In the three years since this photograph was taken during the
Occupy Philadelphia protests, the diagnoses of the
Occupy Movement have been proven right. This particular sign reads, "You'll be poor soon too!" and that is exactly what has been happening.
Middle-class wealth has declined: From 2011 to 2014, the bottom half of Americans lost almost half of their share of the nation's wealth and most of the top half lost ground to the richest one percent.
Infuriating.
But, there are reasons why the
system is no longer working for the 99%. If you've been following the news during the last week, then you've probably heard of the
'Cromnibus' Spending Bill. In the very last minute, a provision further weakening the
Dodd-Frank Act was slipped into the $1.1 trillion federal spending bill by Citibank lobbyists. And, as I'm writing this, I'm reading that the
Senate also passed the bill despite efforts to remove the provision by a group of senators led by
Elizabeth Warren. And [as expected], The White House
sided with the lobbyists.
Take the time to listen carefully to
Senator Elizabeth Warren's speech:
"A financial institution has become so big and so powerful that it can hold the entire country hostage".