Occupy Wall Street: Utilitarianism
OCCUPY WALL STREET
Occupy Wall Street
Jeremy Banks
BUS309 February 3, 2013
Professor Zimmerman
OCCUPY WALL STREET
Abstract
The Occupy Wall Street movement is based on utilitarian theory. They believe it is only fair for everything to be done for the greater good of all. As long as politicians continue with the ways of Reaganomics, the income inequality and wealth distribution in the United States will continue to worsen. This responsibility lies with every American, but it is especially true for politicians. The government needs to change economic ways before the American economic model influences and leaves the global economy in ruins. Wealthy people should pay the same share …show more content…
of income tax everyone else. The Occupy Wall Street movement emerged strong and then faded away. The organization is too scattered at this point. The movement did leave behind the attention it brought to the freedom of speech issues in this country.
OCCUPY WALL STREET
“Occupy Wall Street”
Discuss the moral and economic implications involved in the movement. The Occupy Wall Street movement (OWS) also called the 99 percent started in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City on September 17, 2011. “The Occupy Wall Street Movements are connecting the dots on a map of dysfunction and injustice (Moore, 2011).” Johnathan Haidt said, “In my visit to Zuccotti Park, it was clear that the main moral foundation of OWS is fairness, followed by care and liberty. Loyalty, authority, and sanctity, by contrast, were very little in evidence (Haidt, 2012).”
Haidt outlines the six moral clusters that people fit into (care/harm, fairness/cheating and liberty/oppression), then concludes that the protesters lean left in general—meaning “Fairness, care, and concerns about oppression” are high priorities. The difference is that fairness is cranked up from the second position in which we normally find it (behind care) to the number one motivation. The protesters ' basic message is quite clear: Rein in the influence of big business, which has cheated and manipulated its way to great wealth (in part by buying legislation) while leaving a trail of oppressed and impoverished victims in its wake (Haidt, 2011).
Economic principles of the Occupy Wall Street movement have concentrated on the top 1one percent but are promising to address poverty as well.
The Occupy Wall Street movement has already made the concentration of wealth at the top of this society a central issue in American politics. Now, it promises to do something similar when it comes to the realities of poverty in this country. By making Wall Street its symbolic target, and branding itself as a movement of the
OCCUPY WALL STREET
99%, OWS has redirected public attention to the issue of extreme inequality, which it has recast as, essentially, a moral problem. Only a short time ago, the “morals” issue in politics meant the propriety of sexual preferences, reproductive behavior, or the personal behavior of presidents. Economic policy, including tax cuts for the rich, subsidies and government protection for insurance and pharmaceutical companies, and financial deregulation, was shrouded in clouds of propaganda or simply considered too complex for ordinary Americans to grasp. (Piven, 2011)
Analyze each of the implications identified above against the utilitarian, Kantian, and virtue ethics to determine which theory best applies to the movement. Support your position with examples and evidence.
Utilitarianism is defined by Merriam-Webster as the Ethical principle according to which an action is right if it tends to maximize happiness, not only that of the agent, but also of everyone affected. Thus, utilitarian’s focus on the consequences of an act rather than on its intrinsic nature or the motives of the agent. Kantianism is defined by Merriam-Webster as the System of critical philosophy created by Immanuel Kant and the philosophies that have arisen from the study of his writings. Kantianism comprises diverse philosophies that share Kant 's concern to explore the nature and limits of human knowledge in the hope of raising philosophy to the level of a science. Virtue ethics is defined by Merriam-Webster as the approach to ethics that takes the notion of virtue (often conceived as excellence) as fundamental. Virtue ethics is primarily concerned with traits of
OCCUPY WALL STREET character that are essential to human flourishing, not with the enumeration of duties. (Britannica)
The Occupy Wall Street movement focuses on fairness, care, and concerns about oppression. By definition, because they seek happiness for all, the movement is based on utilitarianism.
The Occupy Wall Street protests is actually a kind of blind faith in utilitarianism.
