Remember, Remember, the 5th of November : the Bank Transfer Day

Do you remember me?

If you have seen “V for Vendetta”, or if just paid attention in your history classes, you immediately recalled the famous verses.  On November 5^th, 1605, the plot of English Catholics to blow up the parliament, assassinate the king, and establish a Catholic kingdom, was thwarted.  Four hundred and six years later, thanks to Wachowski brothers, Guy Fawkes, the symbol of the Gunpowder Revolt, found his way onto the faces of thousands of protestors occupying the Wall Street, cities throughout the world, and the Anonymous.              

However, while passions run high, amongst the deafening roars of the public fury and superficial news coverage, there is a voice that wants you to remember November 5^th for slightly different reasons.  Ms. Kristen Christian, founder of the Bank Transfer Day, calls people to establish accounts in small, independent banks, or credit unions, and then, on November 5^th, transfer the funds out of the accounts you may have with the institutions that are too big to fail (You can CLICK HERE to read or listen to the interview with Ms. Christian or click on any text in red for related material). 

Photo from: Marketplace, APM

 This initiative proves that sometimes there are more than two sides to the story.  It is not always the case that, to paraphrase, you’re either with us or against us (i.e.: 99ner or 1%).  The Bank Transfer Day movement is not affiliated with the protests in New York, Chicago, nor anywhere else in the world.  In fact Ms. Christian does not condone some of their methods and does not call anybody to occupy anything (or everybody occupy something).  If anything, Ms. Christian is rather calling for your money to stop occupying the Wall Street and to vote with you wallets.  Especially considering many credit unions and neighborhood banks have competitive rates, lower fees, and actually do care about your business.   

If you suspect your bank already is or is becoming too big to fail, Remember Remember the 5^th of November! In this business money hurts more than words.     . 

Intelligence Squared: Too Many Kids Go To College

Addendum to Post 2: Tilting the System

The Intelligence Squared debate held in Chicago
Link to the official video: 

http://intelligencesquaredus.org/index.php/past-debates/too-many-kids-go-to-college/#dm-col-a

For the Motion: Peter Thiel  (PayPal Co-founder) Charles Murray - political scientist and author Against the Motion: Vivek Wadhwa (Duke University, Harvard Law School) Henry Bienen: President Emeritus, Northwestern University

A sign that Halloween is almost here.

Cost of attending the conference: $5 - $20
Cost of attending De Paul: $30,000+ a year
Exposing your own hypocrisy by promoting Communism in a private Catholic university : Priceless

On the poster board of the NEIU's library

Comrades! No One Turned Away!  Let's relieve the most frightening moments of human history! Dress in your favorite communist custom: as Castro, Mao, Stalin, Lenin, Marx, or wear your favorite Che t-shirt. Winner of the custom Party wins red I-Pad with works of Marx and annual subscription to Young Communist League USA (http://www.yclusa.org/section-news) and VIP access to the Communist Party of the USA http://www.cpusa.org/.

Get yourself into a really good Red Halloween Mood:

http://www.communistvampires.com/

4. Gnashing Teeth and the Primal Scream

   Mr. Gore crafted a powerful allegory: the Occupy Wall Street movement as a “primal scream of democracy”.  Allegory so powerful, that Mr. Kristof decided to use it in a title. Quite worthy a man who charges $175,000 to speak.  So let’s finally examine the concrete grievances of the 99ners as presented by Mr. Kristof, and endorsed by Mr. Gore. 

“The critical issue is economic inequity”, “the 400 wealthiest Americans have a greater combined net worth than the bottom 150 million”, “the top 1% of Americans possess more wealth than the entire bottom 90%”, “from 2002 to 2007 65% of economic gains went to the richest 1%”.

     What is exactly wrong with that picture?  Would we be better off if those people were making 1% less, 10% less, or 50% less?  Would you or I make more as a consequence?  Would we be any happier? Would we have more jobs?  Would our country fare better because of that? And how do the 99ners plan to address issues of income gap? Nationally mandated salaries?  Closing the gap by stripping rich out of what they earned rather than raise poor out of poverty.

3.M.Al content

Mr. Kristof, reports that Al Gore himself “supports the Wall Street protests” and “described them perfectly as a ‘primal scream of democracy”’.  Mr. Gore, son of a U.S. Congressman/ Senator, who lost 2000 presidential election despite winning the popular vote, knows a thing or two about the imperfect shape of our democracy.  He also knows a lot about the huge unfairness of the unequal income distribution.  He knows very well the extent of the wide gap between the 99ners and the 1%.                    

2. Tilting the System: 1.265 Million New Businessmen

      So how do we exactly explain motives of those occupying the Wall Street?  Mr. Kristof’scontention is that “the political/economic system is tilted against the 99%”.  I think Mr. Kristof owes us an explanation as of who tilted “the political/economic system.” The 1%? The top 1% of the 1%? Bushes? Rothschilds? Free Masons? Bankers? Elitists?  Who is the culprit responsible for the fact that a newly graduated student with B.A. in history, arts, film, dance, sociology, and (yes!) political science, can’t find a job?  Is it Wall Street, Investment Bankers, evil CEOs, the super-wealthy 1%?  Or is it rather the Invisible Hand performing an overdue reality check on the occupational and career choices of young Americans?

1. Tale of the Two Squares.

     It fascinates Mr. Kristof ('America's Primal Scream', NYT, 10/15/11) that we “understood the outrage and frustration” of Egyptians and yet “we don’t comprehend similar resentments that drive fellow citizens to occupy Wall Street”. It fascinates me how I can understand why Mr. Kristof would compare Occupy Wall Street to the Arab Spring in Egypt, and yet I don’t comprehend the extent to which he stretches the facts in the process. How similar are resentments of 40% of the Egyptians who live on $2 a day or less, 99% of which lived under three “presidents”, and bitterness of college educated I-Phone wielding Americans (mostly) youth? How do the interviews with people who were shot at demanding freedom rhyme with people who shoot themselves with their camera phones and post pictures on Facebook demanding redistribution of wealth, end of corporate greed, school loan forgiveness, and occupying everything. 


       There is also a symbolic yet significant difference, that Mr. Kristof conveniently omits.  On January 25, 2011, Egyptians began occupation of Tahrir Square demanding just that – tahrir (English: liberation).  Egyptians took over public space confronting public leadership.  The 99ners based their occupation of Wall Street in Zuccotti Park – private space owned by Brookfield Office Properties (NYSE: BPO; Total Assets: $20.420 billion) and named after its chairman, Mr. John E. Zuccotti.  Hence, in an ironic historical twist, people protesting corporate greed protest under protection of a private property owned by a corporation, which prevents NYPD from intervening.

Original Article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/opinion/sunday/kristof-americas-primal-scream.html?_r=1&smid=fb-nytimes&WT.mc_id=SR-SM-E-FB-SM-LIN-APS-101611-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click 

Part 2 coming soon