The plethora of concerns of the people protesting around the United States and the world seems to confuse some commentators. “What do they want?” “They’re disorganized!” As one blogger put it, “If you are still scratching your head trying to figure out Occupy Wall Street’s aim, you are not alone; the three-week-old movement has remained stubbornly resistant to stating clear demands.”
A closer look at the problems that concern them shows that, at some level, they all stem from a single source: Money influence in politics. That single realization also provides a pathway to solving the problems as well.
It would be natural to be skeptical of such a broad generalization, but I think that, for many, if not most, of their complaints, the comingling of money and politics is a major underlying factor if not the single factor that must be addressed in order to address the concerns of the 99%.
Consider a few of the issues mentioned on signs that you might see at one of the rallies. I’ll start with some of the less obvious concerns.
1. War protests
The burden for fighting the wars fall on the soldiers, and the benefits accrue to the corporations. Government contractors, manufacturing interests and energy companies have a cozy relationship with politicians, and the Military-Industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about and the perpetual wars that Orwell warned us about have come to pass. Our representatives take contributions from “the complex” and support their corporate boondoggles in return. When John Boehner supported an engine program that the Pentagon wanted to have scrapped, the scheme was revealed in all of its ugliness, but the United States War Machine is vast and, well, complex. Many think that resources spent on endless wars could be better spent helping Americans.
2. Unemployment and wage stagnation
The factors driving wage stagnation and unemployment come from measures taken by corporations to enhance their profits. These measures are encouraged by current policies of the government which acts favorably on behalf of their corporate sponsors. With corporate and high end earnings skyrocketing and everyone else struggling to keep their job or find one, there is a sense that the money saved by reducing wages, reducing employment and employing overseas is being taken from the workers and given to the corporations who don’t need it. They aren’t even using it. It’s sitting in banks when it could have been used to improve the lives of their employees. The attacks on unions by governors and representatives allow companies to unilaterally demand decreases in salaries and benefits, and the politicians are amply rewarded for their efforts. If efforts to eliminate the minimum wage are successful, corporate domination of the political system will achieve a new low in government “for the people.”
3. “Corporations are not people”
Mitt Romney famously stated that “Corporations are people too!” on the campaign trail. The Supreme Court, with the support of the justices that have attended the luxurious affairs sponsored by the Koch brothers and others has given corporations unfettered ability to donate unlimited amounts of money to politicians who invariably return the “favor” with positions supportive of corporations and antagonistic to workers. Special tax breaks for corporations effectively shovel money into the corporations while simultaneously leaving a deficit in the budgets that is made up by cutting programs that benefit real people. Politicians give money to corporations that donate to politicians who then give more money to corporations – and that money comes from the workers.
4. “Tax the Rich”
Tax breaks on capital gains and deductions for things that pertain only to the wealthiest 1%, combined with soaring incomes for the wealthiest Americans, leave the average citizen feeling that they are subsidizing the wealthy – and they are. No one expects that the wealthiest should pay so much of their income that they would be poor or middle class, but with disposable incomes exceeding 6 figures there seems to be little reason to grant special tax breaks when they could easily afford to pay at least as much as the middle class. Previous generations of wealthy have, in fact, paid a higher percentage of their income than the middle class. The progressive income tax with its “tax brackets” has served us well for more than a generation, and the current system is essentially regressive. Combined with a realization that giving money to the wealthy does not generate more jobs, the middle class is calling for a return of what has always been considered a fair tax schedule. The politicians are resisting this because they get donations from those who benefit from a regressive tax.
There are many other causes that can be traced to a system that favors the wealthy over the rest of the country. Foreclosures despite bailouts, the expectation that the debt accrued from the easy credit of the past will be paid while banks get a pass, and the privatization of the benefits of risky investments with socialization of the downside of risk all burden the “rest” of the country while freeing the wealthiest of responsibility are all possible because of the political system that takes money from those that are benefiting the most from these measures.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see signs about pollution or global warming since the companies that pollute are donating large amounts of money expecting, hoping for or demanding relaxation of pollution standards. The EPA is under attack, and the citizens are in danger of losing protection against polluting industries. The oil industry is fighting against “green” technologies and in many respects they appear to be winning, and that strikes many as shortsighted and ultimately self-defeating.
Even the “fringes” are expressing a basic feeling that runs across the political spectrum: distrust of government. A government that is unresponsive to the people and catering to the extremely wealthy is not worthy of trust.
There is one more thing.
The genesis of the TEA party, and many of their concerns, have similarities to those of “Occupy Wall Street” despite the perversion of their message and the misdirection of their cause by the wealthy who have usurped their energy for their own benefit. The bailouts in particular “tea-ed off” a lot of people who saw the government take their taxes and give them to the extremely wealthy – banks, corporations and individuals.
The ire was expressed against government, perhaps appropriately. The solution that seemed to make sense was to take power from the government. The wealthy took this movement and focused attention on government power through regulation. Regulations that limit pollution, protect consumers from fraud and prevent risky investments with customers assets have nothing to do with bailouts. Such regulations protect people from corporations and removing them allows corporations to circumvent safeguards and screw the citizens. Unemployment insurance, Social Security and Medicare keep the jobless and elderly from being destitute. The TEA party protesters message became confused with the interests of corporations, and the result is that the TEA party has been supporting measures that will, in the long run, harm them while increasing the bottom line for the corporations. The TEA party congressmen have supported measures that would even eliminate minimum wage laws despite many in the TEA party that live on low wages.
How can one tell that the TEA party has been misdirected? Just look at the donations for members of Congress that the TEA party supported. Examine the measures supported by the Republicans and see how they affect people (real people) and how they affect corporations. The final nail in the coffin for the grassroots members of the TEA party was to convince them that “what’s good for corporations is good for everyone.” It is 180 degrees from “Keep your government hands off my Medicare” to a bill that effectively eliminates Medicare.
No one wants to see corporations disappear or even become unprofitable. Neither should anyone (other than the extremely wealthy) want to see Congress and state government acting only in the interests of the corporations and against the interests of the citizens.
Absent hyperpartisanship, there is common ground between the Occupy Wall Street movement and the TEA party. Money in politics is something that both sides should agree is anathema to American democracy. It is time to pull together instead of pulling apart.
Fairness is an American value. The current system isn’t fair. The solution will need to address the unfair nature of the influence of big money in politics.
Now that we have cleared that up, let’s get to work.
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