Occupy Wall Street Movement Essay Example

The Occupy Wall Street Movement began on September 7, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, located in New York’s financial district. A Canadian activist group called Adbusters initiated the protest, which later spread to other Occupy protests and movements around the world. Adbusters proposed a peaceful occupation of Wall Street to protest corporate influence on democracy, the lack of legal consequences for those who brought about global crisis of monetary insolvency, and an increasing disparity in wealth. The main issues that the participants wished to address were social and economic inequality, greed, corruption, and the perceived undue influence of corporations on government, most specifically from the financial services sector. The Occupy Wall Street slogan which was widely used by the protestors and spread through social media was “We are the 99%,” which referred to the growing income inequality and wealth distribution in the United States between the wealthiest one percent and the rest of the population.
The goals of Occupy Wall Street movement included reducing the influence of corporations on politics, creating a more balanced distribution of income, fostering the creation of more and better jobs, forgiveness of student loan debts or other relief for indebted students, and alleviating the foreclosure situation in the U.S. The protestor’s wanted to see steps taken to ensure that the rich would pay a fairer share of their income taxes, that banks are held accountable for reckless practices, and that more attention is paid to finding jobs for the unemployed. These topics all resonated with many people, as they reflected the frustration that many struggling American’s were feeling (Occupy Movement, The New York Times). The implications of the OWS movement contain aspects of many of the prominent theories of business ethics, including the utilitarian theory, the Kantian theory, and theory of virtue ethics.
The Occupy Wall Street Movement’s goals basically entail