Nicholas D. Kristof
After flying around the world this year to cover street protests from Cairo to Morocco,reporting on the latest uprising was easier: I took the subway.
Occupy Wall Street was initially treated as a joke,but after a couple of weeks its gaining traction. The crowds are still tiny by protest standards mostly in the hundreds,swelling during periodic marches but similar occupations are bubbling up in Chicago,San Francisco,Los Angeles and Washington. David Paterson,the former New York governor,dropped by,and labor unions are lending increasing support.
I tweeted that the protest reminded me a bit of Tahrir Square in Cairo,and that raised eyebrows. True,no bullets are whizzing around,and the movement wont unseat any dictators. But there is the same cohort of alienated young people,and the same savvy use of Twitter and other social media to recruit more participants. Most of all,theres a similar tide of youthful frustration with a political and economic system that protesters regard as broken,corrupt,unresponsive and unaccountable.
This was absolutely inspired by Tahrir Square,by the Arab Spring movement, said Tyler Combelic,27,a Web designer from Brooklyn who is a spokesman for the occupiers. Enough is enough!
The protesters are dazzling in their Internet skills,and impressive in their organisation. The square is divided into a reception area,a media zone,a medical clinic,a library and a cafeteria. The protesters Web site includes links allowing supporters anywhere in the world to go online and order pizzas (vegan preferred) from a local pizzeria that delivers them to the square. In a tribute to the ingenuity of capitalism,the pizzeria quickly added a new item to its menu: the OccuPie special.
Where the movement falters is in its demands: It doesnt really have any. The participants pursue causes that are sometimes quixotic like the protester who calls for removing Andrew Jackson from the $20 bill because of his brutality to American Indians. So let me try to help.
Impose a financial transactions tax. This would be a modest tax on financial trades,modeled on the suggestions of Nobel laureate James Tobin. The aim is in part to dampen speculative trading that creates dangerous volatility. Europe is moving toward a financial transactions tax,but the Obama administration is resisting.
Close the carried interest and founders stock loopholes,which may be the most unconscionable tax breaks in America. They allow our wealthiest citizens to pay very low tax rates by pretending that their labour compensation is a capital gain.
Protect big banks from themselves. This means moving ahead with Basel III capital requirements and limiting their ability to engage in risky and speculative investments.
Much of the sloganeering at Occupy Wall Street is pretty silly but so is the self-righteous sloganeering of Wall Street itself. And if a ragtag band of youthful protesters can help bring a dose of accountability and equity to our financial system,more power to them.
