Thinking of ‘Occupy Wall Street’
October 5, 2011
HOME
> 2011 October 5 - 11
|
||
| Prev | Search | Next |
| Tweet |
2011 October 5 - 11 [WORLD]
|
A big-bodied man on Wall Street in NYC shouts, “Give us back our money!”
This is a scene from the film, “Capitalism: A Love Story” by Michael Moore. He charged onto Wall Street to blame the banks and securities corporations for having caused the worst financial crisis in a century.
Three years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers and two years after the release of his movie, Moore is no longer alone on Wall Street. Thousands of protesters are converging on a park on Wall Street and are engaged in a continuing occupation. Moore also showed up to cheer them on.
They are chanting, “Wall Street is Our Street” and calling for redress of the socially unjust market economy and the widening gap between the majority and the rich. The U.S. census in 2010 shows that 46.18 million people or 15.1 percent of the U.S. population are living below the poverty line, up 2.58 million from the previous year.
Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story” reveals that 95 % of the country’s wealth is in the hands of only 1 % of the population. President Obama once proposed that the rich and large corporations pay more taxes. Even the well known billionaire Warren Buffet called on Congress to increase taxes on the super rich. However, the Republicans raised a fierce objection to a tax hike on the rich claiming, “This is class warfare.”
“Wall Street Spring” which identifies with “Arab Spring” is not someone else’s problem. According to the National Livelihood Survey, poor people in Japan accounted for 16 % of its population in 2009. What will happen when an increase in the consumption tax is imposed?
| Prev | Next |