We believe that we are all individuals and that society is only the net result of our individual choices. Therefore, all we can do is vote for progressive candidates and write checks to progressive organizations. The sociologist Emile Durkheim understood that utilitarianism is a convenient fiction. Ultimately, we cannot be reduced to individuals making rational decisions, because our very understanding of reality is socially constructed. The significance of Wall Street, the invisible movements of billions of dollars, the bailout, the financial crisis––none of these things have any empirical substance. They are all mutually agreed upon realities. (Laycock, …show more content…
2011)
Determine who is responsible for income inequality and wealth distribution in the U.S. In your analysis, make sure to include if this is something that happened suddenly or if it built up over time. Explain your rationale. The government is responsible for the income inequality and wealth distribution in the United States. “In other words, if government economic policy focuses on making the rich richer, the benefits will "trickle down" to everyone else. As supply siders are fond of saying, "A rising tide lifts all boats." Since Supply Side economics came to dominate American economic policy
OCCUPY WALL STREET during the Reagan administration, the rising economic tide has certainly lifted a lot of yachts, but at the same time it has left most of the row boats stuck in the mud ("American pie:wealth and," ).
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz argues that the price of allowing the US to continue down the path of inequality, as 1 percent of Americans now control 40 percent of the country 's wealth, is the undermining of economic growth, the erosion of democracy and the growing instability of American society itself (Herrup, 2012). Unless politicians realize they were not elected to line their own pockets, they will not effect change before it is too late. “When a society becomes more and more divided, it becomes increasingly class-driven, and it’s very hard for democratic processes to work well in that kind of society (Herrup, 2012).” This inequality will also be ultimately damaging for the global economy as well. “To the extent that America is held up as a paradigm of what a market economy is, the way we manage the market economy is not what most individuals (here, or in other societies) want. We have become the country with the least equality of opportunity (Herrup, 2012).”
Suggest an equitable outcome from the movement that would be appropriate for our capitalistic society. “Deepak Chopra is the author of over 60 books on health, success, relationships and spirituality, including ""War of the Worldviews: Science vs Spirituality" (Chopra, 2011).” He suggest seven steps for the outcome of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
1. Eradicate the Bush tax cuts for the rich and institute new taxes on the wealthiest Americans and on corporations, including a tax on all trading on Wall Street
OCCUPY WALL STREET
(where they currently pay 0%).
2. Assess a penalty tax on any corporation that moves American jobs to other countries when that company is already making profits in America. Our jobs are the most important national treasure and they cannot be removed from the country simply because someone wants to make more money.
3. Require that all Americans pay the same Social Security tax on all of their earnings (normally, the middle class pays about 6% of their income to Social Security; someone making $1 million a year pays about 0.6% (or 90% less than the average person). This law would simply make the rich pay what everyone else pays.
4. Reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act, placing serious regulations on how business is conducted by Wall Street and the banks.
5. Investigate the Crash of 2008, and bring to justice those who committed any crimes.
6. Reorder our nation 's spending priorities (including the ending of all foreign wars and their cost of over $2 billion a week). This will re-open libraries, reinstate band and art and civics classes in our schools, fix our roads and bridges and infrastructure, wire the entire country for 21st century Internet, and support scientific research that improves our lives.
7. Join the rest of the free world and create a single-payer, free and universal health care system that covers all Americans all of the time.
OCCUPY WALL STREET
Predict whether the movement will continue, fad away, or turn into something else. Provide a rationale with your response. As citizens movements go, Occupy Wall Street came in like a lion and eased out like a lamb.
A year after the occupation of Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, the Occupy movement seems scattered and almost vestigial. It has no place in the current Presidential race. Its numbers are small. And while it continues to send up a flare or two from the socioeconomic front lines of the American commons, there is no lasting organization, no powerful network of tendons linking large-scale movements around the country, and no centered political message. Yes, part of this is by design. Occupy remains mainly leaderless, and its flavors vary widely city by city, region by region. Against our quadrennial election struggle, its membership and impact seem minimal this fall, in strong contrast to last year’s constant social media flow, marches and headlines. (Watson,
2012). Watson makes a good point that there are three outcomes the movement left behind.
1. The Brand of the 99 Percent. It is hard imagine the advertising budget for the creation of a brand with as much equity in the marketplace as “the 99 percent” – and its 1-percent inverse. In the wake of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, Occupy Wall Street tapped the great intravenous line of the American class zeitgeist and came up with a keeper.
OCCUPY WALL STREET
2. A Focus on Free Speech and Assembly. At its heart, Occupy was as much about free expression as it was about any tangible political goals. And just as importantly, the reaction against Occupy – especially by the City of New York and the administration of Michael Bloomberg, was about containing that free expression – and quite frankly, limiting the constitutional guarantees to speech and free assembly.
