Occupy Wall Street Movement - Assignment Example

? Occupy Wall Street Movement Introduction Occupy Wall Street movement is considered to be a continuous protest movement that commenced in the year 2011 particularly in a park named Zuccotti Park situated in New York, United States. The protests associated with this movement normally emphasizes upon various issues which include economic impartiality, wealth inequality and corruption in the prevalent financial system. Moreover, the other major issues comprise the handling procedure of the government in respect of worldwide financial crisis and most importantly the function of corporate money particularly in the political system of the US. All these significant issues ultimately paved the way towards the emergence of Occupy Wall Street movement. The movement has been inspired from the recent protests which occurred in the Middle East, Europe as well as in Spain. It has been observed that the initial day of the beginning of the protest linked with the movement drew extensive number of activists to Wall Street which stood at approximately 1,000 protestors (Anderson School of Management, 2011). In this paper, the moral as well as the economic implications which have been involved with the Occupy Wall Street movement will be taken into concern. Moreover, a detailed analysis of the implications against various ethical perspectives which include Utilitarian, Kantian and Virtue will be portrayed in order to determine the movement in the discussion. Discussion The moral implications which are involved with the Occupy Wall Street movement comprise several significant aspects which include the thought of individual responsibility rather than moral responsibility and pre-eminence of self-interest. In relation to the moral implications, the movement explained the aspect of hierarchical authority which is principally based upon wealth or other variety of hierarchical power. According to the protestors of the movement, the role of the government is to defend as well as to empower all citizens in all relevant aspects which include public related infrastructure, education, health, transportation, enforcement of laws, trade policies, public lands and resources. An unbalanced wealth distribution will ultimately create inequality amid the individuals which poses significant impact upon the economy of a nation. On the basis of the aforementioned grounds, it can be stated that the movement bears a progressive vision which is primarily based on moral principles. The moral issues in relation to the movement include democracy, global citizenship, nature and offering of strong wages to the workers belonging to the nation. From the perspective of the moral issue i.e. democracy, the protestors of the movement raised a strong voice in favor of requiring publicly supported elections with 99% democracy. In terms of offering strong wages to every worker belonging to the US, the protestors laid much emphasis upon the fact that the workers of the nation should be provided with strong wages through which their living standard and the economy of the nation can be raised considerably. From the viewpoint of the aspect of global citizenship, the protestors linked with the movement also raised a strong voice regarding the government’s role in order to transform every citizen of the nation to a global one. Finally, the protestors also raised the issue against the government about destroying the nature which is happening through the facet of global warming along with other several forms of environmental destruction such as deep-water drilling and fracking among others (Lakoff, 2011). The economic implications of the movement lie in the fact of financial inequality in the developed business world which has been focused upon various significant aspects which consist of deficits, debts and budget austerity. According to the protestors belonging to the movement, the stakes are running quite high as well as deep in the nation. Moreover, the factors of unemployment, income stagnation and spending cuts are increasing rapidly which are ultimately affecting the economy at large. In this similar context, the protestors became much frustrated with the role of the government in handling the worldwide recession implications which is considered to be one of the crucial issues of the protest. It has been viewed that the major economic factor which is driving the movement is regarding the notion of youth joblessness which is quite low i.e. approximately 15% in the year 2011. In relation to monetary implications, particularly the sector of financial services has served as the central point of the movement in which the protestors are continuously holding protests in major cities of the financial district i.e. Wall Street which include Boston, San Francisco and Chicago (Alessi, 2011). Analysis The perception of an ethical perspective is regarded as a moral view which presents a strong base especially for honest reflection along with ethical codes. It also offers a comprehensive as well as a systematic way to work competently through various difficulties along with determining the correct and the incorrect behavioral attitudes of the people. In this context, there lie various significant ethical theories which comprise Utilitarian, Virtue and Kantian perspectives. The conception of utilitarian ethical perspective is often described as guidance especially for the government as well as the personal actions of the individuals which are prevalently based upon the maximization of superior ethical practices which cover the subject matter like equivalent wealth distribution and increased employment level. This particular ethical perspective emphasizes upon the results rather than implementing any sort of rules. Moreover, the utilitarian ethical perspective delivers a practical way for the people in order to subsist through living morally. It is considered to be the most precise as well as sensible appearance of the fundamental sentiment behind the moral viewpoint. Thus, it can be stated that the ethical theory of Utilitarian is simply based upon guiding moral principles which deliver greatest benefits for everyone by focusing upon the results rather than the imposition of rules (Spencer, n.d.). The other ethical perspective i.e. the Kantian theory has been developed by Immanuel Kant which considers the fact that the advancement of a good willpower is essential for the performance of correct actions. The ethical theory of Kant i.e. Kantian theory delivers the moral laws which are principally based upon universal moral guidelines in spite of individual situations or culture. Moreover, it has been viewed that the ethical perspective of Kantian holds greatest admiration especially for human self-respect as well as autonomy and also takes into concern the major aspects like justice and equality. The major difference between the perspective of Kantian and Utilitarian ethical theory is that the Kantian ethical theory emphasizes upon fulfilling any sort of duty by imposing various sets of rules rather than