What really bothers me is the fact that bonus packages were still given out during the recession and that for some odd reason people find the need to spend their money on estates, yachts, and private jets. Now don't get me wrong I would love to make a few million and change a year, but I'm perfectly content living in the most run-down apartment in Manhattan as long as I'm living with my best friends.
Hell, I'd live in the bathtub if it meant I got to be around the people I love the most in the place I want to be.
Let me start with a recap of the past few decades. The wealthy move into suburbs and crowd the poor into cities, until they are bored of the suburbs and buy up all of the apartments in the city. Thus, forcing the poor into dilapidated suburbs that may seem to be cheaper, but end up being more expensive alternatives. Before being squeezed out the poor had access to public transport and could walk (depending on where they were in the city), and now they have to pay for a car, insurance, and gas. This left the poor with less money in their pockets, figuratively speaking, and may have increased GDP.
But at what cost?
Low-density sprawl (think of the Los Angeles San Fernando Valley) tends to have a much larger carbon footprint than high-density urban design (think Manhattan).Why?
Think about how many more pipes, air conditioning units, concrete, wood, and other materials need to be used to build separate homes/buildings. They also tend to use more energy and cost the Utilities companies more money.
How is that related to Wall Street? Well... It isn't completely. But at the same time Wall Street helps finance mortgages, real estate development companies, and basically any other company that leverages debt to make money quicker and sometimes inorganically.
What I am really trying to say is that we have done a lot wrong as a society up to this point. We maximized GDP over our utility because its subjective and not as easy to measure... and happiness doesn't = money.
Korten emphasizes how important it is to track happiness and life longevity over everything else. Governments need to start planning for the people, not for the 'interests' of the people.
Wall Street happens to be the symbol of 'anti-happiness' or anti-99%, and they have done a damn good job of keeping up that reputation. What needs to happen isn't necessarily to tear down Wall Street, but to tear down that mentality. Money isn't everything. Happiness is everything.
If your interested in how urban design affects happiness there is a great book by Charles Montgomery called Happy City. Check out his TED talk, it's definitely worth the time.
"As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known."
Sources:
http://occupywallst.org/forum/first-official-release-from-occupy-wall-street/
http://www.brainyquote.com/search_results.html#C0JEQi6t3uFkUD11.99
I agree some points of the article. But for my part, I have something different thoughts that I want to share. The truth about Wall Street is money. Earning ability is the important way to measure people's achievements. Based on that, the people in Wall Street deal with money every day to prove their value. The value to company and the value to Wall Street. Wall Street has been well known from a long time ago. So people who work for Wall Street want to keep the reputation. And they are proud of working at Wall Street. It is an identity, like your nationality. The movie touched me a lot. Life in Wall Street could be ridiculous, but people there also contribute to the society.
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