Again, I am late to the blogasphere about the Occupy Wall Street but I wanted to formulate a well rounded opinion about the subject and then weight in. This and the fact that I am busy actually trying to teach people why/how all of the financial stuff happens. As I have told my students many times “The problems out there can be fixed by 8th graders if people would only remember their 8th grade economics classes.”
First. I agree whole heartedly with the protesters. I feel as though they have every right in under the United States Constitution to be out in the streets demonstrating. It is at the very least something citizens should feel a responsibility to do. There could be a case made that it is a civic duty that citizens stand up for what they believe and let their voices be heard.
My one concern, and this goes for my generation as a whole, is the lack of follow-up. My one question of the OWS protesters would be “When was the last time you voted?” Understandably a good many may have voted in 2008, and of those an even large majority voted for President Obama. I fault them not for voting for him, but I would question why they voted for him. Was it because he promised change? Was it because he promised change and you presumed it would be over night? If so it is easy to see their frustrations, but their frustrations are misguided. Do not blame President Obama for not bringing about change, and certainly do not blame him for not changing over night. America
This leads to the follow-through. I fear that many of the OWS movement believe their protest is all that is needed to change. This is simply not the case. My generation and those at the OWS need to go far beyond marching in the streets to bring about our voices being heard. We need to communicate, civilly, with our elected officials. We have that freedom in American like few other countries in the world. We need to organize ourselves into a cohesive voting block, and vote. The best and brightest of our generation need to seek out public office and make changes from within the government. It is one thing to march; it is another to be politically active.
Enough though of the defending, I felt as though the article at the tope of this blog was well pointed and articulate. Warren Buffett is correct in his understanding that the top paid executives have a vested interest in their company, and will do what they have to, to prop it up to make money. Executives need to be moral in their dealings, they need to weigh decisions out not only with their interest in mind but the economic system as well.
Finally I think Mr. Buffett is doing just that in his dealings. Through his career he has made sound economic and business decisions and is now in a place where he can teach future generations a lesson on business. He does this through his outspoken advice to the President, and he does it in quite was such as producing economic lessons for children called “The Secrete Millionaires Club.” Don’t get hung up on the name, it’s produced at an 8th grade level…it has to be catchy
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