Perspectives of the Wall Street Protest: Priviledge Daughter versus Average Son

John worked for a company building commercial HVAC units. Over the years he determined there should be a better way to control the system output flow of the units to maximize building efficiency. He went back to school at night and learned the skills necessary to develop and build his idea into a product everyone working in the HVAC industry would want. He succeeded and continued to create innovations in the HVAC world. He continued to develop and design and later expanded into other electronics, eventually becoming a very wealthy individual. He had three kids and provided them with everything they could want. He sent them to the best Ivy league schools. His eldest daughter Pam received her MBA and was given a job leading an electronics division in her fathers' company.

Pam enjoyed being the head of the electronics division at age 29. She was committed to the division and thought about the possibilities for the future. Almost immediately, upon her graduation from business school, and being placed in charge of the division, she began to look over seas for potential locations for outsourcing manufacturing operations. She liked being in charge and enjoyed being able to use the corporate jet to fly to Europe, or other exotic tropical locations, on vacations or week long get away.

Fred, the Representative of the 21^st Congressional District, was a long time friend of the family. John assisted with Fred’s first campaign and has been a reliable donor to his subsequent campaigns over the years. Both Fred and John are extremely loyal to each other and have no problem calling each other when needing help.

Jack was an accountant in a small firm. He has been promoted once, but is happy with  his life. He has two sons who grew up like most normal children playing sports, socializing with friends while attending public school. When Mark graduated from high school he attended an average college. The college had a liberal arts program which allowed him to tailor his degree to his interests. Instead of a business, engineering, architecture or  accounting, Jack received his liberal arts degree with a minor in foreign language. After graduation he found it very difficult to find a job, let alone  secure a job making the money he needed to pay back his student loans. His degree simply did not translate into a professional job. He became very frustrated and angry that after years of study his plan in life appeared to be off track before it started.

In October, 2011, the Occupy Wall Street protests were in full force, with protests sprouting up in every major city. Jack decided one day to attend one of the protest and began to talk to other 20 something’s’ who were in the same predicament as he. Many also had large student loans and now believed they had worthless degrees.  Others had degrees in the science fields and had success only to be laid off when their jobs were outsourced to other countries. As time went on, in the small city Jack lived, the protests began to focus on Pam’s electronic division. It appeared she had been given everything in life she could want and now was planning on outsourcing the city's largest manufacturing operations over seas to save money. Anger began to grow and Pam began to receive threats.

Pam could not understand why she was the target of all the hostility. She had worked hard to get to where she was and had no intention of stopping. She believed the anger was misdirected and that the protesters were to blame for their own misery. Soon, however, things began to get violent, Pam’s car began to get struck by bottles and other objects as she arrived for work. John became very disturbed at this and called Fred, the representative of the 21^st Congressional District and demanded he take action to resolve the issue and protect his daughter. John didn’t care what Fred had to do, bring in the Marshall’s, FBI, whomever it took, but he had given Fred enough donations and now he wanted a return on his investment.

So now we have a daughter who grew up in a life of privilege refusing to give anything back, or lower her expectations in life, standing off with the Occupy-Wall Street protesters and Jack, an average American, who has a ton of debt, no real job prospects, and a degree that did not prepare him for the future. Both inherited their status in life from their fathers, neither really worked hard for what they have. Pam does not believe it is fair to have to share her wealth with the masses because it is hers. Fred, because of the benefits he received from John is forced to take Pam’s side and find a way to put the protests down. Jack points to Pam’s electronic division and blames her for his problems and does not feel it is fair that she is not forced to share her wealth with the masses. This in the conundrum we face today. From all sides, their perspectives is that the system is not fair.