All of this started supposedly on September 17, 2011 but actually we have to take into account the rest of the world.  The OWS is just the continuation of a cancer that started in the 3rd world countries with the intervention of the IMF and the forceful imposition of its redemption packages. The very same banks that caused the financial crisis that started on 2000 (the press says it started on 2007) were the responsible for the collapse of many nations like Argentina, Ecuador, Japan and many many more.

Sooner of later this sickness had to come home with such a dramatic impact.  Reviewing all the evidence, the origin in the US would be with the presidency of Ronald Reagan.  Reagan handed the country to the service of the supper rich.  Just taking a look to the salaries of workers, these have not increased ever since.  Nowadays, the upper 1% of the people in the US takes in nearly a quarter of the nation‘s income. All the growth that has occurred in our country over the last decade or more has gone to the upper 1%. Much of the wealth of this 1% comes from investments in political capital in Washington [Vanity Fair May 2011] The average American worker was taking home $752 a week in late 2010 while the median pay for top executives at 200 big companies last year was $10.8 million. In fact, the gap between chief executive compensation and average US worker pay rose from a ratio of 263 to 1 in 2009 to 325 to 1 on 2010. [Washington Post Aug 31st 2011] It is estimated that 400 US Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined. This exclusive group benefited directly or indirectly from the multi-trillion bailout in 2008, and now they have more cash, stock and property than the assets of 155 million Americans combined.  Globally, the richest 2% owns more than half the household wealth in the entire world and the richest 10% holds 85% of total.

All the info is taken from the book “Confrontational Poetry”

As I have read, protesters against the current financial chaos are being harassed and arrested worldwide. It seems that a bunch of greedy speculators can bring the world on the brink of collapse to get away with it. As far as I know, these speculators are out and about and they haven’t been taken to court. They are also multimillionaires, owing villas, jets, yachts and all what money can buy. Worldwide, millions of people are losing their jobs, homes, etc. But this doesn’t seem to matter to those who rule the world.

On Saturday 15, millions of people took into the streets to protest against the present situation of soaring unemployment everywhere and people becoming homeless. It was a global call for a global change. I found it great that while I was taking part in the demonstration in my home town, others were doing the same in other parts of the globe. We are people. We are not mere puppets that can be handled as the financial markets wish.

It is an insult to all of us suffering from the consequences of the financial chaos to see that while millions are losing everything, a minority are living in sheer luxury.

Governments say that to pay their debts, they have to cut down on expenditure in every country. But these wild cuts are always to affect working people.

If, for instance, they cut down on the budget for education, it will be working people to suffer most. The rich can afford to pay for private schools and universities for their children.

After World War Second, a national health service was created in many countries of Western Europe. If it hadn’t done so, half of the population would have died. Now, they tell us that they have to reduce the expenditure on the health service. Who is going to suffer most? Obviously, those people who can’t afford private health care.

Working people need three basic things to be able to live with dignity, that is, housing, education and health care. If they take this from anyone of us, we are reduced to nothing.

The so called financial markets should already know that if people lose their jobs by millions everywhere, they won’t be able to consume any goods. Therefore, the consumers society will collapse and the system is mainly based on mass consume.

Manual labor means working with hands or physical work. People consider it below their dignity to work with their hands, and elite avoids to do any kind of physical labor , they think that they are born to do mental work and rule over the working class.

Physical labor was believed to be something shameful in Europe as well, but the situation has changed now, due to industrial and commercial revolution in European countries, this revolution brought change in the attitude of people towards manual labor, more and more people tuned to cottage industry, and factory owners felt great demand for laborers. Skilled workers, tradesmen and workers got honorable place now, and they got more and more importance. Great scholar who believed in the dignity of man also preached to respect the working classes. Labor organization and their leader also organized the labor and succeeded in getting right honorable place and rights for them.

Education has realized the importance and dignity of labor, to people. Without hardworking development of nation cannot be achieved, and country cannot make progress unless its workers are efficient and hardworking, and they can work hard only if they are respected and honored, so people must respect them. Working in factories, shops business concerns and construction companies must not be consider below dignity.

