Forum Post: CHARTS: Here's What The Wall Street Protesters Are So Angry About...
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 14, 2011, 4:16 p.m. EST by glenn1984
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Good read and lots of supporting evidence (from businessinsider.com): http://www.businessinsider.com/what-wall-street-protesters-are-so-angry-about-2011-10?op=1
Excellent summary. Now we need action to bring it to the attention of government so they can establish policies that address the inequalities and take it to the vote next year. 65% of the top 5 wealthiest people in America vote. If 65% of the 99% voted on good policy makers then something would get done. Don't aim for another hung parliament like the US currently has.
The one I didn't know about that really did it for me is the social mobility one. Pretty much counters all that crap about "you too can be rich if you just work hard at it" that people spout off, i.e., the American Dream.
Yeah, I think that's the real catalyst for this movement. Thanks what made this country great.
One chart shows that "After adjusting for inflation, average hourly earnings haven't increased in 50 years": http://www.businessinsider.com/what-wall-street-protesters-are-so-angry-about-2011-10#after-adjusting-for-inflation-average-hourly-earnings-havent-increased-in-50-years-14
Meanwhile, industrial productivity has gone up by a factor of three or more during that time period. So, where did the extra wealth all go?
One reason we had the housing debt bubble, and now the student loan debt bubble, is that the system would have broken down long ago if the wealthiest were not loaning the money to workers instead of as providing it as salaries. But eventually those debt bubbles pop as workers can only shoulder so much debt.
See also: http://www.capitalismhitsthefan.com/ "With breathtaking clarity, renowned University of Massachusetts Economics Professor Richard Wolff breaks down the root causes of today's economic crisis, showing how it was decades in the making and in fact reflects seismic failures within the structures of American-style capitalism itself. Wolff traces the source of the economic crisis to the 1970s, when wages began to stagnate and American workers were forced into a dysfunctional spiral of borrowing and debt that ultimately exploded in the mortgage meltdown. By placing the crisis within this larger historical and systemic frame, Wolff argues convincingly that the proposed government “bailouts,” stimulus packages, and calls for increased market regulation will not be enough to address the real causes of the crisis - in the end suggesting that far more fundamental change will be necessary to avoid future catastrophes. Richly illustrated with motion graphics and charts, this is a superb introduction designed to help ordinary citizens understand, and react to, the unraveling economic crisis."
Why are the Wall Street Protesters upset? They are:
Upset that 20% of the country's wealth has been destroyed and not a single person has been convicted, much less indicted.
Upset that Wall Street has iron control over the country’s economic policies and that both parties are wholly owned subsidiaries.
Upset that 24 million people cannot find a full time job, that 50 million cannot afford to see a doctor when they are sick, that 47 million need the government’s help to feed themselves. They are upset that 15 million families owe more on their home than it is worth. (Alan Grayson, Former Member of Congress.)