A nationwide
campaign, Take on Wall Street, is putting the people back at the table for a
change.
Instead of griping about the greedheads of Wall Street and the rip-off financial system they’ve hung around our necks, why don’t we Take On Wall Street?
That’s both the name and the feisty attitude of a nationwide campaign
that a coalition of grassroots groups has launched to do just that. The
coalition, spearheaded by the Communication Workers of America, points out that
there’s nothing natural or sacred about today’s money-grubbing financial
complex.
Far from sacrosanct, the system of finance that now rules over
us has been designed by and for Wall Street speculators, money managers, and
big bank flim flammers. So — big surprise — rather than serving our common
good, the corrupt system is routinely serving their uncommon greed at everyone
else’s expense.
The Take On Wall Street campaign has the guts and gumption to
say: Enough!
Instead of you and I continuing to accept Wall Street’s plutocratic perversion of our democracy, we the people can rewrite their rules and reorder their structures so the system serves us.
For starters, the campaign has laid out a five-point people’s
reform agenda that they’re taking to the countryside to rally the voices,
anger, and grassroots power of workers, consumers, communities of color, the
poor, people of faith, and the rest of the 99 percent.
The coalition is holding information and training sessions to
spread the word, forge local coalitions, and teach people how they can get
right in the face of power to create a fair finance system that works for all.
There’s an old truism about negotiating that says: “If you’re
not at the table, you’re on the menu.” The Take On Wall Street campaign intends
to put you and me at the table for a change.
OtherWords columnist
Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker. He’s the editor
of the populist newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown. Distributed by OtherWords.org.
