Current Events

You may have heard your parents talking about the Occupy Wall Street movement. What is this movement, and why are people sleeping in public parks in tents? Wall Street is an area in New York City where much of our country’s financial business takes place. Most large banks and companies have offices there. Over the past few years, the U.S. economy has been struggling. Smaller businesses have closed and people have lost their jobs. But many large businesses have earned the biggest profits ever. The people who are part of the Occupy Wall Street movement believe it is unfair for only 1 percent of the population of our country to control over 40 percent of the wealth. They call themselves the 99 percent. They decided to protest (speak out against) the large businesses that report huge profits (money made) while smaller business and families struggle. They have camped out in parks and made signs to get their messages to big businesses.
 
In a 2011 survey by the Huffington Post, half of the people protesting in New York City thought it would be helpful to reduce the taxes that all businesses pay, because it would mean they could hire new workers. Some protesters, however, believed that only small businesses should get their taxes reduced. Not all the protesters agree, but they have come together to voice their opinions on how to fix the economy. People in cities all over the United States have held similar protests. Most have been peaceful, but police have forced some groups to leave the parks and have even arrested some protesters for trespassing, breaking curfew or resisting arrest.
 

You may have heard people compare the recent economic recession (2007-2009) to the Great Depression of the 1930s. But what some people call the “Great Recession” actually had more in common with a depression in the 1890s and something called “boom and bust.”
 
In the early 1890s, the U.S. economy grew quickly (“boomed”) but couldn’t keep growing at that rate. When many companies and the housing market failed, there was an economic “bust.” The railroad industry had been booming since the end of the Civil War, but in the 1890s more than 150 railroad companies closed. Other industries that depended on the railroads closed, and many people lost their jobs. Over 500 banks closed. Thousands of unemployed men marched to Washington, D.C., in 1894 to demand that the government take action to help families. Unemployment was over 10 percent for most of the 1890s. About one of every ten people had no job.
 
In the recent recession, the housing market slumped after several “boom” years. Some automakers went out of business and others filed for bankruptcy. The economy went “bust,” just as it did in the 1890s. Hundreds of banks and thousands of businesses closed. The unemployment rate was about 8 percent-about one of every twelve people had no job. Make a chart or Venn diagram that compares these two events in history.
 

In recent years, a modern “Tea Party Movement” has spread across America. People in the group call themselves “Tea Partiers.” This group is tired of the way the U.S government is working. Tea stands for “Taxed Enough Already.” The group chose their name to make people think back to the time when colonists were upset with the British government for taxing and treating them unfairly.
 
In 2009, a group of citizens began to speak out about how the U.S. government spends tax money it collects from U.S. citizens. The Tea Partiers do not believe the government is using tax money the best possible way. The group’s goal is to help people better understand just how the U.S. government spends its citizens’ tax dollars. Tea partiers often hold meetings in various cities to make sure many people hear their opinions and ideas.
 
According to a 2010 CBS news poll, most Tea Partiers are white and 45 years of age or older. They are also more likely to be men and Republican. Also, most Tea Party supporters earn an income of $50,000 a year or more.
 
Not everyone agrees with the Tea Partiers and their ideas. In the U.S., people are always free to agree or disagree with the Tea Party—or any other group. That’s what makes America, well, America!