Like many large-scale civil rights movements, it is too early to define Occupy Wall Street. Such a magnificent civil rights movement will continue to deepen and precipitate for a long time, and then it will show its significance and position in social and historical development.
The cause of "Occupy Wall Street" is very obvious. At present, the unemployment rate in the United States has soared, and nearly 1 1 people are unemployed. According to census statistics, in the first quarter of last year, nearly half of Americans, or 48.5%, had family members living on government subsidies.
Persistent unemployment and long-term hopeless poverty prompted a large number of Americans to take to the streets to demonstrate. Although the demands of the Occupy Wall Street movement are mixed because of the participation of trade unions and many other organizations, its original intention is always clear, that is, to protest against the unfair distribution of wealth in American society, with the rich accounting for 1% and the society accounting for 40%, while ordinary people live in relative poverty.
The "Occupy Wall Street" movement has lasted for three weeks, and its original slogan has never changed, that is, it is aimed at Wall Street financial predators. People think that the big banks on Wall Street are insatiable, and private profits have caused losses to society, resulting in financial turmoil and economic recession in the United States and even the world. Now, while ordinary people are still struggling for it, the big banks on Wall Street have "passed through Chung Shan Man" and started to prepare for the next round of speculation.
After the outbreak of the American financial crisis, the voice of reforming the American financial industry was once very high. However, since Obama came to power with the financial control card, it has been difficult to introduce its measures to control the financial industry. This is because the American financial industry is too closely related to the government agencies that control its operation, and almost all senior financial officials at all levels are from the financial industry, so they can't help but hesitate to formulate management policies. In addition, there are thousands of laws regulating banks in the United States, and federal and state agencies at all levels have their own laws and regulations, and control measures are often ignored.
However, it is imperative for the United States to supervise the financial industry, and public protests are a fierce reaction to this necessity.
American economist Olson pointed out in his famous book "The Rise and Fall of a Country" more than 20 years ago that in a stable and powerful country, certain industries, that is, special interest groups, will continue to accumulate strength and use money and other forces to influence the government, so that the government's policies will be tilted towards this industry, thus obtaining more money and further influencing the government's decision-making.
The book points out that in the process of rising strength of these industries, political decision-making and social forces will generally avoid direct confrontation with them, because the political cost of doing so is too great to be worth the candle.
Judging from the economic and social development history of Britain and the United States, the abnormal development of some industries will eventually lead to their excessive expansion and self-destruction, which will cause heavy losses to the social economy and other industries.
That is, at that time, various social forces will intervene to correct past mistakes, that is, deprive these special interest groups of their special rights and interests.
The financial group in the United States is such a special interest group. In recent years, it has won preferential policies for itself by relying on its great strength, leading to excessive development.
After the subprime mortgage crisis, the US Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act last year to strengthen financial supervision. However, Wall Street put pressure on Congress and the government with its powerful lobbying power, and the long-term game compromise weakened the power of the bill. Most of the measures were blocked when they were implemented, and even the people were strongly dissatisfied, which led to great public support for the "Occupy Wall Street" action.
On the whole, the widening gap between the rich and the poor in the United States is also the result of excessive expansion of certain industries and certain groups. The richer and stronger the wealthy class is, the more it can influence the government and Congress. Economic strength brings political discourse power and greater interests, which further affects decision-making. In other words, money and big enterprises manipulate politics and economy, and those in power no longer make decisions for the people, but are increasingly inclined to the rich class.
Democratic elections in the United States are never as simple as one person, one vote. But when money plays such a big role that people are extremely angry, it is imperative to emphasize reducing the influence of money on election results and promoting necessary reforms.
When the moon is full, it will lose money, and when the water is full, it will overflow. In the world, everything will be turned upside down. Although the positive effect of Occupy Wall Street on improving the inequality between the rich and the poor in the United States and promoting the redistribution of social wealth is still unknown, perhaps with the recovery of the American economy, people's demands will gradually fade away, but the positive effect of Occupy Wall Street on regulating the financial industry on Wall Street and preventing the United States from falling into the financial crisis again is obvious.