As many have heard, the Occupy Wall Street protest has come to Dartmouth. When I was driving by Collis at 7 a.m. last Friday, I got the chance to see the protest in action three hooded figures were sitting on the grass in the pouring rain to support the cause. While I applaud the passion of these students, I believe that their actions, as well as the actions of those around the nation, are largely misguided.
The New York Times describes the Occupy Wall Street protest as one "against corporate greed, social inequality and other disparities between rich and poor." The slogan on their website reads that the movement encompasses "the 99 percent that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1 percent." While these are bold statements to make, I feel as though they are inherently flawed. These claims only scapegoat and unfairly caricature the wealthy instead of truly addressing the fundamental cause of inequality in our nation.
In the eyes of many myself included the fight between the haves and the have-nots is interchangeably thought of as one between the bad guys and the good guys. This perspective is seen through our reverence of Robin Hood a man dubbed a hero for stealing from the rich (they're bad anyway) and giving to the poor (they deserve the money). For many people, Wall Street and the corporate world are symbolic of the bad guys they so obviously seem to epitomize greed, gluttony and all things evil. However, this line of thinking is a gross oversimplification of the real problem that exists in America today.
Too often, we forget that nothing is completely black-and-white. A person with material goods is not necessarily evil, and a person lacking wealth is not necessarily good. There are countless examples that show how narrow-minded and just plain wrong this kind of thinking is. Warren Buffet is a man of extreme wealth, but donates much of his money to charity and believes the wealthy minority ought to face high taxes. Many feel compassion and warmth toward a homeless man living on the street, but have no insight into the possible negative character this man may have. Along these same lines, greed and gluttony are not traits unique to the 1 percent of society with extreme wealth but rather are exhibited in every socioeconomic class.
The real problem is not the CEOs, the investment bankers and the elite class. The real problem is our culture. While it's easy to finger point in protest of the grand injustice being done by a certain sector of society, the real culprits of the rising problems in our society are every one of us. We are all greedy, and we are all gluttonous. People of all socioeconomic classes steal, overeat, abuse drugs and put others down for their own self-interest. True to this fact, if put in the shoes of a Wall Street broker, I have little doubt that many poor people would exhibit behavior very similar to that which they currently condemn.
I agree with the sentiment that Wall Street has too much power and believe that more regulations should be in place, which is one message that some people are trying to promote through the protest. However, I feel that many protesters are just joining the bandwagon with the simple mindset of hating rich people because they are unemployed and the future doesn't look very bright for them. They see the increasing wealth of those who have not been affected by the worsening economy and have nothing better to do, so they have joined the protest.
Nevertheless, one thing that does unify all of the protesters is that they wish to change the situation of our nation somehow, and this is good. We should want to change the status quo. But focusing on the negative through protests will only serve to divide rather than unify. Capitalism is here to stay with all of its benefits and sadly, with all of its consequences as well. Because of this, I think it would provide more benefit to the nation if the protesters used their energy to volunteer and bring education to those who desperately need it instead of being bitter and throwing accusations at Wall Street. Too often we focus our attention on the wealthy instead of the poor the exact thing we are fighting against.