When going on facebook,I see people angry at our president and thinking he isnt doing a good job.well personaly  i really dont see him as the problem.our problem is with congress.Do we really belive that they understand whats going on out here,really.lets look at this logicly does a person who spends a 100.00 on lunch really understand or care for that matter about the mother of 4 spending 5.00 on a package of hamburger to feed her family and hoping there will be enough left to send at least a sandwhich with her husband for work.these people cant even balance their own budget,but were trusting them with ours.is it just me or is it nuts.My family and i are the newest class of americans and we are called the working poor,what is the working poor you might ask,well its pretty simple,were the ones that have jobs that barely pay us enough to live on,yet we make to much to get help with foodstamps,free healthcare or any of those benifits. were the ones that uncle sam takes his money first and then gives us the change.

when i was growing up i belived that there was the rich,middle class and the poor.now that im older and wiser i can see that there truely is the rich,the working poor and the homeless.and the only thing that seperates us from the homeless is 2 paychecks,not a very secure safty net.but we get told everyday how congress has our backs and are working on it.so here is how i see their job preformance and i will apoligize up front if i start sounding like im rambling but i feel these veiws need to be put out there.First of all lets discuss all these wars were involved with,do any of us really know what were still doing there,i know we get told that were assisting on these countries people to get the same freedoms that we have,so we keep sending money and soldiers over and the battles go on and on.I personaly think we should pull out of all of them and put the money back into our own mess.I look at these countries as misbehaving childern,if  your child is misbehaving all the time but you keep bailing them out of trouble they never learn to stand on their own.well to me were doing the same thing with these countries,they know that the more uproar and chaos they create the faster and longer we will be there.what if we just let them take care of their own mess.okay i know innocent people will die,but thats happening already,how many times have you watched on the news them protesting us being there.

i am not sure which idiots think we can help our own economy by giving our money away,but congress seems to think it works.hey congress i have a great idea,how pulling out of all the wars and taking that money and giving every american citizen a clean slate,let us have the chance to rebuild our own situation.that would stimulate the economy get jobs back and take some pressure off our backs.or a another example of congress having our backs is with fuel prices,when they are asked about it,we get told that the market is nervous over the wars and were protecting what we have in reserve,so the prices go higher and higher.yet at the same time these fuel companeys are getting the biggest tax breaks,I want to know tax breaks for what is it for poisoning our oceans or robbing us at the pump,and now might as well bring up their wonderful heathcare plan,they are trying to force everyone to get health insurance,which some us have through employment but after paying the deductable if your going to use it it better be somthing real important because you just dipped into the grocery budget so you could afford to see the dr.and then if you were like my family,you had a portion of your paycheck taken out for a benny card so that you could make sure that there was money for cough medicence and asprin and such.but then congress decided we dont

need to be using it that way,so now you have to go to the dr and get a prescription for the same thing we use to buy over the counter.what part of we cant afford the dr.bill are they not understanding.A friend of ours gave us an good example of the new system,here he has insurance through  his employer but when he went in to see about getting tested for heart disease,he was imformed that he would be required to bring in 2.000.before the test could be done.really who has 2000 just laying around.I guess congress does or why else would they think this was a good idea.

come on people ,we got the rich fat cats,playing our goverment like puppets,maybe its time to shut down the geriatrics unit in congress and get some new blood and fresh ideas in there,enough already.

The gap between the rich and the poor has changed tremendously throughout the decades. Since labour came to power in 1997, hundreds of thousands of people have been lifted out of poverty but most measures of inequality have remained stubbornly high. (E.S.R.C 2007) The rich have got richer and the poor poorer. In the 80’s the gap between rich and poor grew 60 percent and that was the largest increase to date. The upper classes have gained even more power over the lower classes with their burst of wealth making social mobility practically impossible. How can people be expected to climb the social ladder when the top is so far out of sight? The social class you are born into is now seen as something you will never escape. It’s a huge hinder in society but statistics show that a high amount of children will never escape their parents social class and the few that possess that ability to claw their way up the social ladder will never reach the end of the race with the gap between the lower and upper class ever-growing. The rise in wealth with the upper class has provided much stigma. If the classes are defined by wealth and power how can someone truly move up? Getting a well-paid career is something that a lot of us wont even be able to achieve before we die because the only people that are able to afford the rising university fees are indeed the upper class. Society would be lying to itself if it didn’t believe that the children that come from top universities and private schools are going to get the jobs. However even getting on that career path you of course have to start at the bottom and this now means even willing to work for free on un-paid internships but of course this choice again favours the better off. (BBC Iplayer, Who Gets The Best Jobs)

