Occupy Wall Street Movement: An American Spring

[FayeforCure]

What more can I say about the American dream turned nightmare in the US, and how long it took us to wake up?

Too many people falsely believed they had freedom, and were better than their neighbors.

[FayeforCure]

It doesn't matter what people say in polls.  What matters is that they go to the polls and vote and the tea party people do.

I will never again believe in the American electoral process untill we get rid of the excessive control by monied interests, ie corporations.

The Tea Party is completely controled by monied interests. They are just another (faux populist) front group for the Republican Party.

As many as 200,000 people have already signed up to demand a constitutional amendment to Get Public Financing of campaigns:

http://www.getmoneyout.com/

Once that happens, I will start to believe in our electoral process again.

[FayeforCure]

Business Schools Should Join 'Occupy Wall/Bay Street'

Keywords: business schools Business Sustainability OccupyWallSt Culture and Leadership in Business

Posted October 15, 2011 with 10 reads

The Occupy Wall Street protests have ballooned into one of the most powerful grassroots social movements since the Great Depression and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. Once perceived by the elite to be a trivial display of immature angst by a bunch of hippies, the mainstream media has had no choice but to cover the protests to the chagrin of their corporate owners.



For this protest, as Caplan and Grzyb explained, is of “the larger, ugly truths about modern capitalism” and as business professor Michael Porter explains, reflects the perception that corporations are “prospering at the expense of the broader community”. There is no doubt in my mind that Finance Minister Flaherty and Bank of Governor Mark Carney are misguided in their attribution of the protests to the financial crisis. This was only the catalyst for a greater march against the inequities of the existing capitalist system.



As a consequence, a rather polarized dynamic has played out between the right and left sides of the spectrum with the right relegating protesters to a bunch of “left wing nut bars” (Kevin O’Leary) or “a collection of ne’er doers” (Murdoch’s WSJ) and the left asserting that we live in a society of “government of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%” (J. Stiglitz) and that “we the people have found our voice” (Professor Cornell West).




So where are business schools in all of this? Naturally, business is expected to side with the right, defending their powerful position in society by putting forth rhetoric that touts the societal benefits of free markets such as job creation, access to cheap goods and services, and (perhaps taken to the extreme) individual freedom. Yet, I would argue, perhaps paradoxically, that business schools should be an active voice in the protests not as a mouthpiece for the right but as a stark supporter of the need for change. Here are three reasons why:





1. First, the last decade has proven unequivocally that Adam Smith’s original supposition that the pursuit of commercial interests leads to optimal gains for society is misguided at best. An unprecedented number of circumstances have emerged where the pursuit of corporate interest has left society worse off. 



Smith’s ingenuity fit a time when business represented a relatively small actor in society shadowing the power of the church and the state. Since then, we’ve seen business become the dominant societal actor with the power to not only ignore broader societal interests but to circumvent those interests.



As I’ve written before, why be passive players responding to regulatory constraints or market demands when businesses can wield their growing power to influence regulation and what the market demands. To that end, many executives have essentially taken business school fundamentals to the extreme by deliberately shaping those environments to their liking with no regard for society. 



Wall Street’s active suppression of government regulation of derivatives and their relentless effort to defer risk to the public is one such example. So business schools, in my view, are obligated to occupy wall/bay street to voice the need for change in the fundamentals of the business discipline.




2. Second, I think it’s important to make sure that we don’t paint all businesses with the same brush. There are a growing number of companies, large and small, that define their purpose and operations on precisely what these protesters stand for: equality, human rights, and environmental sustainability. They adopt triple bottom line businesses with the purpose to co-create value along social, environmental, and economic systems not as isolated endeavors but as an integrated value proposition to society. 



Businesses like Grameen Bank, Interface, Patagonia, Better Place, and SEKEM represent the hope for business in a sustainable society. They are challenging the practices of those companies in the previous paragraph and redefining the purpose of business in society. Business schools should be marching to demonstrate their commitment to understanding these sorts of businesses and to build theories and frameworks that educate future managers to replicate this role.





3. Finally, any academic at a university is held to an obligation to engage in activity that advances new knowledge to contribute to the welfare of broader society. If we’ve reached a stage in history where our business school teachings and research are partly responsible for the negative impacts on society, then is it not our duty to lead the charge in understanding what needs to change? 



