The Occupy movement has a valid point: there is more than a
little evidence of greed gone wild. Not only in the corruption-saturated
governments of poor nations does greed sap life-blood from the average citizen,
but the rich nations unevenly and unfairly give concessions to those who are
already well-healed. The most obvious example is the bale-out given to banks.
Imagine what each citizen could have done with the dollars should he/she have
received that amount evenly distributed. The rich are getting richer, and the
average person’s purchasing power decreases steadily. Prices keep climbing.
Occupiers feel
the inequity. They see money, lots of it, in the hands of the rich. They are
not happy with their fading life style. They believe they represent 99% of the
population. They have created quite a stir even with a weakly formulated and
poorly communicated issue.
I wonder if their
unhappiness has still other felt but not verbalized branches of life. If, as
they claim, their concerns are drawing in larger numbers each day, they must in
the future, try to find a legitimate way to not only gripe, but change the
greed to equity and generosity. It may very well be a whole new way of
conceiving of our democratic/capitalistic structure. Why not form new political parties that
represent the values desired and build into the system ways to prevent greed
running wild? They certainly cannot
count on the institutions and influential people against whom they are
protesting, to see the light and volunteer to change. They will have to roll up
their sleeves and do something tangible about it.
I am, however,
somewhat skeptical. If I recall, we have not yet had a system that can sidestep
man’s insatiable appetite to hoard. Maybe it is possible, but greed so far, has
crept into every form of government.
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