The Wall Street Protests Are Justified

I will argue the 1st negative. Resolved: The Wall Street Protests Are Justified. I negate said resolution and offer 2 contentions finding the Wall Street Protests unjustifiable. Firstly, the Wall Street Protests are protesting the very concept that has given them their fortune today. Secondly, the goals of the Wall Street Protests are not economically sound. Returning to my first point, the Wall Street Protests are protesting the very concept that has given them their fortune today: Capitalism. Unfortunately, the near-purity of Capitalism has been tarnished in recent years. The distinction that must be made is whether or not Capitalism is really to blame. Steve Forbes, chairman of Forbes Media and internationally recognized authority on finance and economics, contends in his book, How Capitalism Will Save Us, that capitalism is under attack today, because the line has not been drawn clearly. The protesters protest corporate greed, a flaw they believe is fundamental to capitalism's success. However, the protesters have failed to make the distinction between corporate greed and destructive government regulation. Capitalism in a purer form, Forbes contends, is not based upon greed, but rather mutual benefit. The entire reasoning behind the Occupy Wall Street Movement, to protest corporate greed, is based upon flawed logic. Corporate greed is not to blame for the financial crisis of 2008 and the sluggish economic growth of 2011; it is the massive distortions in the free market created by government-based groups (Such as Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and others) that have ultimately been the deciding factor of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Furthermore, the movement is ironically uncommitted. The protesters are supporting the very concept they are protesting against. To be complete true to the Occupy Wall Street, anti-Capitalist cause, one would have to give up everything produced as a result of Capitalism in order to be truly committed. The ironic fact of the matter is however, that absolutely everything America has today is a product of the free market and Capitalistic principles. The Occupiers protest without grasping the full picture or understanding the chain of economics. Secondly, the goals of the Wall Street Protests are not economically sound. According to Citizen. org, a rallying point for the protest, these are the goals of the movement in the United States: -Immediate Withdraw from Iraq/Afghanistan -Fix Chinese Currency Manipulation -Immigration Policy Reform, including Amnesty The Wall Street Protesters have unfortunately failed to take into the repercussions from these actions. To the Iraq/Afghanistan Goal: According to James Carafano, Deputy Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies and Director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies: It would probably be best to both defend America's interest and take care of veterans, rather than suggesting Congress chose between its Congressional responsibility of providing for the common defense and taking care of our men and women in uniform, their families and our veterans. To the Chinese Currency Argument: According to Derek Scissors, Research Fellow at the Asian Studies Center: From 2005 to 2008, China's currency rose 20% against the dollar, as many in Congress wanted, and the bilateral trade deficit rose more than 30%. In 2009, the yuan did not budget against the dollar and the bilateral trade deficit fell more than 15%. China's currency policy has little to do with the trade deficit. What does? First, the strength of American demand. A growing economy 2005-2008 drove the bilateral trade deficit higher; a shrinking economy in 2009 brought it lower. There are also a series of Chinese actions that are more important and more harmful than their currency policy. The OWS protesters are falling for a political con game. To the Immigration Reform Argument: According to James Carafano, Deputy Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies and Director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies: Encouraging people to break US immigration laws by offering them rewards is not the best way to foster respect for the rule of law and fixing our broken borders. In conclusion, because the Wall Street Movement is protesting the very principle of what has given them success, and because the goals of the Protest are not sound, I must negate Resolved: The Wall Street Protests are Justified. Thank you.