With regards to the Occupy Wall Street protests, I feel that the protesters need to find a happy median with the corporations in order for some resolve to happen. You can’t take someone who has worked 50 years of his life, is CEO and founder of his banking organization and tell him to give up everything that he has earned, his lavish lifestyle… to do what? To give it all up?
Of course he will be reluctant to listen. It’s like two sides of a football game, offense and defense, but you’re not fighting each other. You’re trying to play a football game. If you get mad, you get mad at the referee who made the bad call that caused you to lose the game because what he says dictates the game… you don’t take it out on the player who fouled you, because all of your anger will not change the outcome of who won.
The economy will always have its ups and downs. But following the depletion of resources with the Bush era, we’ve been slowly steeping in a recessed economic plateau. What we need is a mediation of terms between the corporations, the lawmakers and the people. There needs to be more job opportunities, more resources, less penalties for those that are already penalized, etc. This way, the CEOs can still live their happy, well-earned lavish lives… and the majority of the middle to lower income people can have better benefits and work opportunities to have better income. Then as a whole, the country can start to get back on its feet with an economic growth spurt.
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I rarely discuss anything political, so pardon me for sharing my thoughts here, but I support the protest. I don’t believe it is as effective in its all-or-nothing approach, though. When I came to America as an immigrant, I was afforded the advantages and opportunities of this great country because of what this country stands for: the freedom to have opportunities. I watched my parents work their way up to having what we have today. I was lucky enough to become a citizen and to have these chances to succeed, whether financially or career-wise or educationally. The opportunities that are available are crucial. The big corporations have many faults, but they are not the root of the issue. The problem is that the “99%” are not being given opportunities to succeed in our present economic times. That’s the problem, in my opinion.
So, does that mean that the “1%” of the wealthy should be blamed entirely? No. I think the corporations and the mechanisms behind how jobs are funneled and what benefits are provided to the people and the lawmakers who impose the acts that take away from the people should be greatly mediated and regulated and changed. It’s nearly impossible to completely change DC or Wall Street overnight, but how things are done can be regulated so that things can start to change for the better. I also don’t think that the people who worked their asses off, became successful and wealthy, and are doing charities and giving back, I don’t think those people should be reprimanded for their hard work. They’re living the American Dream, the same dream that every one of those protesters have.
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I think the laws that divide the resources and allot the wealth and opportunities to the entire public… those laws should be changed so that the greater majority get the chances to succeed. People are angry because they’re college graduates with no jobs or blue-collar or even white-collar workers who have been laid off for far too long. They’re not lazy people. They don’t just protest because they are angry towards the other side. They protest because they don’t have the opportunities for a better future economically.
They despise the wealthy because those are the people that have the wealth right now. The wealthy corporations and the like are a part of the problem. But that’s all that some people can see because they’re furious. It’s understandable, and it’s hard to think about what’s the real cause. I think the protesters should use their anger to protest in order to raise awareness.
The people are restless. They are tired of waiting for change. They want to see it happen. And it’s only when the people are truly heard that the government will have to act in better supporting their needs.
-Nan Zhang
