Occupy Wall Street - revolution? Or just another protest?

[Sarahkka]

patch2006uk - I agree with you in theory - that the system should work so that banks and companies make money off of healthy bank accounts and consumers wanting to spend.
However, in the past 30 years, our relationship with credit has run out of control. Banks and companies make far more money off us owing them than they do if we are solvent. It's a massive part of the problem.

 

[deafgal]

patch2006uk - I agree with you in theory - that the system should work so that banks and companies make money off of healthy bank accounts and consumers wanting to spend.
However, in the past 30 years, our relationship with credit has run out of control. Banks and companies make far more money off us owing them than they do if we are solvent. It's a massive part of the problem.

from my experience, if you have little to no credit history (commonly those who are young or dont't make enough), they consider you high risk and charge you higher interest rate that take forever to pay off. But people have been using it especially for health bills(when insurance won't cover 100%)they have to pay thousands of dollar even for one night at the hospital like my husand and son did.

one credit company I used decided to charge me a much higher rate that point on just for being late only once and they refused to back it down.

 

[Nibblenic]

Through out history the common lower class nearly always a majoirty have tried and failed to have protests/uprisings.

The levellers, the diggers, the peasants revolt this has been going on in fits and starts for 800 years.

Not much has really changed in essence since then. Especially not by protest, by invasion and by war yes but not by protests.

 

[patch2006uk]

Granted occasional private companies will benefit, but companies that need people to spend need people to have disposable income. Even banks need people to have income to save or to borrow against.

I don't see it that way. Every time someone is charged interest, fined for being overdrawn or missing a payment, it creates money. Therefore debt is good. Especially as money doesn't exist but debt does

Debt isn't the same as poverty though. You don't have to be in poverty to be in debt. I completely agree that personal debt has got to ridiculous levels, but no-one was occupying anywhere because they were allowed a 110% mortgage. It's only now the house of cards has tumbled that people have started to complain.

 

[patch2006uk]

Through out history the common lower class nearly always a majoirty have tried and failed to have protests/uprisings.

The levellers, the diggers, the peasants revolt this has been going on in fits and starts for 800 years.

Not much has really changed in essence since then. Especially not by protest, by invasion and by war yes but not by protests.

I dunno, the suffragettes did alright in the end. And the anti-apartheid movement.

 

[Dopeyjopey]

Granted occasional private companies will benefit, but companies that need people to spend need people to have disposable income. Even banks need people to have income to save or to borrow against.

I don't see it that way. Every time someone is charged interest, fined for being overdrawn or missing a payment, it creates money. Therefore debt is good. Especially as money doesn't exist but debt does

Debt isn't the same as poverty though. You don't have to be in poverty to be in debt. I completely agree that personal debt has got to ridiculous levels, but no-one was occupying anywhere because they were allowed a 110% mortgage. It's only now the house of cards has tumbled that people have started to complain.

Being in debt can lead to poverty can it not? And of course no one protested about the mortgages - Joe Bloggs wouldn't have known what could come of that. The 1% did though and took the risk anyway. But the 'recession' was fully created by the media by way of a self fulfilling prophecy.

Once you start to really delve into the depths of linked companies, government backed corporations and so on you can't just sit back and watch it happen in my opinion.

 

[patch2006uk]

Granted occasional private companies will benefit, but companies that need people to spend need people to have disposable income. Even banks need people to have income to save or to borrow against.

I don't see it that way. Every time someone is charged interest, fined for being overdrawn or missing a payment, it creates money. Therefore debt is good. Especially as money doesn't exist but debt does

Debt isn't the same as poverty though. You don't have to be in poverty to be in debt. I completely agree that personal debt has got to ridiculous levels, but no-one was occupying anywhere because they were allowed a 110% mortgage. It's only now the house of cards has tumbled that people have started to complain.

Being in debt can lead to poverty can it not? And of course no one protested about the mortgages - Joe Bloggs wouldn't have known what could come of that. The 1% did though and took the risk anyway. But the 'recession' was fully created by the media by way of a self fulfilling prophecy.

Once you start to really delve into the depths of linked companies, government backed corporations and so on you can't just sit back and watch it happen in my opinion.

It doesn't take a genius to see mortgages that large are unsustainable. We rent instead.

Of course debt can (and does) lead to poverty, however it's more in the interests of banks that people pay back their debts (and interest!) rather than default.

I agree that they system is pretty rotton, but what's the answer? What's the viable alternative? Communism? No. Arguably too, capitalism is working. As debts spiralled and things got out of hand, things started to crash and falter. If governments didn't prop up failing companies, maybe the markets would regulate themselves. Maybe we actually need purer capitalism?

 

[Dopeyjopey]

I don't think capitalism is the way forward at all. It's too much about greed. It's a difficult one, and a problem to which I don't think there is a perfect solution. Meh. I should reply when I've had less wine.