader and eventually was heard by the president who claimed that the movement symbolized frustrations that have been brewing in the hearts of people over time. The outcome did not have a large impact on the economy in spite of strong supports from all over the world. A major accomplishment was not achieved but that did not deter the protestors. On the national bank transfer day, a number of people switched their bank accounts from the major banks to credit unions to escape the escalating fees of the banks and this step led to price drop of the debit card fees of many major banks. The Occupy Wall Street Movement was active in Oakland and spread to Spain and Frankfurt. The movement is still active and one can see the visibility and activeness of the group in their official website which still attracts scores of people from all over the world (Stolarik, 2012). Outcome of the Movement The movement which still maintains its visibility and vital presence among the people but energy and versatility has got lost along its way. The protestors were mauled by policemen for protesting in the heart of Wall Street; this led to the shifting of the movement to Zucooti Park. The protestors have faced a fair share of criticism and accolades but they failed to draw major attention either from the democrats or republicans. They received plain and cautious support from both of the political parties of the US. It started with a promising tone but somewhere along the line the lack of a solid structure of the organization and the lack of a good leader led the movement astray from their goal. Initially, the focus of the movement was income inequality and unemployment, the blame of which was laid on the shoulders of the government but a sharp turn of events took place when the blame fell on the shoulders of the bank for its escalating bank fees. The movement may have been a major hype and attracted dozens of viewers from all over the world but its focus had got lost along the way and there was a cold shoulder response from the government, it may have coined the slogan “We are the 99%” which will be remembered eventually but the future of the movement does look bleak (Stolarik, 2012). Conclusion The Occupy Wall Street Movement was a major hit among the people and attracted loads of attention but the movement was no more than a national conversation to debate upon. It laid emphasis on the plight of the common people, like continuous rising in price hike in bank fees, unemployment, income inequality and distribution. It lacked clarity and a strong voice and the fault rests in the blurring vision of the organization and even with the laying down of Principles of Solidarity which failed to attract attention from the government. The protestors came into focus but their motives and demands had no focus. The Occupy Wall Street Movement has its presence and should still focus more on the needs and requirements of the common people. Although the movement garnered attention from the public, many sought that it would eventually lead to the fate and popularity of the famous Tea Party that became a historical movement. It is very much true that this did not lead to a historical movement but eventually, the movement pointed out the financial crisis which was due to the failure of the political system. One thing that the mainstream population and corporate lobbyists agreed upon was that the receding career opportunities have been indeed a major fault of the government and, rather than protecting the special interests which have immense power in the government, it should cater to the needs of the people as it is for the people. References Bradford, H. (2012, September 17). Occupy Wall Street put these 7 issues in the spotlight. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/17/occupy-wall-street-issues-spotlight_n_1891768.html. Gautney, H. (2011, October 10). What is occupy wall street? The history of leaderless movements. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-10-10/national/35277702_1_heather-gautney-movement-gay-rights. Gelder, S. V. (2012). This changes everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% movement. California: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Stolarik, R. (2012, September 17). Occupy Movement (Occupy Wall Street). The New York Times. Retrieved from http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/o/occupy_wall_street/index.html. Writers for the 99%. (2011). Occupying Wall Street: The inside story of an action that changed America. New York: OR Books. Read More