The Expanding Demonstrations of Occupy Wall Street: What Is The End-Game? (Guest Voice)
The Expanding Demonstrations of Occupy Wall Street: What Is The End-Game?
by Robert A. Levine
The spontaneous eruption of the demonstrations against Wall Street in New York and their spread around the country signals the depth of unhappiness and distress over the economy. The public also places the blame for the economic downturn squarely on the bankers and financiers. Heightening people’s anger is the fact that those responsible for the ineptitude, unethical and corrupt activities that caused the recession have never been brought to justice. And further compounding citizens’ rage is the knowledge that these executives walked away with outlandish windfalls while the rest of America was saddled with the economic repercussions.
Dissatisfaction with the distribution of wealth has been another motivating factor for the demonstrators. Some of them have carried signs signaling that they are the 99%, emphasizing that the top 1% in the nation owns a disproportionate percentage of the assets and has disproportionate incomes. But many of the demonstrators are even more concerned about the lack of opportunity they see for themselves with bleak futures ahead. Unemployment remains persistently high and there are not enough decent jobs, even for many of those who are highly educated. The middle class is suffering, yet corporate America is awash in profits.
But aside from venting their frustrations over the economy, unpunished corrupt behavior, and the concentration of wealth, what is the end game for the demonstrators? What are their specific objectives and how do they hope to accomplish them? As of yet, they have not articulated any goals nor particular pathways they intend to follow. Part of this is because they are a disparate group, including unemployed workers, college students, union members, anarchists, activists from the sixties and so forth. Their political beliefs tend to run from the far left to the center and they do not speak with a unified voice. Yet it is evident that they want to boost job creation, stimulate the economy, and perhaps push for a tax code that makes greater demands on the most affluent. So where do they go from here?
Demonstrations alone are not going to transform the nation. If the participants want to bring about change in America, they are going to have to get politically involved. Currently, the only political outlets for them (and for everyone) are the Republican or Democratic parties. On the basis of their ideology, the Republicans would hold no attraction for these demonstrators (a mutual aversion), leaving only the Democrats as a possible habitat for them. But while the Democrats and the demonstrators may hold some ideals and goals in common, the party (as the Republicans) has been in thrall to the lobbyists and special interests. Its officeholders in Washington are mainly concerned with their own prospects for re-election, willing to take money from financial companies and other large corporations. They are not going to be a force for the kind of change that is needed in America.
However, a new, centrist third party whose main precept was pragmatism rather than partisanship would be an excellent home for many of these demonstrators, even though they tend to lean to the left. If this party renounced funding from lobbyists and special interests, it could raise money over the Internet from small donors and its elected officials would be free to act as representatives of their constituents. And without any ideologic constraints, they could actually work to get things done.
The deadlock in Washington and a public that is fed up with the current two parties makes it quite likely that a party of the moderate middle will take shape in the near future. Maybe the demonstrators of “occupy Wall Street” in concert with a politically awakened middle-class can play a role in getting it started.
A VietNam vet and a Columbia history major who became a medical doctor, Bob Levine has watched the evolution of American politics over the past 40 years with increasing alarm. He knows he’s not alone. Partisan grid-lock, massive cash contributions and even more massive expenditures on lobbyists have undermined real democracy, and there is more than just a whiff of corruption emanating from Washington. If the nation is to overcome lockstep partisanship, restore growth to the economy and bring its debt under control, Levine argues that it will require a strong centrist third party to bring about the necessary reforms. Levine’s previous book, Shock Therapy For the American Health Care System took a realist approach to health care from a physician’s informed point of view; Resurrecting Democracy takes a similar pragmatic approach, putting aside ideology and taking a hard look at facts on the ground. In his latest book, Levine shines a light that cuts through the miasma of party propaganda and reactionary thinking, and reveals a new path for American politics. This post is cross posted from his blog.
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No third party.
We are Liberals and we already know how to vote.
We are MOST upset with uncontrolled capitalism. We want MORE regulation.
