Taking on the Bull
There are always protests, whether you do something good or bad. Even if you do something beneficial, people say you do it because it's advertising. - Giorgio Armani
The Occupy Wall Street encampments have been disbanded. Although the movement still has an occasional flicker, it seems the fire has gone out of the movement and it appears that it is yesterday’s news.
I have said before that I didn’t necessarily approve of their methods. I do, on the other hand, support their message. I still have Scott Olsen, the injured Occupy Oakland protester, in my Google+ circles.
Many had criticized the Occupy movement saying that it lacked goals and demands. However, I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that the Occupy Wall Street movement was never about goals or demands at all, but about raising awareness regarding the very real economic problems this country faces.
It seems one of the major ones would be the private sector’s lack of accountability to its consumers the same way that the government is expected to be accountable to its citizens. . There is no C-SPAN for the boardroom, and the filter of the information we get from business is basically the crock of shit they choose to feed us through advertising and company authored press releases. Unfortunately, a select enterprise-über-alles segment of our society is dining from the crock with outright passion.
This is why business needs to be balanced by government regulation. Much of the argument appears to be the line where that equilibrium needs to be applied. Business claims that there needs to be less control, but recent history of business practices illustrates otherwise.
Although the clamor of OWS has died down, the message is not completely lost. There is an ongoing effort online to continue resistance to the business-as-usual stance of our private sector economy. This is being done by an online organization called change.org. From what I have seen from their web page, they are committed to grass roots change through social and cultural means within the population as opposed to political change through Washington.
One of the successes listed are the elimination of the $5 monthly fee on debit cards from Bank of America. The internet is giving a voice like never before to those who wish their voices heard. This is widespread engagement with the private sector without intervention from government and a breath of fresh air from the superfluity of government and corporate astroturf organizations. Free market advocates should be thrilled. This is what grass roots progress should look like.