The 99% and the 1%

Over the past couple weeks, a movement known as "Occupy Wall Street" has been gathering a lot of press. It presents itself as a leaderless uprising modeled on the Arab Spring that wants to take the world back from those who have abused their power. As the website occupywallst.org states, "We are the 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%". It is certainly an understandable reaction and a compelling narrative. The only problem is that it is a false one in many respects.

I do not mean to say that there has not been greed and corruption on Wall St. and indeed elsewhere in the financial world. You need only scan a newspaper to see countless anecdotes of the Bernie Madoff's of the world. The problem is that the economic crisis that we are in right now is not the result of the actions of 1% of the population.

While there were certainly some illegal practices in mortgage signings and some shady derivative trading, the ultimate crux of the crisis was that we are spending more money than we make and are relying on ever-rising house prices as the means to fuel this debt. While perhaps not everyone bought into this philosophy and lifestyle, it was far more than 1% of the population who may not have been corrupt, but were certainly greedy. The reason I say this is not to take responsibility away from those culpable on Wall St, I certainly think they should face justice if they committed crimes; but rather to point out that if we are unwilling to address the broader failings of overspending and undersaving that are endemic in the developed world, we cannot hope to get back to a robust, job-producing economy.

We are the 99% and we are almost all responsible for the mess we face in whatever small way, so let us also take the responsibility of cleaning it up and stop looking for quick fixes. We can take a page from those who lived through the great depression and relearn prudence in the face of consumerism. This is the only way to regain prosperity for all.