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Look - if you don't want to be wealthy, great! That is a philosophy you can live your life with. Personally, I wouldn't mind making a few million dollars, and am on a path do do so. I want a second house on a lake, you want to turn down raises and debate philosophy. I won't judge your lifestyle choices, and you don't judge mine.
It's not so much a question of philosophy but something much more concrete-our entire way of life-our financial and monetary systems that dictate everything in this country and effectively everything under the sun.
Many people have been starting to realize that a good portion on Wall Street are simply money-manipulators and "middle-men" that add no benefit to society. They create wealth for themselves when reality shows that the wealth is inflated or simply made up.
The current system is not able to sustain itself. Alian Supiot put it well,
"You know it is a topsy-turvy World where jobs are represented as the effect, not the cause, of wealth".
I do wish you luck in trying to make Millions in this eventual collapsing system.
Look - if you don't want to be wealthy, great! That is a philosophy you can live your life with. Personally, I wouldn't mind making a few million dollars, and am on a path do do so. I want a second house on a lake, you want to turn down raises and debate philosophy. I won't judge your lifestyle choices, and you don't judge mine.
yea, what hnsq said. Couldn't have said it better myself.
It's not so much a question of philosophy but something much more concrete-our entire way of life-our financial and monetary systems that dictate everything in this country and effectively everything under the sun.
Many people have been starting to realize that a good portion on Wall Street are simply money-manipulators and "middle-men" that add no benefit to society. They create wealth for themselves when reality shows that the wealth is inflated or simply made up.
The current system is not able to sustain itself. Alian Supiot put it well,
"You know it is a topsy-turvy World where jobs are represented as the cause, not the effect, of wealth".
I do wish you luck in trying to make Millions in this eventual collapsing system.
I disagree. I understand that a portion of wall street is dishonest and doesn't add value, but the financial services industry absolutely adds a great deal to the US economic system. Reform is needed, but a healthy economy relies on the industry. That industry is what makes it possible for someone to have a mortgage, a student loan, a retirement account. It is what lets the small business have revolving credit so they can make payroll. It lets companies invest in R&D so that medical technology can be developed. People seem to focus on the few negatives without seeing the dramatic positive impact of the industry in which wall street is involved.
I disagree. I understand that a portion of wall street is dishonest and doesn't add value, but the financial services industry absolutely adds a great deal to the US economic system. Reform is needed, but a healthy economy relies on the industry. That industry is what makes it possible for someone to have a mortgage, a student loan, a retirement account. It is what lets the small business have revolving credit so they can make payroll. It lets companies invest in R&D so that medical technology can be developed. People seem to focus on the few negatives without seeing the dramatic positive impact of the industry in which wall street is involved.
Yes, our financial system dictates everything so of course there is tremendous value in it.
But there are more than a few negatives. There is money being created out of thin air left and right.
For one, "Too Big to Fail" Banks fractional reserve lending policies. (Without getting into the egregious issue that we even have "too big to fail" banks that conspire with the Federal Reserve).
Banks will borrow Money from the Fed at 0% interest and lend out to the general populace 10X what they actually have in reserves. Even worse, they mass-mail credit cards in poor areas charging them 25% Interest Rates, when they don't truly have the capital to lend. This is not honest and not representive of a free market. It is extorting money from the lower classes.
Yes, our financial system dictates everything so of course there is tremendous value in it.
But there are more than a few negatives. There is money being created out of thin air left and right.
For one, "Too Big to Fail" Banks fractional reserve lending policies. (Without getting into the egregious issue that we even have "too big to fail" banks that conspire with the Federal Reserve).
Banks will borrow Money from the Fed at 0% interest and lend out to the general populace 10X what they actually have in reserves. Even worse, they hand out credit cards to poor people charging them 25% Interest Rates, when they don't truly have the capital to lend. This is not honest and not representive of a free market. It is extorting money from the lower classes.
Oh, I agree. The Fed is one of the major problems. Getting rid of the Fed would go a long way to having the financial services industry self-correct. The fed playing in risk-management over the last four years is a powder keg waiting to go off, and we can't handle a Japan-like recession or double digit interest rates that will come when SHTF. Along with getting rid of the Fed, we need to have mandatory financial education in high school. I firmly believe students should be required to take 2-3 years of finance courses before graduating so that the average American actually understands at a rudimentary level how to control their own money.
Can you clarify your working history for us? You claim to have worked on wall street as well as owned two businesses, but you are a young person. What specifically did you do on wall street? Did you actually work in a role where you had to make strategic decisions, or were you just an intern, or something low enough on the totem pole that you couldn't see the bigger picture of how the firms worked as a whole?
Look - if you don't want to be wealthy, great! That is a philosophy you can live your life with. Personally, I wouldn't mind making a few million dollars, and am on a path do do so. I want a second house on a lake, you want to turn down raises and debate philosophy. I won't judge your lifestyle choices, and you don't judge mine.
