Lazy: Who Says?

The Occupy movement of recent weeks has been called to question by some of the media as a bunch of lazy-misguided-misfits with no desire to be productive. Do Occupy participants have legitimate beefs? The answer is obviously YES, except that one is unaware of some corporate/government-players' unscrupulousness, or in some cases missteps of financial dealings in the past several years. No doubt many of the Occupy movement who feel hopelessly unemployed, other participants with jobs, and college graduates doubtful of employment understand the breakdown in ethics, values and equality of a crass capital-market of recent years.
A latest understanding of inequality exhibited during this period was by a group of North Carolina State University students, among others, who shouted down Wells Fargo CEO, John Stumpf. He came to lecture at NCSU's Poole College of Management. This group's protest to Stumpf: "We won't take your home," the protesters told him, "but we will take a minute of your time. Your leadership has led to the death of the American dream. Wells Fargo is guilty of widespread predatory lending and holds over 5.7 billion in student debt."
The forgoing referenced article reported that Forbes listed Stumpf's 2010 income at $18.9 million in salary, stocks and other compensation. Many people might consider this egregious for a leader who they believe should be participating in an austere-economic recovery; it's these overload rewards to top-echelon U. S. managers, which have continually exorbitantly increased over the past three decades, that incense much of the public. Maybe, especially in his case, because it came after Wells Fargo's takeover of Wachovia Bank which went bust on its acquisition of Golden West Financial, a predator subprime lender, for $25.5 billion. That brought enormous losses to Wachovia's stockholders - and a sweet deal for Wells Fargo, orchestrated by the Feds bailout.
Nicholas Kristof writes, "If you want to understand why the Occupy movement has found such traction, it helps to listen to a former banker like James Theckston." Theckston, "fully acknowledges that he and other bankers are mostly responsible for the country’s housing mess." He worked for Chase Home Finance. In explaining that epoch of errant banking, when subprime predatory loans earned commissions seven times a prime mortgage for some account executives, he said: “The bigwigs of the corporations knew this, but they figured we’re going to make billions out of it, so who cares? The government is going to bail us out. And the problem loans will be out of here, maybe even overseas.”
Thomas Friedman says, Citigroup's lethal news, overshadowed by the death of Qaddafi, deserved more attention because it "helps to explain why many average Americans have expressed support for the Occupy Wall Street movement. The news was that Citigroup had to pay a $285 million fine to settle a case in which, with one hand, Citibank sold a package of toxic mortgage-backed securities to unsuspecting customers — securities that it knew were likely to go bust — and, with the other hand, shorted the same securities — that is, bet millions of dollars that they would go bust." And if you needed more info on what motivates Occupy groups, listen to Steve Kroft last evening on 60 Minutes coverage of Countrywide, Citigroup, etc.
Nouriel Roubini, who long before 2008 predicted the economic catastrophe and understands anthropology in context of economics perhaps as well as anyone, says, "Any economic model that does not properly address inequality will eventually face a crisis of legitimacy. Unless the relative economic roles of the market and the state are rebalanced, the protests of 2011 will become more severe, with social and political instability eventually harming long-term economic growth and welfare."
All that being reality, we can't blame investment bankers for all unemployment and ills of America. Congress over last decades must share responsibility; as we go forth congress must be held accountable for policy that will be more conducive for American jobs. Thomas Friedman, co-author, in his book "That Used to Be Us" outlines four big imperatives for America's come back: how to adapt to globalization; adjust to the information technology (IT) revolution; cope with the large and soaring budget deficit; manage a world of both rising energy consumption and rising climate threats. In this video Friedman expands on some of this initiative (and here on The Power of Green) ---which, he says, must be addressed in a big way, if we are to regain our pace for economic growth and put more people to work.
This current congress, House and Senate, of which over half its membership are in the top 1% annual income ($516,000 up) shares in the failure to deal with the crucial issues of our nation that have left us with national challenges more complex and long-term as at no other time in our history. Indeed for many the American Dream, if not lost, is in serious jeopardy. And it's not that the Occupiers are lazy; being an activist takes courage, dedication and commitment beyond that of the most work-ethic-driven American employee.
"Americans have the fewest guaranteed vacation days and holidays of any major industrialized country. By law, workers in Britain are guaranteed at least four weeks’ paid vacation. The industrious Germans get the same—plus 10 paid holidays. The Japanese, famous for their work ethic, have a statutory minimum of two weeks’ paid vacation. We Americans: zero. There are no laws that guarantee us even a week’s paid vacation, nor even one paid holiday." "Americans work more weeks per year than any industrialized country except Japan. The average American works 46.7 weeks per year—eclipsing by far the Germans (41.7), the Brits (43.3), and the Canadians (44.8). The Swedes have a budget surplus and the best-performing bonds in Europe. They also work just 38.8 weeks per year."
While there are some slackers in every society and some outliers in Occupy and Tea Party types, America need not fear for its work force. Occupiers and the millions unemployed represented by them, given education and training, will exhibit unrelenting diligence. Americans choose to work; no laws needed ---except those that must shape economic policy for equality, entrepreneurship, innovation and Global competitiveness. Leveling the playing field of opportunity, the reordering of American jobs will put the U. S. back in its rightfully-earned position for sustainable economic growth.
No lazy bones here!