Occupy Wall Street: Are Big Corporations Leading to America’s Downfall?

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Corporate greed is a much debated topic in today’s society. Oil company profits are soaring while people are having trouble paying for gasoline and home heating. Bank executives are collecting enormous bonuses after government bailout money, while hundreds of thousands still face mortgage foreclosures. Big business seems to be recovering from the 2008 recession, but does not seem to be taking the people with them as unemployment remains high. In response to these issues, “Occupy Wall Street” has risen up to complain both that corporations are greedy, and that governments in the United States and around the world have enabled them to be so. One problem with the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) Movement is that it does not have any set claims or defined lines about the issue. There are thousands of people protesting for different reasons, and while they are all related to OWS, they are so different that it is hard to decipher what it is OWS actually wants and who is to blame for the continuing downfall of the economy.

In early March of this year, before the start of the OWS protest, Zac Ellis published an article about a speech given by Ralph Nader at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. In this article, Nader says, “Corporations are running America, and young generations are letting it happen”. Corporations are having a “dominant hold on the American society” and it is our job, and duty, to change the way things are being handled (Ellis). Nader opens his speech with a powerful statement, “The Constitution begins with the Preamble, “We the People,” it does not start with the Preamble, “We the Corporation” (Ellis). The points made in Nader’s speech, as well as the points made by OWS protestors, are valid points tha...

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Ellis, Zac. "Nader Highlights Corporate Greed in America | The Daily Beacon." The Daily Beacon | News, Entertainment, Sports, and Opinion from the University of Tennessee's Student Newspaper. University of Tennessee Knoxville, 10 Mar. 2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2011. .

Fonda, Daren, and Lisa Scherzer. "10 Things Millionaires Won't Tell You - SmartMoney.com." Online Investing: Stocks, Personal Finance & Mutual Funds at SmartMoney.com - SmartMoney.com. Web. 02 Nov. 2011. .

Gautney, Heather. "What Is Occupy Wall Street? The History of Leaderless Movements - The Washington Post." The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington Post. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. .

"Politics." PollingReport.com. Web. 01 Nov. 2011..

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