Thursday, October 27, 2011
Steger on Occupy Wall Street
I've wondered aloud about how Catholics should respond to OWS versus the Tea Party. One helpful snapshot for understanding the OWS "movement" is a short and (righteously) angry essay by my student, Phil Steger, that is posted over at my colleague Mark Osler's blog. Though Phil's analysis is a bit over the top (in my view) on some points, I think he captures the deep frustration that underlies the protests.
https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2011/10/steger-on-occupy-wall-street.html
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I hear and, somewhat, sympathize with the frustration; but the argument doesn’t work very well. A few points:
Inequality is a problem. It is not the reason for the current economic mess we’re in and the implication here (that fatcat wallstreeters are taking money that could or should instead be going into the pockets of the 99%) is arrant nonsense. Income inequality is worsening for reasons that have nothing to do with the recent crisis (which is likely seeing some decrease in inequality as the rich take a bath)—and a lot to do with longer term worldwide economic trends. It has not been accompanied by the poor getting poorer in general (although many have been harmed by globalization).
Crony capitalism is a problem. The fact that the government encouraged crazy lending and favored the well-connected is a huge problem. While both parties are guilty of crony capitalism, it is the dems who (mostly) are responsible for the excesses of fannie and freddie that fueled the housing boom and collapse. The mis-regulation of derivatives is likely a case of noone involved either among the regulated or the regulators having a clue.
The suggestion that the “social contract” of Steger’s grandparents was somehow manipulated by the nefarious rich for their own ends is ludicrous. As it happens, the social contract of Steger’s grandparents is a contributing cause of the present downturn, as looming unserviceable debt from unaffordable entitlements enacted by his grandparents and their forbears is clearly prolonging and worsening our current situation. Unless someone succeeds in enacting “cuts cuts cuts” our economic troubles are going to continue.
The consequences of globalization are what they are irrespective of the turmoil of the past couple of years; and globalization clearly plays a role in the current difficulties of the young compared to those of their parents when young. The lesson that ought to be learned there by the current young is a focus on skills in which we in the US have some comparative advantage; and to not take out student loans to get degrees that will be worthless in the marketplace (an outcome much encouraged by the government, by the way). I’m not sure what the answer is for displaced blue collar workers. Perhaps it is in the many skilled trades that command high remuneration and cannot be outsourced. It is certainly not in a contemporary return to Smoot-Hawley or in ill-informed attacks on “the rich”.
Posted by: Tom H | Oct 27, 2011 3:16:05 PM
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