By now, you probably know about the “Occupy Wall Street” movement which is spreading around the country. A group of people started “Occupy Philly” which gathered a solid 1,000 participants to a general meeting that took place last night at the United Methodist Church on Broad and Arch.
What is the link between Sustainability and and the “Occupy Wall Street” movement?
At the most basic level, Sustainability having the ability to sustain, support oneself. Considering that in August of 2011, the general unemployment in the US rate was at 9.1% and reaches much higher levels in specific ethnic groups and towns, it means that somewhere between 10 to 25% of the US population live in poverty or close to poverty.
At a time when 1 to 3% of the population is getting richer and at a time when large corporations are recording exceptional profit levels, it is difficult to swallow the conservative steadfast opposition to higher taxes on more wealthy individuals.
For more facts on income disparity, poverty, unemployment, corporate profits, CEO pay in the US, the site BusinessInsider.com posted an amazing set of charts on the subject. Please check “Here’s What the Wall Street protesters are so angry about“
Here is what Eric Blasco, one of Philly’s own urban farmers posted earlier today:
“Those of us working on all aspects of urban agriculture know all too well how big corporations, developers and unresponsive or harmful government policy affect small farms, community gardens, and urban farms. From seeds being patented, to junk food in schools, to the hardships of starting a small farm, to the effects of fracking on water and land: the fight for food justice is wrapped up in the fight against Wall Street and corporate power. This movement is our movement. “
The issue is that we cannot go back in time. We cannot bring back the millions of manufacturing jobs that left to China and elsewhere. What we can do is make the playing field more even.
Why is it essential to make rich individuals and large corporations more accountable and sharing their wealth with the public?
A country which is more together, a country that shares more evenly its wealth is more likely to keep its social fabric intact in the face of the destruction brought about by extreme weather created by Global Warming.
Also, I and a few other people very much doubt that the days of consistent, year after year economic growth may ever come back. If that is the case, a more even division wealth becomes more critical.
Please check out this 5 minutes video from the Post Carbon Institute that explains at a very high level, why economic growth is going to be much more problematic: “ Who Killed Economic Growth?“
Bill McKibben the co-founder of 350.org and author of a number of books on the environment, spoke last week at Occupy Wall Street.
Mr. McKibben said, “The reason that it’s so great that we’re occupying Wall Street is because Wall Street has been occupying the atmosphere”. He added, “the fossil fuel industry cannot keep using [the sky] as a sewer into which to dump their carbon.”
McKibben also criticized President Obama for failing to act on environmental promises he made in 2008. McKibben said, “We have to free Obama, because there is some sort of stunt double there now.”
Here is a 6 minutes Youtube video of Bill McKibben speech at Occupy Wall Street: Bill McKibben speak @Occupy Wall Street
