I’m getting the biggest kick out of the fact that finally, those who’ve benefited the most from economic exploitation finally know what it’s like to be on the receiving end in a class war:
As the Occupy Wall Street movement has gained steam, the city’s well-heeled have become the target of protests aimed at embarrassing them in their neighborhoods or places of business. Drawing on tactics honed by labor unions, the protesters have visited restaurants, theaters and luxury apartment buildings to deliver pointed messages to some of the city’s most notable power brokers.
Protesters have infiltrated an eatery run by Danny Meyer, who sits on the board of Sotheby’s, the art auction house that has locked out workers for almost three months; and showed up at the home of Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, which has been targeted for its mortgage practices.
“People who sit in board rooms and only deal with people of a certain social strata don’t necessarily feel or see the impact of their decisions,” said Jason Ide, president of Teamsters Local 814, which represents Sotheby’s workers. “We want to make sure they get the message very clearly, that people are suffering because of what they’re doing.”
Last week, protesters visited the homes of Mr. Dimon, billionaire businessman David Koch, financier Howard Milstein, News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch and hedge fund maven John Paulson as part of a so-called Millionaires March to call for an extension of the state income-tax surcharge on high earners, which is set to expire at the end of the year.
On Saturday, the Alliance for a Greater New York and Occupy Wall Street teamed up to launch occupytheboardroom.org<
What OWS wants: Jobs, Higher Wages, A More Equal Distribution of America’s Wealth, An End to Military Interventionism, Corporate Money Out of Politics, and the Reregulation of the Banks and of Wall Street. (Not necessarily in that order.)