Alone in the Car: Occupy Wall Street Sit-In

Occupy Wall Street officially began September 17, 2011. That was the day the protesters moved to Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan and set up residence. By now, most of my readers probably have an opinion--strongly support, strongly disagree, or not interested. For most of the time, I fell in the last category. During my life time, albeit younger years, I lived through similar protests. They did not catch my interest because for me it was history repeating itself. Though usually that is why I study history--to see if I can learn from the past. I couldn't help thinking about the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and what it did to the wealthy class who survived it. In essence, they became very, very quiet. Only the Nouveau Rich let it be known nowadays.

Then unrest hit the tent towns, the snow came to New York, police were called in and I wondered what would be Part II of the story? News stories about personal and political connections mixed together, the original mission statement of the protesters became broadbased, and with all of this, the result was the cause slowed down.

But here is something to consider based on data. Fortune Magazine's November issue has an article entitled, "The Growing Wealth Gap". It measured the disparity between the rich and the rest of us. An American CEO's pay is 475 times larger than the average worker's. Japan's CEO is only 11 times larger. Germany is 12 times larger, France is 15 times larger, Britain is 22 times larger. The closest one to us mentioned in the article is Venezuela at 50 times larger.

The people heading companies work hard and from what I've seen are pretty intelligent too. CEO's have many to answer to--their boards, stockholders, media. That has to be stressful. It's the bonuses and other benefits that they receive that I don't understand, while laying off their workforce. They say they can't afford their employees, while awarding themselves (or their boards to them) luxuries. That's the disparity I don't get. Salaries (including the entire package as listed above) is usually a big portion of a company's budget. Becoming leaner and more efficient is assumed. Just make sure you start at the top.