Introduction
This research paper seeks to explore the Occupy Wall Street Movement in a bid to examine the moral and economic implications of its agenda as well as analyze them against the various business ethics theories with a view to finding which of the theories suit it best. Further, the paper shall grapple with the question as to who is responsible for the economic inequality that has necessitated the protest by the Movement and whether such inequities developed instantaneously or in a piece-meal fashion. This paper shall put forward an equitable outcome that bodes well for the capitalistic society that is the United States, and predict the future prospects of the protest Movement.
Occupy Wall Street Movement is a protest movement that was started in September 7th 2011 by a Canadian group of activists known as Adbusters and subsequently spread to other areas. The Movement began at Zuccotti Park in the financial district of New York with a number of agendas among them social and economic inequality, corruption and undue influence of the government by Wall Street corporations. Other concerns of the Movement included the absence of legal sanctions for persons involved in the global financial crisis, greed and the high student loans incurred by students in colleges. The protestors used a slogan that indicated that they were the 99% of the American people who could not be ignored by the wealthy 1% of the population.
The Occupy Wall Street Movement aimed at lowering the level of influence of financial corporations on government, seeking relief for students indebted to the government for the college loans, facilitating the creation of jobs for the unemployed as well as improving the situation of mortgage defaulters from foreclosure proceedings. It is these grievances among others that informed their slogan of 99% against 1% indicating the disparate levels of income between the protestors and the wealthy. To this end, the Movement sought to pressure the government into charging the wealthy a fair share of taxes to ensure equality, push the government into forgiving student loans, give more attention to the spiraling levels of unemployment as well as ensure banks operate within their confines.
Moral and economic implications involved in the movement
As already discussed above, the goals of the Occupy Wall Street Movement were targeted at correcting the huge economic disparities between the wealthy and the majority poor. The agenda of the protest has been hinged around the issues of economic equity and freedom from oppression and subversion. The moral issues have been centered around corruption, greed and the undue influence of corporations in the financial services industry on the government. It thus aims at remedying this inequality and balance the economic structure.
The protesters believe that the structure of the economy is shaped in such a way that it serves the purpose of perpetuating the culture of the rich with the effect of making the poor all the more poorer. They view that the wealthy exploited the economic system to get rich at the expense of them and thus seek to fight for involvement by the government so as to rectify the imbalance. As a result of the economic system, most of the 99% have been forced to bear the brunt of the recklessness of the wealthy. A system that enables some to take advantage of the majority to profit and disrupt the lives of the others is immoral. The undue influence on government by corporations in the Wall Street has led to the wealthy few to control the regulatory agencies that are supposed to regulate their own dealings. The consequence of this has been reduced control by the agencies charged with such power and thus enabled unethical practices which are responsible for the economic inequalities.
Ethical theories
There exist different business ethical theories as propounded by philosophers. The utilitarian theory is concerned with the pleasure or happiness of the greatest number of people. The theory focuses on the end result of a particular action to determine its utility. They argue that everything that is owned is only valued against the pleasure or happiness it brings. As such, if an action will lead to the greatest happiness for the majority of persons, then it is acceptable as ethical. To utilitarianists, ethics encompass doing things and behaving in ways that bring about the best future for the many. It therefore follows that even an action may be bad, but if it has a good end result for the big number of people, then it is ethical. Here, actions of a person are not judged by their intentions, however good, rather on the consequences they bring. An utilitarianist thus, when at an ethical quandary, explores their options, lists all people that will be potentially affected by his actions, weighs the pleasure obtainable form his intended action and then chooses the one action that will bring the maximum pleasure to the many persons. Applying this utilitarian theory against the Occupy Wall Street Movement, it would appear that the protesters, who allege to constitute 99% of the American people, want to see the happiness and pleasure for the greatest number. The wealthy class, which makes up only 1% of the American people, has exercised undue influence on the government and thus the clamor by the movement to remove money from the politicians. The Movement is concerned at the bludgeoning gap between the rich and the poor and calls for action to alleviate the asymmetry.