focusing upon the results. The Kantian ethical theory depicts that only the actions which have been performed from duty have moral worth. Thus, it can be stated that the Kantian ethical perspective is action oriented rather than result oriented which only focuses upon the actions or duties to be performed without paying much attention to the consequences (Spencer, n.d.). Apart from the ethical perspectives of Utilitarian and Kantian, there also lies another ethical theory which is prevalently known as Virtue ethics. This facet of ethics does not intend to deliver principles for the purpose of judging a particular act whether it is correct or incorrect. It mainly focuses upon developing an individual’s character in order to assist the individual to perform any sort of correct activity. The different character traits of an individual include courage, kindness, justice, generosity and temperance. Moreover, the theory of virtue ethics pays less emphasis upon the imposition of rules which need to be followed by the people and focuses more upon assisting the people in developing good character traits which include generosity and kindness among others. According to the perspective of virtue ethics, the aforementioned character traits would support the people to make as well as to implement apt decisions in future (Spencer, n.d.). After acquiring a brief idea about the different ethical perspectives, particularly the Utilitarian ethical theory can be applied to the Occupy Wall Street movement by a certain extent. This can be explained in a better form by focusing upon a few evidences or examples. As the utilitarian ethical theory generally focuses upon the results rather than the imposition of rules, it has been observed that the protestors related with the movement have outlined a policy which contains a broad set of accusations in opposition to Wall Street. According to the protestors, the big corporations belonging to America are constantly creating financial difficulties either by the mistreatment of the homeowners by the big banks in terms of offering loans or by providing the executives of the big corporations of America with “exorbitant bonuses”. The protestors emphasize upon the results by strongly remonstrating in order to make the economic structure as well as the power relations fairer in the society by a considerable extent. This particular movement can be related with the ethical principles based on Utilitarian theory by considering the fact that the movement is structured with moral principles which tend to deliver greatest benefits to every person belonging to American society (Anderson School of Management, 2011). Explanation The primary objective of Occupy Wall Street movement is to formulate the power relations along with the making financial arrangement fairer for the American society. The major issues which have been emphasized in the movement include the financial as well as the communal unfairness and corruption in the prevalent financial system of America. The protestors associated with the movement blamed especially the Corporate America who is responsible for unfair wealth distribution as well as income disparity in the US. According to the protestors of the movement, the big corporations belonging to the US are increasingly accepting bailouts and offering their executives with “exorbitant bonuses”. These particular practices are eventually generating income inequality and making the economic condition of the nation more difficult. A few big corporations of Wall Street have contributed to generate financial problems which are broadly being faced by the global economy. Additionally, the protestors strongly believe that the large corporations of the US along with the worldwide financial system has been controlling the world in such a way which has unreasonably benefited a minority, unbalancing the economic structure and also weakening the democracy (Anderson School of Management, 2011). Thus, on the basis of the aforementioned grounds, it can be stated that the Corporate America or the large corporations belonging to the US are held liable for income inequality and unfair wealth distribution in the US by a large extent. Recommendations The results from the movement could be quite beneficial for every individual belonging to American society as it emphasizes upon various social issues which include unemployment, unfair distribution of wealth, social unfairness and corruption. The outcomes of this movement pose considerable impact upon the society as it generates a national conversation about the aforementioned issues. Moreover, a significant outcome from the movement can be the role of the government in passing various laws regarding limiting the amounts while borrowing loans which might ultimately enable to preserve the economic standard as well as the structure of the nation by a considerable level. This outcome can be quite suitable for the capitalistic society at large. By considering the various significant issues linked with the movement, it can be predicted that the movement can continue in the future. This is due to the reason that a significant amount of people supported the movement and has remarkably galvanized the attention of the nation. Moreover, there lie substantial quantities of people who have still remained unemployed and are expected to support the movement as it deeply focuses upon one of the burning issues i.e. unemployment. Conclusion The Occupy Wall Street Movement is globally regarded as an enduring protest which emphasizes upon various social issues such as unemployment, corruption and greed. The movement has had tremendous social along with economic implications which ultimately attracted a substantial gathering of protestors to support the movement. The protestors especially held responsible the big corporations of the US for rising income inequality and unfair wealth distribution along with other issues. In this context, the major outcome of the movement will be raising huge awareness about the occurrence of the various issues to every individual of the American society. Additionally, the movement is predicted to continue further as it focuses upon several moral issues with active participation of the massive number of protestors. References Alessi, C. (2011). Weighing occupy Wall Street's impact. Retrieved from http://www.cfr.org/united-states/weighing-occupy-wall-streets-impact/p26576 Anderson School of Management. (2011). The occupy Wall Street movement. Retrieved from http://danielsethics.mgt.unm.edu/pdf/Occupy%20Wall%20Street%20DI.pdf Lakoff, G. (2011). Publicize the public. Retrieved from http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/10/19-2 Spencer, D. (n.d.). Three ethical perspectives. Retrieved from http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CGcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcte.rockhurst.edu%2Fs%2F945%2Fimages%2Feditor_documents%2FSPENCER%2520Three%2520Ethical%2520Perspectives.doc&ei=UqkKUKvdBojYrQeguMTICA&usg=AFQjCNEc_xlfLMBv5Xd-VfrDZXnBGVMVqw&sig2=tyHXlGt8-tvgd96a2T3buA Read More