3. Winning and Focus Matter: Losing the Narrative
That said, Occupy is not winning the war. There are no tangible results from the Occupy movement, with has been as much about self-expression and experiments in creating a new networked community as it has about public policy (Watson, 2012).
OCCUPY WALL STREET
References
American pie: wealth and income inequality in america. (n.d.). Retrieved February 3, 2013, from http://www.currydemocrats.org/american_pie.html
Britannica, e. (n.d.). merriam-webster. Retrieved febuary 3, 2013, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/concise/virtue+ethics?show=0&t=1359929172
Chopora, D. (2011, December 02). What 's the best outcome for occupy wall street?. Retrieved February 3, 2013, from http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/chopra/article/What-s-the-best-outcome-for-Occupy-Wall-Street-2345931.php
Haidt, J. (2011, november 01). Jonathan Haidt on the Morality of Occupy Wall Street Protesters. Retrieved February 3, 2013, from The Lavin Daily: http://www.thelavinagency.com/blog-jonathan-haidt-occupy-wall-street-moral-makeup.html
Haidt, J. (2012, January). Occupy wall street’s moral ground. Yes, Retrieved February 3, 2013, from http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/occupy-wall-streets-moral-ground
Herrup, K. (2012, December 27). Joseph stiglitz: Us setting 'terrible example ' with income inequality. Retrieved February 3, 2013, from http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/121226/joseph-stiglitz-us-income-inequality
Laycock, J. (2011, october 3). What use are drum circles? Durkheim on occupy wall street. Retrieved February 3, 2013, from Thereligousleft.org: http://www.thereligiousleft.org/2011/10/what-use-are-drum-circles-durkheim-on.html
OCCUPY WALL STREET
References (cont.)
Moore, K. (2011, November 01). Occupy wall street’s moral ground. Retrieved February 3,
2013, from http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/occupy-wall-streets-moral-ground
Piven, F. F. (2011, November 07). Occupy Wall Street and the Politics of Financial Morality . Retrieved February 3, 2013, from zspace: http://www.zcommunications.org/occupy-wall-street-and-the-politics-of-financial-morality-by-frances-fox-piven
Watson, T. (2012, September 17). Occupy wall street 's year: Three outcomes for the history books. Retrieved February 3, 2013, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomwatson/2012/09/17/occupy-wall-streets-year/
Occupy Wall Street
Jeremy Banks
BUS309 February 3, 2013
Professor Zimmerman
OCCUPY WALL STREET
Abstract
The Occupy Wall Street movement is based on utilitarian theory. They believe it is only fair for everything to be done for the greater good of all. As long as politicians continue with the ways of Reaganomics, the income inequality and wealth distribution in the United States will continue to worsen. This responsibility lies with every American, but it is especially true for politicians. The government needs to change economic ways before the American economic model influences and leaves the global economy in ruins. Wealthy people should pay the same share …show more content…
of income tax everyone else. The Occupy Wall Street movement emerged strong and then faded away. The organization is too scattered at this point. The movement did leave behind the attention it brought to the freedom of speech issues in this country.
OCCUPY WALL STREET
“Occupy Wall Street”
Discuss the moral and economic implications involved in the movement. The Occupy Wall Street movement (OWS) also called the 99 percent started in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City on September 17, 2011. “The Occupy Wall Street Movements are connecting the dots on a map of dysfunction and injustice (Moore, 2011).” Johnathan Haidt said, “In my visit to Zuccotti Park, it was clear that the main moral foundation of OWS is fairness, followed by care and liberty. Loyalty, authority, and sanctity, by contrast, were very little in evidence (Haidt, 2012).”
Haidt outlines the six moral clusters that people fit into (care/harm, fairness/cheating and liberty/oppression), then concludes that the protesters lean left in general—meaning “Fairness, care, and concerns about oppression” are high priorities. The difference is that fairness is cranked up from the second position in which we normally find it (behind care) to the number one motivation. The protesters ' basic message is quite clear: Rein in the influence of big business, which has cheated and manipulated its way to great wealth (in part by buying legislation) while leaving a trail of oppressed and impoverished victims in its wake (Haidt, 2011).
Economic principles of the Occupy Wall Street movement have concentrated on the top 1one percent but are promising to address poverty as well.
