Occupy movement shifts to Staunton

STAUNTON – Transition Staunton Augusta co-founder Erik Curren led an information session in conjunction with Occupy Staunton and the American Dream Movement on Wednesday night titled, “How the 1 Percent Crashed the Economy and What We Can Do About It” at the Staunton Public Library, drawing in several interested listeners.

Stemming from the recent Occupy Wall Street movement that has made national headlines, the purpose of Curren’s presentation was to raise awareness about corruption within the government and Wall Street, and come up with proactive solutions through “interactive discussion around the issues of economic fairness and honest government.”

“People are losing their jobs, they’re losing their homes, they’re having a tough time paying their heating bills with winter coming on and they’re wondering why,” Curren said. “Tonight, we’re talking about the underlying causes behind the crash of 2008, why things haven’t gotten any better and what we can do about it in the future.”

Curren outlined how Wall Street has built a wall of “lies, rules and results” to insulate the top one percent from the other 99 percent.

These lies include self-regulation on the part of Wall Street, as well as the notion that corporations are people and that they will create jobs in America with tax cuts.

The lies led to rules, the most important being the government’s deregulation of big business in the 1980s.

Then, a major result is the inequality in income between the top one percent of Americans and the other 99 percent. Curren said the income of the top one percent accounts for a whopping 24 percent of America’s wealth.

According to Curren’s presentation, the U.S. government needs to revert back to how it operated from the years immediately following World War II to the late-1970s in order to close the enormous gap between the haves and have-nots.

The highlights of this era included a strong union presence, Social Security, the G.I. Bill and investing in infrastructure such as highways and aerospace technology.

Curren outlined a 10-point plan, which included investment in infrastructure and public education, the creation of clean energy jobs and an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that would lead to money being spent domestically.

The stark reality, however, is that some Americans do not trust the government.

“A lot of people feel like the government is not responsive to us,” Curren said. “Your senators and congressmen and even the people in the White House do not necessarily seem to have the best interests of ordinary people at heart. They seem to have the interest of the people who finance their campaigns.”

The first part of his solution to “tear down the wall between the one percent and 99 percent” is for people to unite and put their political differences aside for once.

Wednesday might be a good start, as a crowd of more 30 people packed into the library’s small conference room.

“It’s cozy like Occupy Wall Street,” Curren joked. “Without the no bathrooms part.”