KGA #1
Jack Arnett
Critical Thinking
In the past year, there has been a movement that has grown out of the frustration over the unemployed masses across the nation. The movement was mostly aimed at Big Banks and the wealthiest 1% who hold a significant percent of the money in this country. The movement, in its beginnings, was meant to protest the declining middle class and rapid expanding lower class. It also contended that the upper class was not paying their share of taxes.
Pro side of the Movement: The OWS movement brought to the forefront the belief that the rich were paying a much lower percentage of taxes then there middle and lower class counterparts. It demanded that the rich pay more taxes and regulate the flow of money to big banks and bank bailouts. Much like the Tea Party movement, they demanded an end to the TARP bailouts and end to federal bailouts of a corrupted Federal Reserve. The movements motto, “Companies are bad, Capitalism is inherently evil”, also shows the movements opposition to big corporations making lots of money and not sharing it with their employees. It has gathered a lot of support from among the ultra liberal population and shown that there are a good number of people who support this cause. Among the supporters have been many celebs, politicians and even labor unions. The fact that banks raked in record profits before the housing crash, and unfairly foreclosed millions of loans on middle class and poor people, then received federal bailouts to save them infuriated many people. The single largest cost to the American taxpayer of all time, more than all the previous national debt combined since the nation’s birth in 1776, the banks received not billions, but trillions in this TARP bailout. It was from this 2 movements were born. Tea Party and OWS both owe their origins to this single event. OWS is the Liberal side vs. the Conservative Tea Party.
Anti Occupy Wall Street:
References: Doug Brown, October 21, 2011 “Don’t be an Asshole: Arguments for and against Occupy Wall Street” An open page to discuss the pros and cons of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Legitimate no insulting debating on this topic only. http://betyouwontlikethis.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/occupywallstreet/ Jack Moore, September 28, 2011 “14 reasons people are occupying Wall Street” A pictorial and stories of why people supported the OWS movement. http://www.buzzfeed.com/jpmoore/reasons-people-are-occupying-wall-street