Not everyone agrees that social class is relevant in Britain anymore. Infact such theorists as Pakulski and Waters believe that it has evaporated all together as seen when they publicised their book ‘Death of Social Class.’ They both argue that the bottom class and long-term employed are making a lifestyle choice to remain that way and it is due to their attitude and lack of motivation. Pakulski and Waters even quoted that it is the underclass’s ‘inability to consume’ that keeps them strapped to the bottom classes. Rather than looking at the structural causes of the unfair distribution of wealth and occupations they blame the individual. They argue that we are infact much more socially mobile than we ever were and are able to move up the stratification table without problem. Presuming that people ditch their poor and lazy attitudes of course. According to Pakulski and Waters because of this increase in social mobility a vast amount of people have gained wealth and so the class boundaries are blurred. This means that we are no longer able to completely define the different social classes as the redistribution of wealth has made us more equal. Can this really be true though? How can society be deemed as equal when the gap between the bottom and upper class has risen so much? No one could make the choice to remain in the lower class if moving up the social ladder has become so easy. In order for the class boundaries to be blurred people have to understand what each class entails like the different lifestyle and income that needs to be achieved to really gain social mobility. Though Ray Phal argued that we tend to only understand and make comparisons with those whose power and wealth we can relate to. Yet this cant really be achieved because the rich and poor are enormously separated.

Marx’s theories on social class postulate that the owners or the means of production exploit those who produce goods and services, while the working class become alienated consumers. Unlike Kapulski and Waters who address the individual some believe that the economy is infact to blame. After all a classless society would represent a social order without an economic base. (http://www.britannica.com/ 17/02/2011) Karl Marx wrote a lot of theories about the stratification of society into different classes, the ruling class, the proletariat class and the bourgeoisie. He argued that the economic base of society has enormous impact on the shape of all aspects of culture and social structure. Marx felt that social conflict or class struggle made revolution inevitable as the working-class continued to be trapped with only the key to the means of subsistence, never ownership of the means of production. He believed there would always be a struggle between those who are able to produce the wealth and those that are not. Marxists say that for a class to truly exist it must be ‘for itself’ which pits the classes in constant competition with each other. Max Weber however did accept that society starts with the means to production but he also believed that social class needs more and is based on ownership of property and wealth, market position and then status and power. Both theorists believe that social class still and needs to exist but their views on why they exist and how you can really title someone into the social classes clearly differentiate. There are just so many factors now that maybe it can be argued that the class lines are blurring. The reasoning behind social class doesn’t just fall down onto one factor anymore. It isn’t just wealth or power. It is to hard to pin point the attributes you should possess when belonging to either the lower, middle or upper class. Rather than blaming the individual or economics class can now be to do with your lifestyle choice and leisure pursuits. Whether you conform to the lavish balls and hunting of the upper classes or drinks down the local pub and paintballing of the lower classes.

On one hand you have the belief that class does not exist anymore and those that are bottom class are there through choice. They stay there because they do not possess the inner qualities to want or even be able to move up the social ladder. However it is obvious now more than ever in Britain that social class still exists and is incredibly important. In contrast to this though peoples understanding and care for social class has dropped across the decades. This goes back to Ray Phal. The gap between rich and poor has grown so large that we are now completely unable to draw a comparison with the upper class creating the illusion that they are ‘untouchable.’ In our minds maybe social class has died. We may not want to really open our eyes to how the ‘other half’ live because then we would really see just how slighted we are in comparison to the upper class. However with the increasing separation of the lower and upper class it has become harder to differentiate between the bottom class and middle class. Does the middle class still exist anymore? This is where Pakulski and Water’s argument can maybe hold some validation to it. The class boundaries certainly are blurring. At least between the bottom and middle class they are. The upper class has taken off so much that it is even hard for the middle class to be able to draw a comparison. However there definitely isn’t a sense of fair wealth distribution. Infact this couldn’t be further from the truth. The poor are poor and the rich are ridiculously rich and it has become very hard for the bottom classes to change their situation. With so much of society relying on having vast amounts of money needed for gaining the best education or career. The essentials that are needed to better yourself and maybe savour some hope of climbing the social ladder are almost impossible to gain without the initial foundation of wealth which the lower class just do not have. It is because of this that people are quick to accept their fate and live their life that way. This does make it hard to fall on one side of the argument because though Pakulski and Waters blamed their argument entirely on the attitude of the individual maybe they were not completely wrong. Surely it is down to the individual to not become just another conformist who accepts their fate. Have we truly become so uncaring of social class that we are not willing to at least try to see if we can work our way through the layers? Social class is still infact incredibly relevant in Britain and is segregating the rich from poor in society with so many factors separating us and stopping us from moving through the social classes; economy, power, wealth, lifestyle, ownership but as well which should be recognised is our very own ignorance.