One approach, which I presume is the most common response, is to distance ourselves from the protest thereby further fueling the polarization of society. Another is to be part of the conversation so that we are truly doing our job as academics and understanding how the private sector can better respond to the needs of society. This takes a combination of courage and humility because it suggests that what we’ve taken for granted in the classroom and in our management journals might need radical change.

http://sustainablebusinessforum.com/mikevalente/54536/why-business-schools-should-join-occupy-wallbay-street

[hillary supporter]

[
What more can I say about the American dream turned nightmare in the US, and how long it took us to wake up?

Too many people falsely believed they had freedom, and were better than their neighbors.

One thing more you can say.... we ve gone global.... the message that you stated above is getting clearer!
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WALL_STREET_PROTESTS_WORLD?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-15-10-46-07

[FayeforCure]

[
What more can I say about the American dream turned nightmare in the US, and how long it took us to wake up?

Too many people falsely believed they had freedom, and were better than their neighbors.

One thing more you can say.... we ve gone global.... the message that you stated above is getting clearer!
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WALL_STREET_PROTESTS_WORLD?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-15-10-46-07

Thank you Hillary Supporter, for adding that important piece.

It also reminds me of a quote by george Carlin, who was way ahead of his time. He said:

"They call it the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it."

This notion of the American Dream had also been held out as an example to the rest of the world to follow, ......as a benefit to copying American style capitalism.........EVERYbody all over the world is now waking up from a bad dream or also called a nightmare. They have discovered their power in social networking, for their voices to finally be heard, instead of being powerless in the face of ever increasing economic abuse.

[Midway ®]

Some sensible ideas:


6) Establish a Wall Street speculation fee on credit default swaps, derivatives, stock options and futures. Both the economic crisis and the deficit crisis are a direct result of the greed and recklessness on Wall Street. Establishing a speculation fee would reduce gambling on Wall Street, encourage the financial sector to invest in the productive economy, and significantly reduce the deficit without harming average Americans. There are a number of precedents for this. The U.S had a similar Wall Street speculation fee from 1914 to 1966. The Revenue Act of 1914 levied a 0.2-percent tax on all sales or transfers of stock. In 1932, Congress more than doubled that tax to help finance the government during the Great Depression. And today, England has a financial transaction tax of 0.25 percent, a penny on every $4 invested.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-bernie-sanders/wall-street-protests_b_1000642.html

The only thing wrong with item #6 is that there is no productive economy to invest in left in this country. It all moved to China.

[urbanlibertarian]

I'll bet a majority of Tea Party folks support the Occupy Wall Streeters.  They all dislike government bailouts in general.

[FayeforCure]

I'll bet a majority of Tea Party folks support the Occupy Wall Streeters.  They all dislike government bailouts in general.

So true. And none of us trust government in its current form to solve our problems............as Occupy Orlando says:

"We acknowledge that we have yet to offer a comprehensive plan to fix this mess. We think that is the duty of our elected officials, advised by economic experts who do not have ulterior motives"

Read more: http://www.wesh.com/news/29494399/detail.html#ixzz1asjLJi4T

It reminds me of an effort made in 2008, of bringing minority parties together on common ground:

Each of the three candidates presented the views of their parties -- ranging from left to right on the political spectrum, and each brought different pieces of information.

and

With Paul were three of the four third party/independent candidates -- Constitution Party Chuck Baldwin, a Baptist minister; Green Party nominee Cynthia McKinney, a former Congresswoman from Georgia; and Independent Ralph Nader -- united in agreement and support of a four-point platform on foreign policy, privacy, the national debt, and the Federal Reserve.

agreement of the candidates on the four-points represented a "beginning of a realignment of American politics." He said the issues raised indicated a "crisis in constitutional government" -- and that the U.S. Constitution has been degraded, violated, nullified, and twisted out of any semblance of its real meaning.

Not all third-party candidates took the opportunity of Paul's invitation to attend the press club. Noticeably absent was Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr -- a former CIA agent, who morphed into a Drug War prosecutor before winning a seat in Congress in 1994. He was voted out in 2003.

In his remarks Paul quoted historian Carroll Quigley, author of "Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time" (and Bill Clinton's mentor), who wrote: The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, on, perhaps of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to the doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can ?throw the rascals out" at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy.

