Occupy Wall Street Movement Essay Sample
The Occupy Wall Street Movement began on September 7. 2011 in Zuccotti Park. located in New York’s fiscal territory. A Canadian militant group called Adbusters initiated the protest. which subsequently spread to other Occupy protests and motions around the universe. Adbusters proposed a peaceable business of Wall Street to protest corporate influence on democracy. the deficiency of legal effects for those who brought about planetary crisis of pecuniary insolvency. and an increasing disparity in wealth. The chief issues that the participants wished to turn to were societal and economic inequality. greed. corruptness. and the perceived undue influence of corporations on authorities. most specifically from the fiscal services sector. The Occupy Wall Street slogan which was widely used by the protestors and spread through societal media was “We are the 99 % . ” which referred to the turning income inequality and wealth distribution in the United States between the wealthiest one per centum and the remainder of the population.
The ends of Occupy Wall Street motion included cut downing the influence of corporations on political relations. making a more balanced distribution of income. furthering the creative activity of more and better occupations. forgiveness of pupil loan debts or other alleviation for indebted pupils. and relieving the foreclosure state of affairs in the U. S. The protestor’s wanted to see stairss taken to guarantee that the rich would pay a fairer portion of their income revenue enhancements. that Bankss are held accountable for foolhardy patterns. and that more attending is paid to happening occupations for the unemployed. These subjects all resonated with many people. as they reflected the defeat that many fighting American’s were experiencing ( Occupy Movement. The New York Times ) .
The deductions of the OWS motion contain facets of many of the outstanding theories of concern moralss. including the useful theory. the Kantian theory. and theory of virtuousness moralss. The Occupy Wall Street Movement’s ends fundamentally entail making equality among all societal and economic categories in the United States. This resonates with the Utilitarian Theory of concern moralss. as utilitarianism is the moral philosophy that says we should ever move to make the greatest possible balance of good over bad for everyone affected by our actions. Therefore actions are right if they promote the greatest human public assistance. and are incorrect if they do non. By useful criterions an organisational policy. determination. or action is good if it promotes the general public assistance more than any other alternate. Utilitarianism encourages organisations to concentrate on the consequences of their actions and policies. and allows them to orient their determinations to accommodate the complexnesss of their state of affairs ( Business Ethics ) .
As the ends of OWS focused on turn toing income inequality and wealth distribution in the U. S between the wealthiest one per centum and the remainder of the population. it conforms with the useful attack to moralss in that it wants to make the greatest sum of felicity for the greatest figure of people. alternatively of providing to the rich at the disbursal of the hapless. The Kantian theory of moralss. on the other manus. topographic points accent on moral motive and regard for individuals. Kant sought moral rules that do non rest on eventualities and that define actions as inherently right or incorrect apart from any peculiar fortunes. In this theory. alternatively of the OWS motion ends being right because they provide the greatest sum of felicity to the most people as with the useful theory. the ends would be considered ethical and right merely because holding equality in wealth is the moral thing to make. Kant’s categorical imperative gives us house regulations to follow in moral determination devising. and these regulations do non depend on fortunes or consequences.
Kant postulates that no affair what the effects may be or who does it. some actions are ever incorrect. Kant stresses the importance of motive and of moving on rule. Harmonizing to this theory. it is non plenty merely to make the right thing ; an action has moral worth merely when it is done from a sense of responsibility and from a desire to make the right thing for its ain interest ( Business Ethics ) .
The concluding theory of moralss that can be applied to the desired results and ends of the Occupy Wall Street motion is the theory of virtuousness moralss. Virtue moralss is an attack that deemphasizes regulations. effects. and peculiar Acts of the Apostless and topographic points to concentrate on the sort of individual who is moving. The primary focal point of this theory is whether or non the individual moving is showing good character or non. In this theory moral virtuousnesss refer to admirable character traits which contribute to societal harmoniousness. enable us to move in conformity with ground. and enable us to experience suitably and have the right purposes. As the Occupy Wall Street motion sought to make societal harmoniousness through equality. the persons involved were moving in manner that demonstrated virtuousnesss including those of generousness and compassion. therefore the ends of the motion can be applied to the theory of virtuousness moralss as good ( Virtue Ethics ) . The OWS motion called for alterations to the full construction of society. and questioned the thought of capitalist economy and the distribution of wealth in our state. The protestors mobilized to defy Bankss in America being able to make whatever they want and acquiring off with it.
