Occupy Wall Street (OWS) vs The Tea Party: Why Occupy Wall Street is not the same
The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protests have already drawn comparisons to the Tea Party. Is it fair to compare these two? No! The Occupy Wall Street protestors are angry for the right reasons (and have racked up impressive endorsements from people like Suze Orman and Howard Buffett and whereas the Tea Party is angry over their misguided notion of taxes and government. Both claims to want “take the power back.” But whereas the Tea Party has a simplistic “taxes and government are the problem” mantra we often see coming from the angry right, the Occupy Wall Street protesters realize that it’s corporate special interests that have filled the political power vacuum (a vacuum that exists largely because everyday people either haven’t participated in the Democratic process or, like the Tea Party, allow themselves to be blindly led by said corporate interests and unwittingly act against their own best interests). Whereas the Tea Party protests appear to be an 8-5 affair where protestors hold up signs (often racist) and speak out against government then go home (and enjoy their social security and Medicare benefits), the OWS movement appears to be a 24/7 affair, with protesters camping in public areas in financial districts.
As this Occupy Wall Street Protester articulates (Fox News conveniently failed to air this):
Occupy Wall Street vs Tea Party: The Politics
Occupy Wall Street is comprised predominantly of political independents (70%), who are young and educated. The Tea Party is predominantly comprised of Republicans (66%) who are older and wealthier and have favorable views of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and George W Bush. Tea party members are also likelier than the average citizen to believe that too much is made of problems facing African Americans and that Obama was not born in the United States.
Click thumbnail for entire graphic
Occupy Wall Street: Angry for the right reasons
Occupy Wall Street protestors are angry that the wealth has gone to the top 1%, and that corporations have gotten richer while the average American has seen less and less fruits from their own labor. Well, they’re right.
Most of the wealth over the last few decades has coagulated at the very top as taxes on the rich have been lowered and union-busting has largely dismantled unions and their ability to fight for living wages for workers.
Likewise, the lowering of corporate taxes has only met with more hoarding of wealth.
And this disparity between the rich and everyone else is far more prevalent here in the United States than in other industrialized nations.
The Tea Party: Angry for the wrong reasons.
The Tea Party is angry about taxes and the size of government. Unfortunately, a study by Forbes shows they are grossly misinformed on both subjects.
Both taxes and government are smaller in the US than in other nations.
Click to Enlarge
And in fact, economic mobility has fallen behind in the US. The “American Dream” of transcending the socioeconomic status one was born into seems to have moved to Europe (see full report (PDF)).
Here is a comparison of debt as a percentage of GDP for many of the nations above. As you can see, there it’s difficult to argue that they are somehow worse off than the US financially.
They are angry at the sudden rise in taxes. But in fact, Obama has actually enacted more tax cuts than Bush so far.
Naturally the Tea Party is angry about the debt: but the debt is a result from lost revenues from the Bush tax cuts and the economic downturn.
Click to Enlarge
The Boston Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street and the modern Tea Party Movement
Many have criticized the Occupy Wall Street protestors for engaging in disruptive behavior. But it would seem to me that we generally have no qualms with the fact that The Boston Tea Party itself was vastly “more illegal” according to British Law. Whereas the Tea Party protestors appear to show up, protest against government, then drive home on public roads, OWS protestors are camping out–24/7.
Boring stuff aside, here are some more comparisons.
Further Reading
- 15 Mind-Blowing Facts About Wealth And Inequality In America
- Wealth Disparities in U.S. Approaching 1920s Levels
- Wealth, Income, and Power
- The United States of Inequality
- It’s the Inequality, Stupid
- “The Tea Party: a Movement Running Out of Steam!”
- Tea Party Holds Rally At State House, Only 30 Folks Show Up
- Everything The Media Told You About Occupy Wall Street Is Wrong