"That is a profound statement," said Paul. "It tells us what's going on and why things don't change."

http://www.newswithviews.com/BreakingNews/breaking158.htm

[north miami]

Interesting Editorial discourse re The New Yorker - October 17,2011 "Talk of the Town";Hendrick Hertzberg

Could not attend today's events(makin' a livin) but working on my sign:

S. DARE FOR MAYOR

and do not forget......two sides to each sign available..........
the back side of mine......Hmmmmmm........Beltway???
no worries.......I am up to the Beltway Job.......
starting with BLANDING Blvd. SO BLAND.  And if really Free.....and brave,a reference to a Clay County Official Record Book/Page....

Hint for sign makers:
Make the base leg (perhaps conveniently in travel pack sections) about eight feet (or more) so that one not need hold up without support for appropriate long periods of display time.

Eclectic.Diverse.

onward.......!!!

[FayeforCure]

And it's one, two, three what are we fighting for........?

No words needed here.

[JeffreyS]

And it's one, two, three what are we fighting for........?

No words needed here.

+1

[urbanlibertarian]

You can't say that NO Wall Street bankers have gone to jail.  This guy...



...just got 11 years.

http://reason.com/blog/2011/10/14/rajaratnam-and-no-one-has-gone

[FayeforCure]

You can't say that NO Wall Street bankers have gone to jail.  This guy...



...just got 11 years.

http://reason.com/blog/2011/10/14/rajaratnam-and-no-one-has-gone

Likewise the cartoon picture depicts 5 demonstrators arrested, where the real number is over 1,000.

The US is tough on "street crime," as long as it isn't Wall Street.

[FayeforCure]

Today is the GLOBAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY with OCCUPY WALL STREET
Just take a look at the amazing wave of events happening nationwide:



Let's help strengthen this movement and keep it growing.




United States
Alabama
Occupy Auburn

Occupy Birmingham

Occupy Huntsville

Occupy Mobile

Occupy Tuscaloosa

Occupy Alaska
Occupy Alaska

Occupy Anchorage

Arizona
Occupy Arizona

Occupy Flagstaff

Occupy Phoenix

Occupy Prescott

Occupy Sedona

Occupy Tempe

Occupy Tucson

Occupy Yuma

Arkansas
Occupy Arkansas

Occupy Fayetteville

Occupy Little Rock

Occupy Little Rock

California
Occupy Arcata

Occupy Bakersfield

Occupy Berkeley

Occupy Central Valley

Occupy Chico

Occupy Coachella Valley

Occupy Costa Mesa

Occupy Davis

Occupy Eureka

Occupy Fresno

Occupy Humboldt (website)

Occupy Irvine

Occupy Lompoc

Occupy Long Beach

Occupy Los Angeles and website

Occupy Marin (San Rafael)

Occupy Mendicino

Occupy Merced

Occupy Modesto

Occupy Monterey

Occupy Napa

Occupy Oakland

Occupy Orange County

Occupy Redding

Occupy Riverside

Occupy Sacramento and Occupy Sacramento and website

Occupy Salinas

Occupy Santa Barbara

Occupy Santa Cruz and Occupy Santa Cruz

Occupy San Diego

Occupy San Francisco

Occupy San Jose

Occupy San Luis Obispo

Occupy Santa Rosa

Occupy Santa Rosa

Occupy Stockton

Occupy Temecula

Occupy Ukiah and website

Occupy Venice and website

Occupy Ventura

Occupy Victorville

Occupy Visalia

Occupy Yucca

Colorado
Occupy Alamosa

Occupy Aspen

Occupy Canon City

Occupy Boulder

Occupy Colorado Springs

Occupy Denver

Occupy Fort Collins

Occupy Grand Junction

Occupy Greeley and website

Occupy Pueblo and Occupy Pueblo (website)

