Just a few weeks ago, Wall Street brokers watched from balconies sipping champagne and laughing as demonstrators gathered below and demanded accountability for wrongdoings within corporate America. Occupy Wall Street has since become a far less laughable movement as this past weekend saw as many as 700 demonstrators arrested for blocking traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge. Far from being a minor annoyance to “status quo” Wall Street executives, the ranks of the Occupy Wall Street movement have since swelled as the movement sweeps from the East coast to West, taking up into its ranks the disenfranchised middle class that now feels more than ever that they are being left behind in a rapidly evolving new economy based on the extremely rich and the poor.
In a recent survey, as many as 90% of Americans now feel that the economy is in serious trouble and badly in need of repair. The Occupy Wall Street movement follows on the heels of the “Arab Spring,” when several middle eastern countries experienced uprisings that led to the displacement of long-standing government leaders. Some within the Occupy Wall Street are calling this movement the “American Autumn.” Classification of the movement into a particular belief structure has as yet been difficult due to the diverse nature of the movement, encompassing issues such as unemployment, foreclosure, the environment and practically any other issue currently of economic or societal interest to the middle class.
The question of what political affiliations comprise those who follow the Occupy Wall Street movement is as yet undetermined, but there is evidence that this could be a movement crossing political boundaries because by its very definition, it is a movement seeking responsibility and increased accountability, particularly with what many regard as improprieties in securities exchange and options trading, as well as accountability within government affiliation with Wall Street.
Whether or not you think that the Occupy Wall Street movement will make a difference, either on Wall Street or in the 2012 elections, it’s clear that this is a significant push in the right direction for greater corporate responsibility, both fiscal and political.