A Good Chart ‘Splains A Lot

Ken AshfordCorporate Greed, Occupy Wall StreetLeave a Comment

Okay, follow me on this.  It's not too difficult. We all know that there has been overall economic growth in the past two decades.  But the complaint of the OWS movement it that overall economic growth does not raise all boats of the economic stratosphere.  Conservatives, on the other hand, will try to tell you that because of trickle-down economics, when … Read More

On The Other Hand….

Ken AshfordOccupy Wall StreetLeave a Comment

My praise of the OWS site still stands, but it's this kind of nonsensical infighting – tension growing between those who want to bang their drum all day (literally) and everybody else — that's going to make OWS a bit of a laughing stock. Where do I come down on this?  Well, when I visited, the drumming circles weren't playing.  Drumming … Read More

I’m Down With OWS (Yeah, You Know Me)

Ken AshfordOccupy Wall StreetLeave a Comment

I was in NYC this past weekend, and decided to visit the folks at Occupy Wall Street to see for myself what it was all about. First of all, although I used to work in that area of Manhatten, it's been almost ten years since I've been in that part of the city.  The last time I went was in … Read More

The Demographics of OWS: Guess What? A Lot Have Jobs And A Good Income

Ken AshfordOccupy Wall StreetLeave a Comment

Turns out, they are not made up of what you think: Business analyst Harrison Schultz and professor Hector R. Cordero-Guzman from the Baruch College School of Public Affairs, today released a study based on a survey of 1,619 visitors to theoccupywallst.org site on October 5. And about a quarter of them have also attended occupation events. So they aren't all armchair … Read More

As Expected…

Ken AshfordOccupy Wall Street1 Comment

The rightosphere is full of lots of stories, marginally documented, which aim to paint the entire OWS movement.  You know what I mean… "There is a guy on Wall Street at the protesters shouting anti-Jewish slogans.  Therefore, the whole movement is anti-Zionist and probably socialist and communist as well." (Interestingly, another meme from the right is that the whole movement … Read More

The Chutzpah Of Bank of America

Ken AshfordCorporate Greed, Occupy Wall Street1 Comment

(1)  So let me get this straight.  After being bailed out by the federal government — with our tax dollars – following their gross incompetence, Bank of America wants to start charging fees for use of debit cards?  That is, they want to make customers pay for accessing their own money? By the way, Bank of America gets to use customers' money … Read More

Occupy Wall Street versus The Tea Party

Ken AshfordOccupy Wall Street, Tea PartyLeave a Comment

Favorable Opinion of Tea Party: 27% Favorable Opinion of Occupy Wall Street:  54% – National Poll by Time magazine And when you factor in disfavorability, the Occupy Wall Street folks have a huge net positive, compared to the tea party. Oddly, there are reports that Tea Party organizations are trying to distance themselves from the Occupy Wall Street movement: “The left … Read More