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ABOUT THE QUICK TAKE Every Friday, the Quick Take columnists will offer their views on an issue of significance to American University. Notable members of the campus community will also be invited to contribute to this new feature. Suggestions for topics and other ideas from readers are welcome and encouraged, so please submit comments to edpage@theeagleonline.com. |
On Sept. 17, between 100-200 protesters began camping out in Zuccotti Park in New York City, protesting what they called “the greed and corruption” of the wealthiest 1 percent.” Nearly a month later, their protests not only continue, but have spread to cities across the nation—including D.C. How should members of our generation react to this protest? Is it a movement that only appeals to “the usual suspects,” as Dana Milbank has stated? Or will it be known as out generation's protest? Our Quick Take columnists weigh in:
Rachel Lomot
Eradicate capitalism's flaws, not capitalism itself
Joe Gruenbaum
In Freedom Plaza, a buffet of grievances
Eradicate capitalism's flaws, not capitalism itself
By Rachel Lomot
“Bush fucked the economy – so now we blame it on the black guy,” reads one of the many handwritten signs by Freedom Plaza. Cars honk with appreciation, the old man with the sign gets a thumbs-up from various passing drivers. Other signs read “stop the injustice,” “aren’t you sick of this?” and “stop hypocrisy!”
Students across the country, many from AU, are getting involved in this national movement of frustration. Revolutionaries from the ‘60s are depending on our generation to inaugurate change in our economic system. And it’s successful; you can see from the many chalk writings around campus stating “banks got bailed out; we got sold out.”
However, we need to be educated on what is actually being said. What worries me are some of the extremist claims that may influence AU students due to the excitement of being a part of a movement. As students, we need not to simply follow the crowd. We have to think critically and question everything.
People at Occupy DC have signs stating “down with capitalism!” But I cannot wrap my thoughts around this claim that America’s capitalist society is entirely unjust. It is the abuse of capitalism by big corporations that should anger us, not the system itself.
Extremists at Occupy DC can be seen preaching how “the world would be better without America.” That just isn’t true; our country has many faults, but our ideals and democratic policy is something to be admired; not to mention all the medical advances in the last century, most of the technological advances, and one of the highest standards of living.
I agree that big corporations shouldn’t be allowed to do whatever they please and shouldn’t have control over everything. The government shouldn’t bail out corporations for a mess they got themselves into. The government should stop spending money on war and put it towards education. But get rid of capitalism? I’m sorry, but that’s not what we should fight for in this movement. Capitalism gives us property rights and economic growth. Millions of immigrants come here for the economic “American Dream.” Capitalism can work with an honest government.
As activists at AU, we have to be careful what we are preaching. Corporations are not inherently bad. The problem is when they become corrupt and greedy. We should fight this corruption. We should fight to make government spending more efficient, to find a combination of socialism and capitalism. Most importantly, we should fight for a say in our country’s future.
Rachel Lomot is a Freshman in SIS and SOC and a Quick Take columnist for The Eagle.
In Freedom Plaza, a buffet of grievances
By Joe Gruenbaum
Last Sunday, I woke up at 6 a.m. shivering. My sleeping bag was soaked with dew, the ground under me cold stone. I opened my eyes slowly.
The sun crept up in the east. The sky behind the magnificent white of the capitol building, just a mile away down Pennsylvania, was a fresco of purple, orange and pastel blue. In that moment, I felt like a revolutionary.
Two hours later, after sipping strong coffee with Vietnam veterans and anti-war protesters, unemployed 20-somethings and aging hipsters, homeless kids from Anacostia and Communists passing out pictures of Karl Marx, I packed up my bag, hiked back to Metro Center, and returned to campus for a long recovery nap.
My night’s stay at the October 2011 movement—not officially Occupy D.C., but basically the same thing, just located in Freedom Plaza—was the extent of my contribution to the Occupy protests. It sucked, sure; I felt a little sick afterwords, and had to catch up on sleep and homework. But those were, to use modern parlance, white collar problems. I had a nice dorm to come back to, all the TDR I could eat, and the prospect of a good job someday. I believed in what Occupy D.C. stands for. But in the end, the status quo serves me well.
The media has accused the protests of being unorganized and of having no concrete goals. In a sense, that’s true—what I saw in Freedom Plaza was more a buffet of concerns, from student loan debt to unemployment, military spending to the influence of oil companies. But the protesters are following a very concrete underlying theme. All of them are suffering. And it’s time for us, mostly upper-middle-class kids at a nice private college, to start caring.
The financial crisis laid waste to the middle class’s wealth. According to figures from the Federal Reserve, U.S. household wealth declined by 16.4 Trillion dollars during the recession. And instead of pressing for regulatory policies that would halt a reckless financial services industry, instead of pushing for infrastructure and alternative energy jobs on the scale that the recession required, the Obama Administration passed a meager stimulus and oversaw a bank bailout that has restored corporate profits to pre-recession levels—while poverty grows and the middle class flounders.
In McPhereson Square, young protesters have attached résumés to trees and fences. A number have come from across the country—I met a retired lawyer from San Diego, a mother from Ohio, and a college student from Maine.
The Occupy Wall Street protesters feel disenfranchised; a government that could have helped didn’t. They may not have specific solutions, but they have acute grievances. And we, those who may one day craft policy, should start listening.
Joe Gruenbaum is a Freshman in SIS and a Quick Take columnist for The Eagle.
