Occupy Wall Street Efforts ARE Mis-guided

Does anyone really know what the occupy Wall Street movement is about? Do the protesters? Inequality and Corporate Greed seem to be the two descriptors for the movement. So let's address each one separately.


Inequality. Of course the Declaration of Independence addresses inequality by saying "all men are created equal". Did that mean that inequality after creation was bad? No, it means what it says, that all men are initially created equal. It did not, and never meant to, address what happens after creation. The practical interpretation is that we all start with the same opportunity. What happens after that is not prescribed by the Declaration. Nor should it be. That means we all start from the same basis of equality. But it doesn't mean stay equal does it? For the most part, people make their respective selection as to who they want to be and what they want to accomplish on their own. Some people choose to be farmers and others choose to be bankers while others engineers and so on. The ability to choose results from the freedoms afforded all of us by living in this great country. But the result of those choices is different for every person. Inequality by itself sounds bad. But in fact inequality is what makes Americans great. We are all different in our own way. We make our own choices. We believe in our own values. So the notion of "equality" is actually counter productive to the reality of "freedom". We can't be free to choose what we want to do and when we want it and expect equal results.


Greed: Why does the word "greed" conjure up a negative image? Is "greed" in fact a bad thing? What is greed anyway?  Somehow "greed" has become a dirty word. When in fact greed may be at the very core of capitalism. Why build a business if you don't want to make money beyond an average paycheck? And what is excessive wealth anyway? Or have other benefits inherent with self employment? Is the word "greed" only limited to financial greed? What about someone who wants to set his or her own schedule and answer to no one? Is he greedy? Or capitalistic? At the end of the day, greed probably is a bad word because of the association with "excessive" in the dictionary. Today it is politically convenient to use greed to categorize capitalistic behavior resulting in success as defined by wealth. But is using the word greed really an accurate or fair descriptor for capitalism, or is it more of a convenience for the media and politicians to draw attention to Wall St. thereby creating an avenue for socialism to take root further?


At the end of the day, IF the Wall Street movement by the protesters is really about inequality and greed, I suggest they relocate their camps to Washington DC where inequality as illustrated by the "political class" and greed as defined by "excessive" power are centralized. If you want to address inequality and greed, go to DC! That is the one clear place in our country where inequality and greed prevail 24X7.