Connecticut
Occupy Connecticut

Occupy Hartford and Occupy Hartford

Occupy New Haven

Occupy New London

DC
Occupy DC

Occupy K Street

Delaware
Occupy Delmarva

Florida
Occupy Bradenton

Occupy Cocoa

Occupy Daytona Beach

Occupy Florida

Occupy Ft. Lauderdale

Occupy Fort Myers

Occupy Gainsville

Occupy Jacksonville

Occupy Lake Worth

Occupy Miami

Occupy Ocala

Occupy Orlando

Occupy Palm Beach

Occupy Pensacola

Occupy St. Augustine

Occupy St. Petersburg and Occupy West Florida

Occupy Sarasota

Occupy South Florida

Occupy Tampa

Occupy Tallahassee

Georgia
Occupy Athens

Occupy Atlanta and Occupy Atlanta

Occupy Augusta and website

Occupy Columbus

Occupy Macon

Occupy North Georgia

Occupy Savannah

Occupy Valdosta

Hawaii
Occupy Hawaii

Occupy Hilo

Occupy Honolulu

Occupy Kona

Occupy Maui and website

Occupy Oahu

Occupy Waikiki

Idaho
Occupy Boise

Occupy Coeur d'Alene

Occupy Idaho Falls

Occupy Moscow

Occupy Pocatello

Occupy Salmon (website)

Occupy Sandpoint

Illinois
Occupy Carbondale

Occupy Champaign-Urbana and (website)

Occupy Chicago and website

Occupy Normal

Occupy Peoria (website)

Occupy Rockford and website

Occupy Springfield

Indiana
Occupy Bloomington

Occupy Columbus

Occupy Elkhart

Occupy Evansville

Occupy Fort Wayne

Occupy Indianapolis

Occupy Kokomo

Occupy LaFayette

Occupy Portage

Occupy Smalltown Indiana

Occupy South Bend

Occupy Valparaiso

Iowa
Occupy Ames

Occupy Cedar Rapids

Occupy Cedar Valley

Occupy Des Moines

Occupy Dubuque

Occupy Iowa

Occupy Iowa City

Occupy Mason City

Occupy Quad Cities and website

Kansas
Occupy Lawrence

Occupy Manhattan

Occupy Topeka

Occupy Witchita and Occupy Witchita

Kentucky
Occupy Ashland

Occupy Berea

Occupy Bowling Green

Occupy Kentucky

Occupy Lexington

Occupy Louisville

Louisiana
Occupy Baton Rouge

Occupy Lake Charles

Occupy New Orleans

Occupy Shreveport

Maine
Occupy Augusta

Occupy Bangor

Occupy Maine

Occupy South Portland

Maryland
Occupy Baltimore

Occupy Hagerstown

Massachusetts
Occupy Amherst (website)

Occupy Berkshires

Occupy Boston

Occupy Northhampton

Occupy Springfield

Occupy Worcester

Michigan
Occupy Ann Arbor

Occupy Detroit

Occupy Flint (link to ongoing event)

Occupy Grand Rapids

Occupy Kalamazoo

Occupy Lansing

Occupy Michigan

Occupy Muskegon

Occupy Saginaw

Occupy Southeast Michigan

Occupy Traverse City

Occupy the UP and website (Marquette)

