The Decline of the American Dream

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On a brisk September day in 2011, in the commercial district of Manhattan Island, a minute protest in Liberty Square commenced against the fiscal atrocities committed by economic establishments leading to the financial crisis and subsequent economic recession in 2007 and 2008. Over the course of the month, the movement protesting the miscarriage of justice and democracy following the economic catastrophe and the overall inequitable and unfair wealth distribution diffused to over 100 American cities as well as 1,500 cities worldwide. The revolutionary movement was named Occupy Wall Street and through occupying and protesting the symbolic location of the financial elite, Wall Street, the crusade aimed to “[revolt] against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process.” With mass media attention domestically and internationally in the months after the initial demonstration, Occupy Wall Street acquired global reputation as the representatives of the destitute 99% protesting the fiscal tyranny of the top 1% of income earners in the United States who were “writing the rules of an unfair global economy…[and] foreclosing on [America’s] future” (“About Us”). Occupy Wall Street exposed the controversy of income inequality to the forefront of American society, public, and politics, as the issue was being widely neglected in favor of social as well as racial diversity and inequality. These issues only illustrate one dimension of the multilayered diversity in America, the social aspect. While social diversity is an integral component to the foundation of American society today, the issues of income and wealth diversity is also paramount. Income inequality and its implications can be traced to th... ... middle of paper ... ...ranscript of the Constitution of the United States.” The Charters of Freedom. Archives.gov, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. . “2012 General Election Turnout Rates.” United States Elections Project. George Mason University, 2012. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. . “2012 Presidential Race.” OpenSecrets.org. The Center for Responsive Politics, 2012. Web. 25 May 2014. . “Wealth Trends of Members of Congress.” OpenSecrets.org. The Center for Responsive Politics, n.d. Web. 25 May 2014. . Williams, Roberton. “CBO Details Growing U.S. Income Inequality.” Forbes. Forbes, 9 Dec. 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. .

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