Reservations with Occupy movement

I respect the right of groups of individuals to assemble and protest whatever they want in a peaceful fashion. Recently, groups of people have begun “occupying” parks and city centers across our country.

Whether in Los Angeles or on Wall Street, the Occupy movement has grown into a nationwide network of groups protesting our current economic situation.

In fact, for the past several weeks, a group here in Bloomington has been “occupying” Peoples Park on Kirkwood Avenue.

I commend each of these groups for exercising their First Amendment rights and calling attention to areas such as our nation’s disparity in income and the poverty rate.

Generally speaking, some of this group’s grievances are warranted, but I do have some serious reservations about the motivations and actions of this nationwide Occupy movement.

My first concern is the lack of a coherent message. Can someone explain what exactly these people want? More importantly, what are they doing by simply “occupying”?

It’s understandable if they are angry about the bailouts and the taxpayer-funded bonuses some of the Wall Street fat cats received; so am I. But in no way will I blame the entire economic system because of a few cherry-picked examples of corruption.

Instead, we should keep our political elites in Washington accountable by lobbying them at the ballot box, since they are the ones who let the corruption happen.

My second reservation with the Occupy movement is that many within it seem to want to bring down the very economic system that has afforded our nation the wealth and prosperity we enjoy today.  

When I see people in the movement carrying signs that say the institutions of capitalism have failed, I want to ask them what they would replace them with. Do they really think that socialism or even communism would be a suitable alternative?

I ask them to simply refer to the 20th century as a historical case study. Millions were slaughtered in the name of “collectivism” and “social justice” in the Soviet Union during Stalin’s rule and in Red China during the Great Leap Forward.

In fact, capitalist reforms in China were the result of years of economic stagnation. Since these reforms began nearly three decades ago, China has experienced unparalleled economic growth, which, according to the World Bank, has lifted nearly 300 million people out of poverty.

My third and final problem with the Occupy movement is the sheer disregard for facts about income and taxation. Recently, a new campaign associated with the Occupy movement called “We are the 99%” is aimed at vilifying our nation’s wealthiest individuals.

This campaign is nothing more than a ruse. I challenge anyone to an honest, candid debate about this because the numbers speak for themselves.

According to the most recent tax data available from the IRS in 2009, households considered in the “top 10 percent” have 43.2 percent of adjusted gross income yet pay 70.5 percent of federal income taxes. What’s even more interesting is that the “bottom 50 percent” pay an average tax rate of just 1.85 percent.

Last week, a campaign started as a counter-protest against the “We are the 99%.” This movement is called “We are the 53 percent,” which refers to the 53 percent of Americans who paid federal income taxes last year. This basically means that, after tax deductions and other factors, 46 percent of Americans did not pay any Federal income tax last year.

In closing, I leave you with these words to ponder from former President Ronald Reagan: “They tell us we must learn to live with less and teach our children that their lives will be less full and prosperous than ours have been, that the America of the coming years will be a place where — because of our past excesses — it will be impossible to dream and make those dreams come true. I don’t believe that. And I don’t believe you do, either.”

­— cjcaudil@indiana.edu