In the spirit of fair and balanced communication, to present an opposing view of the antics displayed by the so-called Wall Street Occupiers is appropriate, lest the general readership of the news becomes too one-sided.
I’ve been accused of being too Republican, and affected only by Fox News (Oct. 20 County Post). I am a proud and quite active Republican, and I do watch Fox News, and also read the Wall Street Journal, along with CNN and the main stream media as well. It is widely known that the main stream folks lean heavily on the liberal side of politics, and when significant happenings and items arise in favor of conservatism, they’re oftentimes ignored. Thus, and unsuspecting public is not objectively informed due to these omissions.
Back to the “Occupiers”. I agree with P Hill that they have no agenda. I’ve seen several on-the-spot interviews with protesters in New York, who, when asked why or what they’re protesting about, openly admit that they do not know! Quite hilarious indeed. Also, the occupier organizers have, in fact, stated openly that they want to destroy our capitalistic way of life.
As to the bankers, I agree that some large ones have performed some dastardly deeds in the housing market. I’ve read that they were used by Barney Frank and Chris Dodd in manipulating deals through Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac loans to coerce them to grant bad loans to thousands of people. Smaller banks, too, were extorted to grant loans to people who had neither jobs nor any ability to repay mortgage. And yes, G. W. Bush, too, encouraged lending to mostly all Americans to own their own homes. This condition accelerated to a point where the housing market crashed, and today we have thousands of foreclosures everywhere, coupled with no jobs.
I also agree that some fat cat executives have been paid huge bonuses in the midst of this housing turmoil. Although these people have binding agreements/contracts that they hold their companies to, I agree that we have an ethical problem here that needs to be resolved. There are others who “make” big money of course, such as some professional athletes, and movie stars in Hollywood.
By all of this, you can see that it isn’t all bankers or all Wall Street people who are to blame, but the few, coupled with Barney Frank & Chris Dodd, who started the landslide in the first place. Therefore, it is wrong to blame all bankers, likened to throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Finally, although there are many college graduates with student loans who cannot find jobs, and are unable to repay them right now, they are wrong by refusing to ever pay them back. They will ultimately get jobs, and must re-pay their loans subsequently, but they are not entitled to abdicate their indebtedness altogether. They applied for, and received these loans in good faith, and must repay them eventually.