The movement looks to be fizzling and the media and public have lost interest. Google searches for OWS are down more than 98 percent from a year ago. I believe all of the predictions I made a year ago in the article below have come true.
The "Occupy Wall Street" (OWS) protests that started in New York's financial district are spreading around the country. Some pundits are starting to see this as the left's answer to the popular Tea Party rallies than energized conservatives before the 2010 Congressional elections. Unlike the Tea Party however, OWS seems unable or unwilling to articulate what it is that they want (see video below from CBS Sacramento television reporter Tony Lopez).
They aren't shy, however, about voicing what they don't like which includes bankers, the highly paid and the wealthy. OWS blames the 2008 financial crisis and the continued high unemployment rate on Wall Street firms. That shouldn't be surprising since that's the constant refrain we've heard out of many liberal politicians in Washington since 2008.
The truth is that the severe recession of 2008 was caused by a multitude of factors. From my observations and analysis, there's plenty of bi-partisan blame to go around for the contributing role that government policies had contributing to the 2008 financial crisis. Playing the blame game, of course, isn't going to fix anything. And, now three years later, any politician (or group) seeking to mindlessly and simplistically affix blame to another politician or group doesn't deserve to be in public office.
My point in presenting these facts, which were ironically memorialized by the left leaning New York Times, is to show how they clearly contradict the conventional wisdom of what are clearly partisan political arguments.
But What about the Massive Income Disparities?
Many in the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) crowd are united in their belief that the U.S. economic system is unjust and yields too much to the people at the top. The highest income earners in America have annual incomes above $10 million. While I have done well in my career and I'm happy with my success, I will tell you that I have never earned anywhere near that amount of money (or even one million dollars) in my best years. I don't resent those who have earned much more than I have. Frankly, I don't really care! You don't need that much money to be happy and I can show you plenty of financially wealthy folks who aren't emotionally wealthy.
It seems that at least part of the unhappiness of the OWS movement is jealousy - and ignorance. In numerous interviews I've seen of the protestors, they say things like they want to "demolish" and "destroy" our economic system and identify themselves as socialists and even communists.
Unlike the Tea Party movement which I correctly predicted would move Congress back to the political center in the 2010 mid-term elections, I don't see the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement having an important political, economic or stock market impact.
At a very local level, however, OWS is likely to harm some local merchants and increasing New York City costs. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg complained that OWS is hurting the city's tourism and increasing its police costs among causing other problems.
OWS is wrong about income disparities in America and their cause. The wealthiest Americans can now accumulate even greater wealth due to the globalization in many industries not because we have an "unjust economic system." The late Steve Jobs, for example, accumulated a net worth well into the billions of dollars because his creative products could be sold around the globe.
The more American entrepreneurs who succeed, the more highly paid, wealthy people will be created along with all the jobs within those companies.
And therein lays an important reason why we don't have more qualified people wanting to run for President of the United States. It pays a mere $400,000 per year, an amount that a successful orthodontist makes for straightening the teeth of teenagers, which is hardly enough compensation for all the stresses and downsides that come with the job.
The President should probably be paid at least $25 million per year if not more. And, how about giving the President a hefty bonus for accomplishing important milestones such as reducing the unemployment rate below a particular level?