by Haley LeDuc, staff writer
Flip on the news and get pole-vaulted back in time. The 1960s are upon us, or so it seems.
In the past month, a growing movement known as Occupy Wall Street has swept the country. People are up in arms and it’s time we take notice.
Occupy Wall Street is a protest begun in New York City to oppose the ever-widening gap between the richest one percent of the country and the rest of the population, a problem that has resulted from corporate greed.
The movement has reached the West Coast and is holding strong. Taken up at first in San Francisco, the protests have spread to Oakland, Walnut Creek and, of course, our city of San Ramon.
Walk among the noise that accompanies this self-named resistance and you can find an overflow of complaints. Signs call for everything from the end of corporate greed, big banks, and our overseas wars. There’s a little discontent for everyone.
Modeled after successful protests used by the TEA Party, Occupy Wall Street is leaderless, lacking official demands, and run completely through social networking and direct democracy. Somehow, it works.
It seems more than ever common people’s voices are not being heard by government. That somehow our democracy has ceased to be “of the people, for the people, and by the people,” In times like these, it’s important that the protest receive the attention they deserve.
With a debt crisis, multiple wars, and presidential elections right around the corner, it might seem the time for government to listen to the people is now. Apparently, this is not so, which is typical with how the American government seems to operate. Politicians are loyal to the highest bider. And no average American can afford to get into a bidding war with the multi-national corporation.
Frustrated and fed, thousands of Americans are now doing what they do best: get angry.
Since early September the growing anti-corporation movement of Occupy Wall Street has spread across the country.
In San Ramon, protesters have picketed outside Chevron headquarters on Bollinger Canyon Road. It seems odd to think of our hometown company as a symbol of corporate greed.
But this seems all too accurate. According to Bloomberg.com, Chevron had a profit of $7.73 billion the past three months. This is money that, for the most part, is hoarded by Chevron since oil companies are only taxed at a rate of 9 percent, 1 percent less than the poorest Americans, according to the New York Times.
Oil companies have largely objected to the idea of reducing the tax breaks the industry receives, claiming that it will cause a decrease in hiring or drive up the prices for consumers. Even suggesting a reduction in subsidies is met with hard resistance. Apparently oil companies don’t like it when the government stops paying them to make money.
It’s hard to believe that in a time of such economic hardship, the biggest companies are unwilling to pay their fair share. The largest companies shouldn’t hold out on the American government, especially when it seems to work specifically for their interests.
But if it weren’t for current hard times and clear mismanagement of government priorities, Occupy Wall Street may never have grown the way it has. Angry Americans from all walks of life have gathered to voice their opinions.
In recent years it seems many have lost faith in American democracy, feeling their voices are drowned out by louder interest groups and corporations. Occupy Wall Street has given people a way to have an influence in America again.
They say money talks, so maybe it’s time the people started to yell.