The Kantian ethical theory was propounded by Immanuel Kant and unlike utilitarianism which is concerned with the consequences of particular actions, it bases actions on reasons. Kant argued that human being distinguishes themselves from other non-human beings courtesy of their ability to have higher reason. Kantian theorists argue that in the absence of reason, it would be impossible to make value judgments and therefore the inner value of a person borrows from his ability to reason. To this end of giving regard to reason whilst determining ethical behavior, Kantians put forward two rules. One of them involves only doing things that one would endorse others in doing while faced with similar circumstances. The second rule calls for treatment of others with respect and not as tools. The first rule thus has the effect of estopping persons from lying, murdering and stealing since they would not possibly another in doing the same particular act. Since most people are at the same reasoning level, it is the case that if one would not endorse anyone in doing a particular act, then it is unethical for them to do so. Stealing, murdering or lying if done by other people has the effect of leading to distrust and putting the lives of everyone in danger. As such, this behavior is unethical according to Kantian theorists. The second limb of the rule of treating everyone with respect entails ensuring that employees agree to their employment contracts and offering good working conditions and a living wage. Applying this theory against the moral and economic implications of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, it certainly does not appear to fit within the implications brought by the Movement.
The other ethical theory advanced by philosophers is that of virtue ethics. It proffers that all persons need to act in conformity to virtues such as honesty, courage, thrift and desist from vices such as greed, dishonesty and cowardice among others. The theorists argue that ethics is all about the development of character since they enable the living of good lives. The theory seems selfish to the extent that it argues that acting virtuously enables one to live a better, more satisfied and happier life. It is alleged by the protestors of the movement that the few elite continue to take advantage of the economic system so as to derive the maximum value at the expense of the 99%. However, the clamor by protestors for the waiving of student loans will probably mean that the taxpayers, who constitute the majority of the protestors, suffer as a result of the reduced income for the government. Therefore, despite the denigration of the vices of corruption and greed propagated by the wealthy, it appears that the protestors would still be willing to engage in the same wrong actions if only they could benefit. To that extent, it would therefore seem far-fetched to suggest that the implications of the protest by the Movement would fit perfectly within this ethical theory. Consequently, the moral and economic implications of the campaign by the Occupy Movement seem to fit within the utilitarian theory.
Income inequality and wealth distribution
The disparities in income and wealth distribution experienced in the U.S can be attributed to corporations, taxation policies and technology. Corporations have consistently put the desire to make more profits ahead of the employees. This has been due to competition from other countries such as China and India which offer their products at lower prices since they pay their employees relatively lower compensation. As a result, many corporations in the U.S have resorted to outsourcing for jobs from overseas as well as adopting technology. This has in turn led to reduced jobs for the American people and lower incomes.
Similarly, the taxation policies by the government have contributed to income inequalities since they have tended to help investors by cutting on the investigation into labor disputes. This has been caused by the undue influence cited by the protestors on the government and has made it possible for the rich to exploit the low income earners. The economic inequality now being experienced has been built over time as technology advanced and as the Chinese and Indian companies made their foray into the market. Equally, the control of the economic structure by the wealthy and corporation sat the Wall Street has not been a one day affair.
Equitable outcome
It is not in doubt that the United States is a capitalistic society. Much of the grievances as raised by the protestors of the movement seem to emanate from the economic system. An equitable outcome that would bode well for our capitalistic society would be to review the tax structure so as to make it more equitable by taxing the wealthy at a higher rate in proportion to their income. Further, there need to be attempts to delink the financial corporations from the government and as such cut on their influence.
The Occupy Wall Street Movement may ultimately fade away in the long run owing to a number of factors. First, there has been a decrease in media coverage of the movement and related searches over the internet. This could possibly point to a decreasing interest in the affairs of the Movement. More importantly, it appears the bankers and corporations who are the target of the Movement fury, seem less concerned. The aims of the movement may not be accomplished since the bankers and the wealthy are not being significantly affected by the activists who are a distant far. The absence of a strong leader for the movement has also done more harm than good for the movement to the extent that it has made it difficult to have one voice, generate media interest and act as representation for the movement.
References
Beyer, J., & Nino, D. (2012). Ethics and Cultures in International Business. Journal of Management Inquiry, 34-35.
Cobbett, E., & Germain, R. (2012). "Occupy Wall Street" and IPE: Insights and Applications. Journal of Critical Globalization Studies, 110-113.
Pikkety, T., & Saez, E. (2007). Income Inequality in the United States. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1-27.
Rourke, J. T. (2011). You Decide! 2012: Current Debates in American Politics. New York: Prentice Hall.
