The current movement of dissatisfaction with the status quo exemplified by the Occupy Wall Street movement is now expanding to cities across the country. It is about employment, equity and fairness. It is also about how the greed of Wall Street, banks and other corporations have trashed our natural world in pursuit of their profits.
Unlike economic injustice, environmental destruction often can not be reversed and made right. When a rainforest is deforested to extract short term profits from oil, wood, cattle and mono crops like soy beans, there is no going back to a health thriving rainforest. When oil is spilled in the billions of gallons the wild life and eco systems that are effected can not return to the pristine state they were in.
I am in full support of the Occupy Wall Street movement and as it builds momentum the many kinds of voices will be heard, I know that the corporate destruction of our eco systems will be one of the top priorities that must be addressed and changed. Our health and the health of our natural world is being choked to death by the cruel and relentless corporate quest for short term profits from resource removal.
One of the most effective tools available to the average person to fight back with is, choosing where to keep their money and how they spend their money. This crisis of greed and corruption is all about money, actually all about our money, the 99 percent of the people's money. The reason the 1 percent of the population has 99 percent of the wealth is because they made their profits off us the working people, the everyday average consumer. If we change our buying habits even a little the reaction from the market (the corporations) is swift. They will adjust immediately to appease the source of their profits. If the majority or even a large percentage of depositors at a major corporate bank closed their accounts and moved to a local credit union, you can be sure Bank of America will notice and want to fix the leak. They will make the changes in how they operate to address the reasons people are taking their money elsewhere.
The same thing goes for how corporations treat the environment. If a large number of the customers who buy products from a major corporation, stop buying and state that they will buy another brand. And they say that until this company stops it's destructive business practice that harms the environment they will not spend their money on any of the company's products, you can bet that Nike will adjust and clean up their act to get that market share back.
Unfortunately as we are now seeing it takes a fairly extreme level of discomfort and oppression to motivate the large numbers of people it takes to influence a large corporation. Or to influence national politicians. With corporations able to buy the political leaders they need from both major political parties, it has become clear that the change we must have, both economically and environmentally, will come from the street. More and more people will reach their personal levels of discomfort and take the step of joining their fellow citizens in the street. The Occupy Wall Street movement is the beginning of a hopefully passive revolution that will demand a major change to the status quo, in many areas of our political, economic and social structures.
This dissatisfaction and mistrust runs deep and it is time for serious change to take place. How political leaders are elected must change, no more bought and sold elected representatives of the people. We must take the profit out of politics. No more revolving door between the corporate world, Capital Hill and the White House. No more bailouts. If a company is too big to fail, then it is too big and should be broken up. If a company fails that's the free market. When has the government (actually that's supposed to be us) bailed out a small business who makes the wrong decisions and fails.
The tax code does have to change, it has to reflect a fair playing field. Those who make the most give back the most. Loop holes that allow the wealthy to pay less tax than the blue collar worker should all be closed. The idea that if you remove all regulations the market will act honestly and with integrity has been shown not to be possible. The greed of the wealthy few tend to shut their eyes to the misery of the many. Corporations must be regulated so that they act fairly and honestly. The population of this country and the world is too large and growing ever larger, basic safety nets must be created and maintained so a reasonably fair playing field exists or people will continually reach their levels of discomfort and will go into the streets.
Change is coming, how it will manifest itself it yet to be seen. How much resistance to change corporate and political leaders will exhibit will determine how this all plays out.
As for human sustainability and preserving our environment, time is not on our side. If major actions are not taken soon, tipping points of no return will be reached. The levels of discomfort for most people will sky rocket, even the wealthy at the top will not be able to avoid the misery. Lets wake up the sleeping masses. Occupy the status quo and demand change now.