Matt Taibbi, in a must-read article with the above title says that what drives the Occupy Wall Street protests is not envy of the rich but the fact that the system is corrupt and unfair.
Americans for the most part love the rich, even the obnoxious rich. And in recent years, the harder things got, the more we’ve obsessed over the wealth dream. As unemployment skyrocketed, people tuned in in droves to gawk at Evrémonde-heiresses like Paris Hilton, or watch bullies like Donald Trump fire people on TV.
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Success is the national religion, and almost everyone is a believer. Americans love winners. But that’s just the problem. These guys on Wall Street are not winning – they’re cheating. And as much as we love the self-made success story, we hate the cheater that much more.In this country, we cheer for people who hit their own home runs – not shortcut-chasing juicers like Bonds and McGwire, Blankfein and Dimon.
That’s why it’s so obnoxious when people say the protesters are just sore losers who are jealous of these smart guys in suits who beat them at the game of life. This isn’t disappointment at having lost. It’s anger because those other guys didn’t really win. And people now want the score overturned.
He lists all the swindles that are currently going on in favor of the rich banks and against ordinary banking customers, and ends, “These inequities are what drive the OWS protests. People don’t want handouts. It’s not a class uprising and they don’t want civil war — they want just the opposite. They want everyone to live in the same country, and live by the same rules. It’s amazing that some people think that that’s asking a lot.”
Wall street haven’t patient, maybe the reason is folks work under pressure and the competitiveness strongly. For out country, we need know more about the truth, that’s the really means of the civil rights.
I fully agree with what Matt Taibbi says about Free Money, Credit Amnesty, Stupidity Insurance, Undergraduated Taxes, Get out of Jail Free and the Police Force. However, I am skeptical about his reasoning, when it comes to why OWS is happening. I think that protests have become the “New Normal”, (Middle East, North Africa, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy, The UK, Ireland, South Africa, etc.) These protests could be short-lived or not. Time will tell. However, whatever the cause, the fire was lit by 1 suicide in Tunisia and fueled by social media. The Protests are mainly against those who caused the problem and by those who are/were affected by it. Some do get involved as a matter of principle too. Therefore I don’t think OWS was a protest against cheating, but because Wall Street caused the problem.