Occupy Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street

Introduction

“Occupy Wall Street” is a movement of resistance without a leader, consisting of people from different regions, races, and political influences. The one thing they all have in common is that they are the 99% that will no more abide the gluttony and dishonesty of the 1%. They are adopting the radical Arab Spring approach to attain their ends and support the use of peacefulness to capitalize on the protection of all partakers. The movement has been strengthened by the support given by the unions, which marched with the protesters in the large demonstration that took place in New York on October.

Discussion

Discuss the moral and economic implications involved in the movement.

The moral implication of this movement is the social inequality and injustice that prevails in the country. People want the government and other officials to make sure that they work in a manner that will help to reduce and eliminate these two discriminatory factors from the society. The economic implications of this movement are the income inequality, corruption that exists in the country and the biasness that is present in all walks of life (Engler, 2011). The main slogan of the movement, 'We are 99%' shows that the main issue is the discrimination that people encounter in their daily lives. This percentage represents the people who are unable to earn less and who are unable to afford certain things in life.



Analyze each of the implications identified above against the Utilitarian, Kantian and virtue ethics to determine which theory best applies to the movement. Support your position with examples and evidence.

According to utilitarianism, things that can maximise happiness and benefit the society as a whole should be implemented. Discrimination does not bring overall happiness and is the real cause behind the frustration and anger of the people who have started this movement. Injustice, biasness and corruption are the main reasons why this movement started and shows that these can certainly not bring any happiness to the overall society (Janet , 2012). According to the Kantian ethics, an action will be in the best favour of the people if it is performed out of duty instead of practical need or desire. This movement was started by the people because it was their need and desire, which means that this theory does not apply to the Occupy Wall Street movement. According to virtue ethics, the character of the person describes whether the action is right or wrong. The same action maybe right if done by one person and it can be bad if done by another person. In this case, it is difficult to judge the movement on this basis because there are a number of people involved in this; therefore, judging them will be impossible. According to the explanations with respect to the different ethics, it can be said that utilitarianism is the best theory that applies to this movement.

Determine who is responsible for income inequality and wealth distribution in the U.S. In your analysis, make sure to ...