When I worked for Wall Street I was low on the totem poll. I was a broker trainee and knew that the job was not for me. When I realized I was in it only for the money I bolted and started my 2nd business. Let me say however, that I didn't need to be in a high level position to see the industry for what it was worth. I can explain why I do not feel Wall Street ads a lot of value to the majority of the population. I also went to a pretty astute school and was shunned away from the industry. I was a Finance major.
I've mentioned a lot of personal stuff on the threads so I won't disclose too much. I now own a small delivery restaurant and do freelance market research. Over my current break (working 1 job instead of 2 or 3 the next two weeks) I'm working to get a new proposal done for my initial business concept and am looking to cut out the market research work I do.
It wasn't an issue of becoming wealthy. At the time, and I still feel this way, I could get wealthy by growing any one of my businesses. It may not come overnight like in the market, but I enjoy what I do AND I'm providing a good service for the community.
To me its about more than just getting rich. You have to look at how your actions are affecting the population as a whole. I'm sure that if your heading down that path, your only dealing with the wealthy no?
Oh, I agree. The Fed is one of the major problems. Getting rid of the Fed would go a long way to having the financial services industry self-correct. The fed playing in risk-management over the last four years is a powder keg waiting to go off, and we can't handle a Japan-like recession or double digit interest rates that will come when SHTF. Along with getting rid of the Fed, we need to have mandatory financial education in high school. I firmly believe students should be required to take 2-3 years of finance courses before graduating so that the average American actually understands at a rudimentary level how to control their own money.
That would help. But you have to have jobs to make money. And if everybody shoots for a quick buck, instead of innovation or small business ownership, we won't have the jobs to support the population. Our economy is struggling now and its not because of lack of money. It's because of many of the issues Occupy was bringing up.
We still need protesters out in the streets. There's a lot more work to do.
They steal from the productivity of small business's and the 401K's from every American to enrich themselves. What would happen to Wall Street if everyone closed their 401K accounts and other investments? They produce absolutely nothing beneficial to this country.
It is a lie that they are helping grow business in this country, because they have a direct line to the fed to get near 0 interest loans.
The irony of calling OWS Protesters looking for freebies when the cockroaches on Wall Street have their greedy mitts tied into our government to serve them.
I agree that Government Policies are the problem. Who are the policy makers in Government?
That would be Heads of Wall Street Banks going in to politics to help their cronies out.
All a disgusting lot that I hope burns in Hell.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nononsenseguy
This wasn't a "movement." And the anger of these mobs was misplaced. Their anger should have been focused on government, because it is our increasingly oppressive government that is our major problem, and Obama is grabbing more and more power, and becoming more and more dictatorial.
Wall Street is not our problem. Those investment firms help new businesses start up, by providing needed funding. Without them, it would be much more difficult to grow a business, and successful businesses such as the many Silicon Valley companies that have developed the micro chip, Intel, Fairchild Semiconductor and the like, would likely not have been able to achieve such rapid technological advancess.
I'm starting this thread a year after the Occupy Wall Street protest sprang up around the country. The movement has taken a lot of turns since its beginning and I'm starting a new discussion about the effectiveness of Occupy Wall Street.
The grassroots movement was intended to raise awareness about Unethical Wall Street practices and how corporate greed was ruining American's way of life. Protest spread from New York all the way across the country to the West Coast and many major cities in a matter of months. The protest started in September, and by the end of the year had received national attention and taken over the political discussion in this country.
By the beginning of the year nearly all of the protest had ended and the movement was blacklisted from the mainstream media. Police brutality and corruption along with the enforcement of current laws and the passing of new laws ultimately lead to the end of the Occupy Movement. Protesters were arrested for peacefully protesting and many were held indefinitely in jails around the country. Truth and lies were intertwined about the movement whenever the mainstream media reported on incidents. The movement was strategically dismantled by the powers that be.
I'm arguing that we need the protesters back out in the streets. Whether its Occupy, Independents, bi-partisan groups, or a completely new movement,... we need people back in the streets. Politicians need to know that they can't get away with anything and the corporate elite in this country need to be reminded that money does not hold indefinite power over humans.
Its time for Americans to start doing something about the situation we're in instead of expecting the government to bail us out. Politicians need to know that no matter who gets elected, Americans will be holding everyone accountable.
If individuals in our society continue to simply go after the dollar, and forget about the needs of the community, this country will fail. It's about balance. That's what a healthy society is all about. Right now our society is top heavy. Only 3% of the top 1% are entrepreneurs.
We need more Tesla's and less J.P. Morgan's. More Edisons. More CostCo's and Googles. Less predatory lenders and more ways for Americans to actually improve their livelihood.
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