This is an article that I wrote that was originally published in n+1 ‘s fourth issue of the Occupy! gazette

When some people think about Wall Street, they conjure up images of traders
shouting on the stock exchange, of bankers dining at five-star restaurants, of
CEOs whispering in the ears of captured Congress members.

When I think about Wall Street, I think about its stunted rainbow of pale
pastel shirts. I think about the vaulting, highly secured, and very cold lobbies.
And I think about the art passed daily by the harried workers, virtually unseen.

Before I occupied Wall Street, Wall Street occupied me. What started as a
summer internship led to a seven-year career. During my time on Wall Street, I
changed from a curious college student full of hope for my future, into a cynical, bitter, depressed, and exhausted “knowledge worker” who felt that everyone was out to screw me over.

The culture of Wall Street is pervasive and contagious. While there are Wall
Street employees who are able to ignore it, or block it out, I was not one of
them. I drank the Kool Aid. I’m out of it now. But I’d like to tell you what it was
like.

+ + +

When you are wealthy and successful, you have a choice. You can believe your
success stems from luck and privilege, or you can believe it stems from hard
work. Very few people like to view their success as a matter of luck. And so,
perhaps understandably, most people on Wall Street believe they have earned
their jobs, and the money that follows.

While there are many on Wall Street who come from wealthy backgrounds,
there are also many people from very humble backgrounds. In my experience,
it is often those who do not come from privilege who are the system’s fiercest
defenders.

When I was a summer intern, Read more »

I have been busy. I have been actively involved with the Occupy Wall Street protests, in a number of Caucus and Movement groups (including Occupy the SEC which is a part of the Alternative Banking group). I’m long overdue to post to tell you about how I feel like a lawyer these days as I comb through The Volcker Rule text looking for loopholes the banks will use.

But today, I march in solidarity with my fellow protestors at Foley Square at 5pm in New York City. If you are in NY, I urge you to come out. I know many of my friends have been wary to join in. They question the efficacy, they question the tactics, they question the point.

The point is simple: unlimited campaign donations by corporations is free speech, per the Citizens United Supreme Court Case. But tents in a park is not free speech. Instead, it requires a military-style show of force at a time when our city is ostensibly unable to afford anything. And now I am hearing that Brookfield Properties who owns the park is not even allowing signs into the park. Free speech, indeed?

Here is an excellent video of the scene at the night of the eviction, set to Frank Sinatra:

I used to work on Wall Street, so I do think I have a sense of what is good and what is bad (and what is egregious) there. I do think that marching on the NYSE is not the best strategic move. The NYSE is a public, transparent exchange where listed products trade. This is not a warehouse of opaque CDOs that trade Over-the-counter in numbers no one knows and, per the 2000 “Commodity Futures Modernization Act” no one could regulate.

But the movement overall has shone a light on a fact Wall Street wished we’d simply forget: that they are not playing by “free market” rules, though they expect us to.

Yves Smith of the excellent blog Naked Capitalism put it best here:

I lost all sympathy with the executives and producers of major banks in 2009. Here, after having gotten massive, hugely visible rescues, and continuing support in the way of super low interest rates (a massive transfer from savers), they did not do the right thing, which was to lay low for a couple of years, cut pay, and rebuild their balance sheets. Instead, banks fell all over themselves to repay the TARP simply to escape its think restrictions on executive pay, and Wall Street bonuses in 2009 and 2010 exceeded the 2007 record.

As we’ve argued, banks, particularly in this era of extraordinary support (rock bottom interest rates, regulatory forbearance, underpriced insurance schemes) enjoy far more government support than any other industry, including defense contractors. They can’t properly be considered to be private companies. They are utilities and need to be regulated as such. And if they won’t rein in pay levels on their own, it should include restrictions on pay.

And so, today at 5pm I will march on Foley Square. If you have been on the sidelines up until now, come join us today. Come see what we are up against. And come feel your heart soar, as mine has, as you stand side-by-side with a community of people who are finally getting out from behind their laptops and into the streets to make lasting change that’s been so long overdue.