We hold these truths self evident, that Fiscal Conservatism DOES NOT WORK TO OUR SATISFACTION.
Your laughable attempt at dividing our movement simply will not work.
Thanks Robert, It would be nice if your excellent overview, observations and comments generate a thoughtful discussion.
This morning NPR had a report, Betting On Food Prices May Sell The Hungry Short It’s about how speculators are creating another ‘bubble’ by targeting agricultural commodities. This speculation seems to be doing the same thing to food as they did to high-tech, oil and real-estate.
My current take is that it will take more than demonstrations. Especially since the only response (other than more of the same) from those who got us to where we are today is, “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche”
Thank goodness they are not raging against the poor folks down in Washington. Obama and the Dems have enough trouble as it is with unfounded accusations that they are mismanaging the economy. And thank goodness that the folks at FNMA were able to send 87 of their people to the Banker’s convention in Chicago. Lord knows big cities can sure use the taxes on all those hotel rooms and bar bills. Barney, should also rest easy knowing that his pals will enjoy the windy city.
Guess I spoke both too late… and too early.
OK, thanks Robert, you made some valid points.
Simple by design. The ill-informed leading the ill-informed. Interesting is it not that throughout time, the fat robber barons organize the ill-informed to do their dirty work. The ill-informed whose heads are full of mush, who chant the prepared phrases, while the robber barons sit back and wait. Tear the walls down, they chant, all the while the robber barons move among them, counting their coins. Destroy the USA, destroy Democracy in America they shout. The robber barons move freely, feeding their frenzy, stroking them, holding them near and whispering sweet nothings in their ear. Oh yes, we’ve been here, many times before. If it were not for the ill-informed and the robber barons, what fun would life be. We are the poor and its by design, liberals make it so, nothing like a show. The endgame of course is for more control. Useful idiots one and all, history, sets the record straight. But, who’s to see, for the useful idiots, it will not be.
That sounds great, Robert, but I can’t help thinking their constituents will be the same seniors and businesspeople and unions and environmentalists and gun fans and lawyers who hold sway over politics today. Every corrupt thing politicians do serves at least one of these groups. The groups will not go away, and their agendas will not change, if we vote in another party.
Calls to throw these parties out and bring in a third sound much like calls to throw out Senator X and Vote for Change with Senator Y. We’ve heard it before. But nothing much changes because nothing *can* change. Government will always be an arena where interest groups compete to control public policy.
The best hope for changing the dynamic, IMHO, lies not in Washington but in the people becoming better at recognizing giveaways to these interest groups. Protesting giveaways to bankers is a terrific start. Then let’s start recognizing tough-on-crime laws as giveaways to the prison industry, job certifications as giveaways to unions, drug safety laws as giveaways to the pharmaceutical industry, and so on.
as much as I like these demonstrations and hope they only grow…. our politicians will never represent the general public until private money from both sides is removed from the political process.
Are you people deaf, dumb and blind. FNMA, enabled and encouraged by Washington (Dodd and frank, most recently), has had a bailout of over $160 Billion of your money,can still 87 people to a convention, and you want to lay all the blame on Wall Street?
Agree with duck, it’s both Washington and Wall St. that are the problem since they are pretty well in cahoots (as Dr. J also spelled out), but mere recognition of the problem has never born fruit, hence the frustrations that lead to protests. These protests have a long way to go before they will be anything but media and political fodder, but given the declining state of the economy, I don’t expect them to go away. It’s easy for people to get bored and move on when they have other options, but when the bulk of people see their futures growing more bleak, while the few are growing rich from exploiting the very govt that used to speak for the people, well… what other options do they have? Of course the Michael Reagans would have them pull themselves up by their bootstraps, but in 2011 that’s pretty delusional thinking.
I have a question:
Are we to make the longest sentences with the lest periods and most commas in a paragraph, or, is it several sentences with fewer commas and more periods that be the goal?
Choose one and knock yourself out Allen.
Thanks JSpencer.
Always a pleasure.