Wrong Road

By Jaeton Cary

OCPA Intern

Occupy Wall Street is a movement that we can all sympathize with from the standpoint that something is wrong with our country. Even House Speaker John Boehner said that he "understand(s) the people's frustrations." However, where many people diverge from “OWS” is over where the blame should go. They say corporate America; the other side says Congress and the White House. This is where the OWS argument breaks down. They blame big business and the “1%” for being “greedy” and not “doing their fair share.” They blame the system of Capitalism and Wall Street while they accept support in multiple forms from the very “1%” they are protesting against.

Even House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a supporter of the movement, blames Washington for the source of the protesters’ frustrations. "The thought was that when we did that [passed TARP], there would be capital available and Main Street would benefit from the resources that went largely to Wall Street," said Pelosi. "That didn't happen. People are angry." Pelosi is right. It’s Washington that sets the rules for the game that Wall Street and the private sector have to play by. The best example of this is the housing crisis in 2008, a result of Congress forcing the banks to lend money to “risky” individuals. Occupiers complain about the bailouts and bonuses handed out to Wall Street, but it was the Federal Government that gave them out. It is big government, not big business that is damaging this country.

One of the staple points of emphasis for Occupy Wall Street is that “big business” is bad and the “1%” is evil. However upon taking a closer look, Occupy Wall Street is really benefiting from big businesses, and big business is benefiting from Occupy Wall Street. The best example of this is Ben & Jerry’s. They fed 600 Occupy protesters on October 11^th of this year. Of course the protesters embraced the support. However, it begs the questions, why was Ben and Jerry’s so willing, in this time of economic hardship, to give 600 people free ice cream? Is it simply out of the goodness of their heart? Or was the marketing opportunity provided by the protest just too sweet to pass up? Let’s look at a quote from Tom Zara, the Global Practice Leader of Corporate Citizenship at Interbrand. “Ben & Jerry's is about celebrating individuality, self expression, and the political process in its good, bad, and ugly forms...It's very much in its DNA to participate in what is a modern version of Woodstock.” So, by embracing this movement, Ben & Jerry’s enhances its brand. When Occupy Wall Street protesters praise Ben & Jerry’s for their “support” they are helping Ben & Jerry’s turn “endorsements of protests…into profit.” As a capitalist, I have no problem with what Ben & Jerry’s is doing. I am simply pointing out the hypocrisy in the Occupy argument.

Occupy Wall Street represents people who are upset with the current condition of this country but who isn’t upset? Their credibility is lost for me, when they fail to see that the very clothes on their backs and the shoes they wear on their feet were made by a big business. While the Occupy Wall Street protestors have a valid complaint, they are going down the wrong road. They should be marching down Pennsylvania Avenue, not Wall Street.