They wanted to guarantee that stairss be taken to do certain that Bankss and other fiscal establishments would be held accountable for their foolhardy patterns. and that the rich would be made to pay a fairer portion of income revenue enhancements. These issues of income equality were non wholly new 1s. Equally early as the 1990’s economic experts began to let go of surveies which showed the increasing income inequality in the United States. but it was ne’er truly discussed until the cause was championed by the Occupy Wall Street motion. Giving more impulse to the motion was the political response that it received. Leading democratic figures including party fundraisers and top Alliess of President Obama were encompassing the spread of the anti-wall street protests. as the Democratic constitution saw the motion as a manner to aline disenchanted American people with their party. Additionally. the sum of intelligence coverage given to the motion spurred more people to seek out information on the protest from societal media sites and other web sites every bit good as imparting an air of legitimacy to the motion.
However. the media attending was ephemeral. Presently. merely a twelvemonth after the Occupy Wall Street motion began its participants are fighting to recover the visibleness and impulse of their early yearss. With less visibleness the motion has received less attending from the intelligence media. taking away a national platform. Occupy Wall Street does non hold a traditional leading construction. doing it hard for the motion to prosecute in conventional political organizing in support of province legislators and members of Congress ( Occupy Movement. The New York Times ) . Despite melting from the head. the Occupy motion has non disappeared wholly. And most significantly the motion caused people to oppugn the current authorities and revenue enhancement constructions that create and foster the disparity of wealth in the United States. It pointed out what many surveies have shown. one of the recent major tendencies in the U. S. economic system is the turning spread between the poorest and richest sectors of the U. S. population.
Virtually all surveies confirm that since the early 1970’s both income disparity and wealth inequality have continued to increase in our state. The cause of this turning spread lies in the authorities as they cntinue to under revenue enhancement the rich and over revenue enhancement the hapless. doing the rich to acquire richer and the hapless to acquire poorer. Despite it being good documented that this tendency is go oning. nil has been done to rectify it. An just result from the motion that would be appropriate for our capitalistic society would be for the revenue enhancement construction to be changed so that the income revenue enhancements of the rich would be increased while the income revenue enhancements on hapless people would be decreased. In add-on to this. plans should be implemented to assist pupils with unsurmountable debt from pupil loans to hold their loans lowered or written off wholly if they meet specific demands.
In add-on to this plans should be implemented to assist the 1000000s of American’s that due to take downing existent estate monetary values have had their places foreclosed on after paying on them for old ages. I realize that none of these solutions are things that can go on overnight. but the authorities should at least get down the procedure of alteration. The attending that the Occupy Wall Street motion brought to these issues should be a accelerator for alteration. Despite the fact that the Occupy Wall Street motion. as mentioned above. has faded from the media head I do non believe that it will wholly melt off. Equally long as the authorities continues bail outs of Bankss and other fiscal establishments while persons suffer under big sum of loan and recognition card debt people will stand up and battle for alteration. Equally long as these societal and economic issues continue people will go on to protest and stand up against corporate greed. societal inequality. and the caustic power of major Bankss and transnational corporations over the democratic procedure. It is a right of every citizen of the U. S. to talk out against and peacefully protest things that they feel are corrupt. and every bit long as these jobs exist in our society I feel that people will go on to exert these rights.
Mentions
11/01/12. Occupy Movement ( Occupy Wall Street ) . The New York Times. World Wide Web. subjects. nytimes. com 2010. “Business Ethical motives: A Textbook with Cases. ” William H. Shaw 11/03/12. “Virtue Ethical motives: A Basic Introductory Essay. ” Dr. Garrett. World Wide Web. wku. edu
