Remember the days when children didn’t come home to an empty house, when a family could afford to have only one parent working? When you didn’t have to have more than one job to survive? When you only worked 40 hours a week, had weekends off, affordable health care and paid vacation?
Remember when you felt like a human being, instead of machine?
The organizers of Occupy Wall Street do, and vow to end the corporate greed they say has enslaved the American working class. Those who have been protesting Wall Street as a part of the Occupy Wall Street movement call themselves the “Other 99 percent,” as opposed to the 1 percent of Americans who account for 25 percent of U.S. income, and 40 of U.S. wealth, according to The Huffington Post.
The movement serves as a backlash to corporate “greed and corruption,” an issue that has been making headlines in light of recent stories, like General Electric (GE) not paying taxes in 2010. According to MSN Money.com, GE didn’t pay taxes, but got a $3.2 billion tax benefit while making $14.2 billion in profits last year.
“The top corporate tax rate is supposed to be 35 percent, one of the highest in the world. But few companies actually pay that rate, since there are myriad loopholes and other ways to get breaks. Now, the Times reports, only 6.6% of Uncle Sam's tax revenue comes from corporations (down from 30 percent in the 1950s),” according to the article by Kim Peterson, who also points out that GE’s chief executive heads President Barack Obama’s new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.
Today is day 18 of the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City where more than 2,000 people have been camping out. The protests have spread to 264 cities in the country and around the world, according to occupytogether.com. According to according to CNN.com, the movement is gaining support from various union leaders and organizations.
What do you think?
- Do you think that corporations are negatively impacting the American economy?
- Do you agree with the Occupy Wall Street Movement? Why or why not?
- Are corporations greedy? What do you think should or shouldn’t be done about corporate greed?
Tell us in the comments and take our poll to tell us if you support the Occupy Wall Street movement.
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