Minnesota
Occupy Duluth and Occupy Twin Ports

Occupy Minneapolis

Occupy Minnesota and website

Occupy Rochester

Mississippi
Occupy Biloxi

Occupy Jackson

Missouri
Occupy Columbia

Occupy Joplin and website

Occupy Kansas City

Occupy St. Louis, also website

Occupy Springfield

Montana
Occupy Billings

Occupy Butte

Occupy Helena

Occupy Kalispell

Occupy Missoula

Occupy Montana

Nebraska
Occupy Lincoln

Occupy Nebraska

Occupy Omaha

Nevada
Occupy Carson City

Occupy Las Vegas and website

Occupy Reno

Occupy Tahoe

New Hampshire
Occupy Manchester

Occupy New Hampshire

New Jersey
Occupy Kearney

Occupy Newton

Occupy New Jersey

Occupy Trenton

New Mexico
Occupy Albuquerque and Occupy Albuquerque

Occupy Carlsbad

Occupy Las Cruces

Occupy New Mexico

Occupy Roswell

Occupy Santa Fe

Occupy Taos

New York
Occupy Albany

Occupy Binghamton

Occupy Buffalo

Occupy Cortland

Occupy Glens Falls

Occupy Ithaca

Occupy Long Island

Occupy New Paltz

Occupy Otsego

Occupy Plattsburgh

Occupy Poughkeepsie

Occupy Rochester

Occupy Saratoga Springs

Occupy Saranac Lake

Occupy Syracuse

Occupy Wall Street, also New York City main website

Occupy Utica

North Carolina
Occupy Ashville

Occupy Boone

Occupy Chapel Hill

Occupy Charlotte, Occupy Charlotte and non Facebook

Occupy Durham

Occupy Fayetteville

Occupy Greensboro

Occupy Raleigh

Occupy Wilmington

Occupy Winston Salem

North Dakota
Occupy Fargo

Occupy North Dakota

Ohio
Occupy Akron

Occupy Athens

Occupy Cincinnati

Occupy Cleveland, Occupy Cleveland, and website website

Occupy Columbus

Occupy Dayton

Occupy Kent

Occupy Toledo

Occupy Youngstown

Oklahoma
Occupy Bartlesville

Occupy Norman

Occupy OKC and website

Occupy Stillwater

Occupy Tahlequah

Occupy Tulsa

Oregon
Occupy Ashland and Occupy Ashland

Occupy Astoria

Occupy Bend

Occupy Corvallis

Occupy Cottage Grove

Occupy Eugene

Occupy Portland, Occupy Portland and website

Occupy Port Orford: occupyportorford@gmail.com

Occupy Roseburg

Occupy Seaside Oregon

Occupy Salem and website

Pennsylvania
Occupy Allentown

Occupy Bethlehem / Leigh Valley

Occupy Erie and website

Occupy Harrisburg

Occupy Indiana County

Occupy Lancaster

Occupy Philadelphia and website

Occupy Pittsburgh

Occupy Scranton

Occupy State College

Occupy Stroudsburg

Occupy Williamsport

Occupy York

Puerto Rico
Occupy Puerto Rico

Rhode Island
Occupy Providence

South Carolina
Occupy Charleston

Occupy Columbia

Occupy Florence

Occupy Greenville

South Dakota
Occupy Rapid City

Occupy Sioux Falls

Occupy South Dakota

Tennessee
Occupy Chattanooga

Occupy Clarksville

Occupy Johnson City

Occupy Knoxville

Occupy Memphis and (website)

Occupy Nashville and website

Occupy Tennessee

Texas
Occupy Amarillo

Occupy Austin and website

Occupy Brownsville

Occupy Corpus Christi

Occupy Dallas and website

Occupy Denton

Occupy El Paso

Occupy Fort Worth

Occupy Galveston

Occupy Houston and website

Occupy Lubbock

Occupy Marfa

Occupy McAllen

Occupy San Antonio

Occupy Texarkana

Utah
Occupy SLC, Occupy Salt Lake City, also website

Vermont
Occupy Vermont and website

Occupy Burlington

Occupy Montpelier

Occupy Rutland

Virginia
Occupy Blacksburg

Occupy Charlottesville

Occupy Harrisonburg

Occupy Norfolk

Occupy Richmond

Occupy Roanoke

Washington
Occupy Bainbridge Island

Occupy Bellingham

Occupy Bremerton

Occupy Colville

Occupy Ellensburg

Occupy Olympia

Occupy Port Angeles

Occupy Seattle and website

Occupy Spokane

Occupy Tacoma

Occupy Tri-Cities (Richland)

Occupy Vancouver

Occupy Wenatchee

Occupy Yakima and website

West Virginia
Occupy Charleston

Occupy Huntington

Occupy Morgantown

Occupy West Virginia

Wisconsin
Occupy Appleton

Occupy Green Bay

Occupy La Crosse

Occupy Madison

Occupy Milwaukee

Wyoming
Occupy Casper

Occupy Cheyenne

Occupy Jackson Hole


Canada
Occupy Canada
Alberta
Occupy Calgary

Occupy Edmonton

Occupy Lethbridge

British Columbia
Occupy Cranbrook

Occupy Kelowna

Occupy Nelson

Occupy Vancouver and website

Occupy Victoria

Manitoba
Occupy Winnipeg

New Brunswick
Occupy New Brunswick

Newfoundland
Occupy Nwfoundland

Nova Scotia
Occupy Halifax

Occupy Nova Scotia

Ontario
Occupy Kingston

Occupy Ottawa

Occupy Toronto

Prince Edward Island
Occupy Prince Edward Island

Quebec
Occupy Montreal

Occupy Quebec

Saskatchewan
Occupy Regina

Occupy Saskatoon

[JeffreyS]

I will be Downtown Chicago for 5 days later this week. If they are still going strong I contribute some pizzas and poster board.