The Occupy Wall Street movement has already made the concentration of wealth at the top of this society a central issue in American politics. Now, it promises to do something similar when it comes to the realities of poverty in this country. By making Wall Street its symbolic target, and branding itself as a movement of the
OCCUPY WALL STREET
99%, OWS has redirected public attention to the issue of extreme inequality, which it has recast as, essentially, a moral problem. Only a short time ago, the “morals” issue in politics meant the propriety of sexual preferences, reproductive behavior, or the personal behavior of presidents. Economic policy, including tax cuts for the rich, subsidies and government protection for insurance and pharmaceutical companies, and financial deregulation, was shrouded in clouds of propaganda or simply considered too complex for ordinary Americans to grasp. (Piven, 2011)
Analyze each of the implications identified above against the utilitarian, Kantian, and virtue ethics to determine which theory best applies to the movement. Support your position with examples and evidence.
Utilitarianism is defined by Merriam-Webster as the Ethical principle according to which an action is right if it tends to maximize happiness, not only that of the agent, but also of everyone affected. Thus, utilitarian’s focus on the consequences of an act rather than on its intrinsic nature or the motives of the agent. Kantianism is defined by Merriam-Webster as the System of critical philosophy created by Immanuel Kant and the philosophies that have arisen from the study of his writings. Kantianism comprises diverse philosophies that share Kant 's concern to explore the nature and limits of human knowledge in the hope of raising philosophy to the level of a science. Virtue ethics is defined by Merriam-Webster as the approach to ethics that takes the notion of virtue (often conceived as excellence) as fundamental. Virtue ethics is primarily concerned with traits of
OCCUPY WALL STREET character that are essential to human flourishing, not with the enumeration of duties. (Britannica)
The Occupy Wall Street movement focuses on fairness, care, and concerns about oppression. By definition, because they seek happiness for all, the movement is based on utilitarianism.
The Occupy Wall Street protests is actually a kind of blind faith in utilitarianism.
We believe that we are all individuals and that society is only the net result of our individual choices. Therefore, all we can do is vote for progressive candidates and write checks to progressive organizations. The sociologist Emile Durkheim understood that utilitarianism is a convenient fiction. Ultimately, we cannot be reduced to individuals making rational decisions, because our very understanding of reality is socially constructed. The significance of Wall Street, the invisible movements of billions of dollars, the bailout, the financial crisis––none of these things have any empirical substance. They are all mutually agreed upon realities. (Laycock, …show more content…
2011)
Determine who is responsible for income inequality and wealth distribution in the U.S. In your analysis, make sure to include if this is something that happened suddenly or if it built up over time. Explain your rationale. The government is responsible for the income inequality and wealth distribution in the United States. “In other words, if government economic policy focuses on making the rich richer, the benefits will "trickle down" to everyone else. As supply siders are fond of saying, "A rising tide lifts all boats." Since Supply Side economics came to dominate American economic policy
OCCUPY WALL STREET during the Reagan administration, the rising economic tide has certainly lifted a lot of yachts, but at the same time it has left most of the row boats stuck in the mud ("American pie:wealth and," ).
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz argues that the price of allowing the US to continue down the path of inequality, as 1 percent of Americans now control 40 percent of the country 's wealth, is the undermining of economic growth, the erosion of democracy and the growing instability of American society itself (Herrup, 2012). Unless politicians realize they were not elected to line their own pockets, they will not effect change before it is too late. “When a society becomes more and more divided, it becomes increasingly class-driven, and it’s very hard for democratic processes to work well in that kind of society (Herrup, 2012).” This inequality will also be ultimately damaging for the global economy as well. “To the extent that America is held up as a paradigm of what a market economy is, the way we manage the market economy is not what most individuals (here, or in other societies) want. We have become the country with the least equality of opportunity (Herrup, 2012).”
Suggest an equitable outcome from the movement that would be appropriate for our capitalistic society. “Deepak Chopra is the author of over 60 books on health, success, relationships and spirituality, including ""War of the Worldviews: Science vs Spirituality" (Chopra, 2011).” He suggest seven steps for the outcome of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
1. Eradicate the Bush tax cuts for the rich and institute new taxes on the wealthiest Americans and on corporations, including a tax on all trading on Wall Street
OCCUPY WALL STREET
(where they currently pay 0%).
2. Assess a penalty tax on any corporation that moves American jobs to other countries when that company is already making profits in America. Our jobs are the most important national treasure and they cannot be removed from the country simply because someone wants to make more money.
3. Require that all Americans pay the same Social Security tax on all of their earnings (normally, the middle class pays about 6% of their income to Social Security; someone making $1 million a year pays about 0.6% (or 90% less than the average person). This law would simply make the rich pay what everyone else pays.
4. Reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act, placing serious regulations on how business is conducted by Wall Street and the banks.
5. Investigate the Crash of 2008, and bring to justice those who committed any crimes.
6. Reorder our nation 's spending priorities (including the ending of all foreign wars and their cost of over $2 billion a week). This will re-open libraries, reinstate band and art and civics classes in our schools, fix our roads and bridges and infrastructure, wire the entire country for 21st century Internet, and support scientific research that improves our lives.
7. Join the rest of the free world and create a single-payer, free and universal health care system that covers all Americans all of the time.
OCCUPY WALL STREET
Predict whether the movement will continue, fad away, or turn into something else. Provide a rationale with your response. As citizens movements go, Occupy Wall Street came in like a lion and eased out like a lamb.
A year after the occupation of Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, the Occupy movement seems scattered and almost vestigial. It has no place in the current Presidential race. Its numbers are small. And while it continues to send up a flare or two from the socioeconomic front lines of the American commons, there is no lasting organization, no powerful network of tendons linking large-scale movements around the country, and no centered political message. Yes, part of this is by design. Occupy remains mainly leaderless, and its flavors vary widely city by city, region by region. Against our quadrennial election struggle, its membership and impact seem minimal this fall, in strong contrast to last year’s constant social media flow, marches and headlines. (Watson,
2012). Watson makes a good point that there are three outcomes the movement left behind.
1. The Brand of the 99 Percent. It is hard imagine the advertising budget for the creation of a brand with as much equity in the marketplace as “the 99 percent” – and its 1-percent inverse. In the wake of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, Occupy Wall Street tapped the great intravenous line of the American class zeitgeist and came up with a keeper.
OCCUPY WALL STREET
2. A Focus on Free Speech and Assembly. At its heart, Occupy was as much about free expression as it was about any tangible political goals. And just as importantly, the reaction against Occupy – especially by the City of New York and the administration of Michael Bloomberg, was about containing that free expression – and quite frankly, limiting the constitutional guarantees to speech and free assembly.
3. Winning and Focus Matter: Losing the Narrative
That said, Occupy is not winning the war. There are no tangible results from the Occupy movement, with has been as much about self-expression and experiments in creating a new networked community as it has about public policy (Watson, 2012).
OCCUPY WALL STREET
References
American pie: wealth and income inequality in america. (n.d.). Retrieved February 3, 2013, from http://www.currydemocrats.org/american_pie.html
Britannica, e. (n.d.). merriam-webster. Retrieved febuary 3, 2013, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/concise/virtue+ethics?show=0&t=1359929172
Chopora, D. (2011, December 02). What 's the best outcome for occupy wall street?. Retrieved February 3, 2013, from http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/chopra/article/What-s-the-best-outcome-for-Occupy-Wall-Street-2345931.php
Haidt, J. (2011, november 01). Jonathan Haidt on the Morality of Occupy Wall Street Protesters. Retrieved February 3, 2013, from The Lavin Daily: http://www.thelavinagency.com/blog-jonathan-haidt-occupy-wall-street-moral-makeup.html
Haidt, J. (2012, January). Occupy wall street’s moral ground. Yes, Retrieved February 3, 2013, from http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/occupy-wall-streets-moral-ground
Herrup, K. (2012, December 27). Joseph stiglitz: Us setting 'terrible example ' with income inequality. Retrieved February 3, 2013, from http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/121226/joseph-stiglitz-us-income-inequality
Laycock, J. (2011, october 3). What use are drum circles? Durkheim on occupy wall street. Retrieved February 3, 2013, from Thereligousleft.org: http://www.thereligiousleft.org/2011/10/what-use-are-drum-circles-durkheim-on.html
OCCUPY WALL STREET
References (cont.)
Moore, K. (2011, November 01). Occupy wall street’s moral ground. Retrieved February 3,
2013, from http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/occupy-wall-streets-moral-ground
Piven, F. F. (2011, November 07). Occupy Wall Street and the Politics of Financial Morality . Retrieved February 3, 2013, from zspace: http://www.zcommunications.org/occupy-wall-street-and-the-politics-of-financial-morality-by-frances-fox-piven
Watson, T. (2012, September 17). Occupy wall street 's year: Three outcomes for the history books. Retrieved February 3, 2013, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomwatson/2012/09/17/occupy-wall-streets-year/