Wall Street Riots ... A Protest Against Unlimited Greed
I do not know how much news our readers outside of the US are seeing about the protests on Wall Street, the home of the US Stock Exchange. Corrupt governments and establishments around the world have undergone a lot of turmoil this year because of the reactions of citizens.
In the last month, we have the example of Anna Hazare who stood up to the forces of corruption and started a massive protest...and concessions.
The evil and corruption perpetrated on the American people by greedy Wall Street brokers and banks, essentially turning our financial markets into casinos has gone largely unpunished. In reality, the discussion about the death penalty elsewhere seems to fit these guys as well. The real tragedy of this is that not only have the banks been bailed out by the government, but they have been allowed to consolidate so that "too big to fail" has gotten even bigger and reap larger profits than ever, all the while finding ways to shaft their customers.
And the really sad thing is that those who were/are in power have stood by and done nothing about it. A good number of the characters are no better than Bernie Madoff and have wreaked hundreds, if not thousands of times the carnage on their fellow citizens and they get off scott free.
Is this a spiritual problem? Yes it is. Not only on the part of the leaders, but also among the rest of us. The boards of directors, the officers and all of the top management of these corporations should have been held accountable to their degree of involvement and such punishment should have been dealt out as proportional to their crime and level of awareness. It seems that several concurrent life sentences in a standard state prison would suffice for each of the worst of the perps. AFter all, some dumb thug robbing a liquor store gets 20 - 30 years for stealing 20 bucks.
One concept about the caste system that I like is the (theoretical) presumption that the greater the "responsibility the greater the crime. Reality says different.
For more, see the following article from the New York Times.
More on this later, and if anyone has new news, please feel free to respond with an update.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Capt. Anand Kumar on
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I have often wondered where all the money has gone which has caused untold sufferings to not only the people in US and Europe but also in countries like India and other developing countries. Media needs to be held accountable too for their role in propagating lies on the people. No political party in the US or anywhere in the world is ready to address the problem of greed. Worst aspect is that these banks and financial institutions are again being supported on the public money while their CEO's are giving salary and perks raises to themselves.
Indeed it is a spiritual problem. Legal and political measures will not be able address this problem. Only invoking the conscience of the guilty will result in something tangible happeniing.
Perhaps US needs Anna Hazare too.
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Permalink Reply by bournemouthsoc on
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I would agree with your comments Joe.I have followed the events in NY and some other cities of the US.The response of the NYPD has been brutal and heavy handed in some cases.Indeed it is a spiritual problem as resources are not shared among the people.
I know there are other "Occupy" movements in France and New Zealand -will these spread to other countries?
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US economy may falter and Greece will have money only until mid-November.
Any stimulus package may only be based on just printing money without any basis.
What would it be like to live in Virtual Economy? How painful will be the transition?
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Thank You Archon. A very precise analysis of what has gone wrong. I would rather simplify it as abscence of spirituality from all walks of life, be it social, political or economy. The unabashed justification of greed over all ethical and moral principles is at the heart of this crisis. But perhaps the humanity will learn its lessons and change its ways.
It was not the socialism that failed. It was the authoritarianism in the garb of socialism that failed. True socialism will have the spritual principles of unity and love as its core values. And, whenever that comes it will not fail.
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Permalink Reply by Martin Euser on
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One person who has analyzed this accurately is Dr. Jeff Eisen. In his Omnius Manifesto he describes how the accounting practices of companies should be changed to reflect the contribution they make to society or destruction they cause to social sphere and ecological domain. This manifesto must go viral.
In addition, the New Economy working group has defined nine action clusters that need to be worked on.
Some people think that a new political party is needed which embraces the values sketched in the above documents. I think so too. Raising consciousness of the members of society is very difficult when the system that they live in constantly erodes positive, constructive human values, from birth on. The whole system of accounting in business has to change, in accordance with values that promote sustainability. People will have to organize themselves in large networks (maybe Avaaz can help in this regard) to effect change.
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It never ceases to amaze me how long deception and exploration of the majority of the world's population has been going on unchecked. The last decades has secured the top 1% of the wealthiest an amazing concentration of wealth, leaving the rest of us impoverished more and more every year. I guess that when the middle-class doesn't take this any longer, and organizes mass-protests long enough and on a large scale enough, that things may change for the better. The question is: will it take a revolution to change the morally corrupt institutions (banks, governments, big business) of this world? The failure of the so-called intellectual elite to address our problems is becoming fully visible now, for everyone.
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No violence seems NYPD have not heard that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW6HUf9cLt4&feature=player_embed...
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Permalink Reply by Michael A. Williams on
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You're right, Joe. The "Tea Party" was never a populist movement, as they propagandized. It was bankrolled by the multi-billionaire Koch Brothers and other extreme right corporate interests. This is well documented. I was waiting to hear from the "Tea Partiers" on the "Occupy Wall Street" movement and it's what I expected.
So far, though, there's not much more news on this movement in the mainstream media. I don't watch cable news anymore, so what's going on there? The L.A. Times, a major mainstream paper, has had little on it, and then it's presented as a just a group of "malcontents" causing some trouble.
Unless this spreads bigtime to other cites, there's a little here in Los Angeles, and gets the majority of the middleclass positively engaged and approving of it, there's no chance of real change here.
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I've heard that the White House is handling the situation softly, sort of a "wait and see." More arrests Wednesday night, but no violence. What could happen, if the movement gets too popular, is "undercover agents provocateurs" will be sent in by opponents to them, inciting violence and then having everyone labeled as "anti-American radicals."
Here's a new poll out with favorable results for the occupiers:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011//05/poll_occupy_wall_street_...
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Avaaz has now set up a petition to support the protests against the collusion of corrupt elites and politicians:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/the_world_vs_wall_st/?cl=1307502136&v=1...
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It has required a lot of misery to get the American people to give up their comfort and to respond to injustice. That the injustice they are responding to is not only their own is apparent in the many and different interests represented by individuals and groups coming together at Wall Street and around the country. There is a wide range of concerns, from climate change to corporate welfare, with no single being greater than the others. But the best is the civility with which the encampments are being conducted. Food and other provisions are being shared. Organizational meetings are taking place and people are listening to one another. There is concern and mutual respect between groups crosses over to those police and those who are responsible for security. It is not an angry mob and it appears multi- purposed. Has there ever been anything like this in our history? I hope thIs is an indication that 'shift' may be occurring?
I read today that current request for necessities have been made and include such items as peanut butter and beans, especially for vegetarians in the community but for clothing (socks), blankets, and paper goods like plates and cleaning supplies. see:
Wall street needs your peanut butter
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