10 Years Since Occupy Wall Street: What Did We Learn?

10 years ago, Occupy Wall Street transformed American politics.

-Scrutiny of wealth inequality.
-Wide support for taxing the rich.
-Bernie’s meteoric rise.

There is plenty we can learn from Occupy's missteps, but the movement had more impact than you think.

[TheSaiyanPrincess]

I was 19 when the market crashed in 2008. I'm 32 now and nothing has changed. America is in a depressing state of affairs.

[sirknitsalot]

This is just a comment of appreciation to keep the algorithmic wheels moving.

I *really* appreciate your work.

[angrypanda]

Thank you, Mr. Reich. I wish we could clone you a million times! We need your intelligence and integrity in our government and everywhere. You are indeed a national treasure.

[SIMKINETICS]

The problem that's addressed far too infrequently is that the battle against oligarchs needs to be *GLOBAL!* American workers will continue to compete against slave labor without representation throughout the world. Unionization needs to be taken world-wide!

[mydogdeli]

Thank you Robert Reich. Excellent analysis of the inevitable demise of the occupy movement. Bless you and please keep posting your commentary. America needs you now more than ever and you are an inspiration.

[rmartin]

The political process, as the research by professors Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page underscores, no longer advances the interests of the average citizen. It has turned the consent of the governed into a cruel joke. “The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence.” This facade of democratic process eviscerates one of the primary social bonds in a democratic state and abolishes the vital shared belief that citizens have the power to govern themselves, that government exists to promote and protect their rights and interests.

The economic structures, like the political structures, have been reconfigured to mock the belief in a meritocracy and that hard work leads to a productive and valued role in society. American productivity, as The New York Times pointed out, has increased 77 percent since 1973 but hourly pay has grown only 12 percent. If the federal minimum wage was attached to productivity, the newspaper wrote, it would be more than $20 an hour now, not $7.25. Some 41.7 million workers, a third of the workforce, earn less than $12 an hour, and most of them do not have access to employer-sponsored health insurance. A decade after the 2008 financial meltdown, the Times wrote, the average middle class family’s net worth is more than $40, 000 below what it was in 2007. The net worth of black families is down 40 percent, and for Latino families the figure has dropped 46 percent.

The economic disparity and political dysfunction have been exacerbated by the collapse of the judicial system, as Matt Taibbi writes in his book “The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap.” There is aggressive criminalization of the poor while the ruling elites are protected by high-priced lawyers and non-enforcement or rewriting of laws. Amid selective enforcement of laws in the ruleless society, the high rollers on Wall Street and in wealthy enclaves are not prosecuted for possessing and ingesting illegal drugs but the poor are thrown into prison and must forfeit all their property for being caught with small amounts of the same drugs. HSBC, the world’s seventh largest bank by total assets, after admitting to laundering $800 million for Central and South American drug cartels, was slapped with largely symbolic fines and a deferred prosecution agreement, which is the legal equivalent of a get-out-of-jail-free card. The poor, meanwhile, are hounded, arrested and fined for absurdly criminalized activities such as not mowing their lawns, loitering, selling loose cigarettes, carrying open containers of alcohol or “obstructing pedestrian traffic”—which means standing on a sidewalk. These fines are used to fill state and county budget shortfalls resulting from corporations and the wealthy fixing the rules to avoid paying meaningful taxes, if they pay taxes at all. This virtual tax boycott by the rich has broken yet another social bond, the idea that everyone contributes a significant portion of his or her income to make the society function.

The elites, who sacrifice nothing for society and are not held accountable for their criminal behavior, live in what Taibbi calls a “stateless archipelago.” They are empowered to pillage the nation, amass obscene wealth and wield unchecked political and legal control. The result has been the obliteration of the primary social bonds that, however biased in favor of the white majority, held the nation together.

[cynthiahofer]

We must take corporate money out of politics! Surely someone is writing a law to change how donations are made.

[johnnkalaras]

Keep up the great work you are doing professor. God bless you!

[lawyer]

Occupy Wall Street was inspirational, but didn’t inspire Democratic politicians to enact public financing of our political campaigns because they apparently like selling their souls for the easy money. Campaign-finance reform would have accomplished far more good than Obamacare.

[drumshark]

A man of his age using the word 'meme' correctly lets you know he's got his ear to the ground and actually listens to people.

[coleengoodell]

It's still happening I believe even more so since the pandemic brought to a glaring light the inequality that is undeniable. I have been hearing and reading more about these very issues lately than I have in the past 10 years.

[letosgoldenpath]

Isn't the real question "What we didn't learn?"

[pvw]

We need more Elizabeth Warren, more AOC, more Katy Porter, less Mancin & Sinema.

[rgruenhaus]

Except that government sees their revenue coming from corporations actions and not what worker taxpaying does! And as long as politicians aren't independent of corporations we won't get change!

[pragmaticpolitics]

Robert Reich is an OG of the progressive movement.

[stuartsoll]

Occupy needs to start up again and get the backing of the Unions.

[ryarod]

I had wondered if anybody remembers this. That anyone does and is talking about it impresses.

That you have been fighting at least since then impresses acutely. Credit to you, Robert Reich.

[ili]

These are great points. Why can’t we improve on Occupy and resume an evolved form of it?

[DougGrinbergs]

Occupy helped pave the way for Bernie, AOC, Sunrise Movement

[benharriston]

dont forget to like share and donate if you can...i like what robert has to say