She then proceeded to ask me, “Do you know the Latin form?” Again, yes I do but what possible relevance does it have to small-talk or the sales transaction taking place? I wistfully replied, “Cogito ergo sum.” To which I received the shriek of “No! It’s ‘co-jee-to ergo sum!” This woman genuinely believed she was my better because she had a pronunciation advantage over me, picking me up on the DICTIONARY word and accepted colloquialism that is: “Yeah” and other similar pernickety, pedantic ramblings.

Now, that was just a personal experience, I understand, but I believe it to be representative of the way some people think. Because I have a slightly northern accent and she speaks the “Queen’s” English, she genuinely believed me to be some uneducated slob that she had a right to look down upon. That’s the first time I had ever genuinely seen that form of snobbery upfront and directed towards myself. I just couldn’t believe that people still actually think like that. Are the select few *so* closed off to the world that they truly and honestly believe such drivel.

I came from what statistics would call a “middle class” family, but I suppose I am lucky in that my parents were brought up working class to break into the middle class through education and hard work. I’ve been brought up to assume all people equal, regardless of background; I have working class friends and friends with some obscene amount of money, living in huge manor houses. They’re all just people and should be judged by their kindness and personality, not their bank statement.

A related point to mention would be to mention that there is a belief that there is no longer a “working class” in Britain. I can see where that statement has come from with the affordability of certain luxuries these days for example, but don’t insult those who keep the country going. The working class exists and, as far as I’m concerned, they are of more practical value to the country than the upper class. That is a fact. It makes them no better or worse as individuals, socially speaking however. An important distinction to make.

I just ask everyone to judge people on facts, not perceived ideas. If class has an impact on who you make friends with, then I hope you’ll be happy living in your ivory towers, alone. It takes all sorts to make a world. It might be a better, more welcoming place without you.

Shall I begin by pointing out that Mr. Boss Man confused loyalty for desperation, the ends to a means, the I-don’t-have-anywhere-to-go-so-I-will stay, and the ‘this is all I know’.  He should have seen the signs when everyone became “Yes Men” or often said, “of course Sir, I totally agree with you”, blinded by all the buttock kissing was he, that he failed to acknowledge those sitting behind the scenes doing all the dirty work and doing it honestly and without complaining because they were there by choice and not because they had no where else to go. He did not acknowledge the Joe’s, Maria’s, Peter’s, Lucas, or even the Janet’s and Carmen because they were hidden in the back somewhere working like dogs and getting paid scraps.

So when Mr. Boss Man walks in and gets the smiles and yes sir and thank you sir and whatever you say sir, doesn’t he wonder why he has so many people grinning and agreeing with everything he says? Why was he upset when Sara did not agree with him and stood her ground and asked him if he preferred for her to agree with him because that was what he expected. Why did he flinch at the thought that one unimportant employee would dare disagree with him? Was he so blinded by the conniving selfish people he thought where loyal but laughed behind his back that he did not recognize when someone was being a true and honest individual? I guess not.

So then he begins to lose one and then two and three good workers who although sit in the background did enough to get his product shipped and out the door as he always promised the clients. Did he notice the lack of heat or air conditioning in the back offices or the fact there was no water supply to keep them cool during those hot summer days when he sat comfortably in his cool air conditioned room? No. The man was clueless and he did not notice because the numbers kept climbing and that meant business was growing.

Mr. Boss Man, you fool yourself sitting in your ivory tower while others do all the work and slave away to make you look good, to make you a nice profit which by the way you don’t share with the true worker’s and yet you have the nerve to wonder why those ingrates, as you call them, decided to quit.  Well, take a good look in the mirror of your spotless restroom, which by the way was cleaned by one of the ingrates, and when you look at yourself you may want to ask why your empire is falling apart.

Do not be deceived by those who you have kept around for years on end either because you owe them, they know more about you than you wish they did or because you feel it’s loyalty. 

Wake up Mr. Boss Man, there is no loyalty in business..it’s not personal either..remember, every woman and man for himself and once they get what they want they will soon turn their backs on you and leave you in your ivory tower by your lonesome with your so called numbers which will eventually begin to fall.

And what did you learn from it all? Nothing at all because you are too busy trying to figure out why those ungrateful fools left you and your empire which was built on most likely lies.

The Boss Man cometh and so does the wrath of those wronged without deserving it.

Such is life.

The most fundamental difference between middle class and working class is seen in the type of occupations chosen by its members. In a nutshell, the middle class work with the brains and the working class work with their hands. For instance, members of the middle class are likely to have professions like doctor, dentist, teacher, manager or accountant. Members of the working class on the other hand are more likely to have jobs such as gardener, factory worker, electrician or truck driver. Generally speaking middle class occupations require greater training – often years of university study. Working class jobs are often unskilled, semiskilled or have been learnt through on the job training such as by an apprenticeship. Another point is that middle class people will more highly value secure occupations than will the working class.

The differences between occupations of the two classes is reflected in their salary. Generally speaking middle class occupations are more highly paid than working class jobs. The reason for this is the higher degree of training or education required for most middle class occupations. However it should be borne in mind that some tradespeople, although definitely working class, are still well paid, particularly if they have their own business. Middle class people are also more likely to save their money for the future, not only because they have more disposable income, but because they more fully embrace the concept of delayed gratification. A working class person on the other hand is more likely to spend all their money as soon as it is earned.

An enormous difference between the two major classes is their attitude towards education. Middle class people highly value education, and begin promoting its value to their children at a very young age. For instance, middle class people will generally teach their child to read before reaching school age. As the child progresses through school the parents will promote education to their child by encouraging reading, homework and extra-curricular activities. It is the dream of every middle class parent for their children to receive a tertiary degree. Working class people on the other hand do not value education in the same way, and their children are more likely to drop out of school early. The middle class preoccupation with education of course helps explain why they are more likely to enter high paying professions.

Intelligence varies between the classes. Middle class people are more intelligent than working class people. Of course, this is largely because intelligence is mostly inherited. Intelligent middle class people are more likely to give birth to intelligent middle class children. But it is also because intelligence affects your mobility between the classes. For instance, if middle class parents give birth to a child with reduced intelligence, that child is less likely to complete tertiary education and therefore is more likely to end up with a working class job.

Middle class people are also better looking than working class people. While this at first seems an unlikely truth, consider how looks affect social mobility. For instance, a girl born to working class parents who is particularly good looking is more likely to land a husband with a high paying occupation. She will therefore become middle class, and will give birth to middle class children, who will inherit her good looks.

Of course, middle class people live in suburbs that are more expensive and are generally regarded as being ‘better’. They may be more likely to be near the ocean for instance. Desire for a middle class suburb is often a desire not to be neighbors with working class people. Middle class people are also more likely to desire to own their own home.

Working class people, particularly males, choose cars that are characteristic of their class. They are more likely to choose ‘muscle cars’ or cars that represent the working class, such as pickup vans or utilities.

Middle class people are more concerned about their health than are working class people. For instance, working class people are more likely to smoke. This is partly a function of education. The lack of education seen in working class people means that many do not know how to properly care for their health, for instance by not smoking, eating a healthy diet or exercising. Working class people are also more likely to drink alcohol excessively.

Working class people are more likely to commit crimes, including crimes of violence such as domestic violence and road rage. This is partly because of excessive alcohol use, but also because they lack the social training that has been instilled into middle class people from an early age.

Of course, a simple way to gauge whether a person is middle class or working class is to listen to them speak. Intelligence and education are of course reflected in the way a person speaks. But also listen for incorrect use of language, lack of manners or unnecessary swearing. These are characteristics of the working class.

He believed that those who owned the largest plot of fertile land are what also run the society because they are the source of food.

Land owners can fend off the “bourgeoisie” or the merchants and the rich and keep them in check. This way the product of the land and of the factory stay within the country and the country thrives more off of its own product rather than exporting which only ends up paying for the government which goes on to hurt the populous.

Marx also thought that laws were only made to keep the populous in lower power than the cowardly king or leader.

He believed capitalism was based on always owning the newest things, in which case the society is constantly changing rather than focusing on important issues. The need to buy new products, enslaves the citizen to the capitalist society by making them thing they cannot live without the newest product.

Marx believed loving the enemy was necessary. Loving capitalism is the stepping stone to communism.  He thought it as a time bomb that would allow for the perfect communist society. “Capitalism sews the seed of its own destruction.”

Factory workers on assembly lines are tightly knight and can unite together to fight for change. When a C.e.o lays off a useful  talent, the workers can fight for what they believe in through their anger. They can cause change by spreading word through the grape vine.

Military works the same way. Military can unite against government efficiently.

As the domino effect continues, Marx believed that the entire world could strive toward communism.

Marx believed that if the entire world worked equally then the whole world could share a food supply and all of its resources; eliminating the reason for war.

Marx thought this process would happen fast, though capitalism didn’t work out to be as nasty as he thought, as the capitalist nations created good things such as worker benefits and trade unions.

Hope this helps!

Happy learning/studying

-Mickey

Want the first part of this guide? Here it is!

http://socyberty.com/economics/study-notes-on-communism-and-karl-marx/