Occupy All streets

The Occupy Wall street movement Fallout seen in USA and other European Countries speaks of the volume of disenchantment and distrust of the common man over the accumulation of disproportionate wealth by the elite. The rule –books are cast to the dustbins when it comes to distribute the profits, maximum is stealthily relegated to their personal shelves and the people in the lower hierarchy are fed breadcrumbs to feast upon.
Working for a British Logistic Multinational Exel Plc. revealed the usual dirty corporate greed.
All earnings used to be dispatched to the Parent Company in Britain which in turn used to send a certain percentage to each specific region to be distributed as Bonus /Performance incentive.
The Indian regional top brass hatched upon a sinister Plan to distribute the bonus amongst themselves and the bizzarre gauntlet almost paid off but for a whistle-blower who blew the lid perhaps because he was a recipient of a smaller share of the booty. The middle management were informed that due to lower margins during that financial year incentive for that relevant yea r was being scrapped. The junior cadre, were furious on learning about the scam but the situation was quickly defused and frayed tempers were soothed by denials, sweet talk and coercion though not necessarily in that order.
Capitalism has failed miserably in this context where inequality and lopsided development has mushroomed and the gaps between the haves, and the have-nots has widened paving the way for the simmering discontent.
During the economic slowdown in 2008 billions of dollars was pumped in to save financial institutions/ affected banks from going bust as if the economic revival was based on their sole existence!
Citibank NA was on the verge of sacking their Chief Vikram Pandit during the global meltdown but when the bank was back in the black he was showered with unprecedented benefits that defied logic and rationale. Once the Supply- demand cycle was restored the first thing to be sorted was regaining all the lost ground for these bankers who made merry with their innovative skills of grabbing the opportunity with both hands.
A HR Chief S Mohan of BPCL a Govt. Undertaking was given a grand bash on retiring from the Co and an astronomical amount of Rs.40 lacs was splurged on the same. An amount of 40 lacs would surely hurt the bottom line of a company but who cares?
The salaries were more or less rationale during the early 2000’s but then all of a sudden Corporates vied with one another to carve out salaries in Crores. Once the bench mark was laid it was difficult to peg back the extravagant perks . Western Corporate Culture was bluntly copied by Indian corporates and the Obscene & vulgar display of wealth creation hogged the headlines. Jetliners to Luxury Yachts being gifted by industrialists to their wives and girl friends became a norm or some sort of ritual. A multistorey building was built as a residence in South Mumbai for a single family of 4. A race ensued as to who would list in the TOP 100 List of Billionaires which prompted even a mature and restrained person like Ratan Tata to issue a statement to all industrialists that such a Vulgar display of wealth is unfair to scores of people in our country who don’t even get one square meal a day.
This movement does not see any strategic support in India as most of the upper middle class people and those belonging to the elite certainly would not like to reduce the surging cash flowing into their coffers while those coming from the lower strata of society cannot sustain these kind of tactics as they are more concerned about holding onto their present jobs even if it is providing diminishing returns.
The Occupy Wall street movement which even saw Violence in some of the European countries is spreading its tentacles far and wide as the commoners have got fed up due to stagflation, unemployment, reduction of social security measures, disproportionate income levels across the board.
If not controlled the movement will ‘’Occupy All Streets’’ instead of limiting itself to Wall Street.
Bouyed by the success of the Egyptians/ the Libyans and the Anna Hazare movement the people in the Western Countries have held the corporate honchos and other wealthy bankers who more than often seem to get the optimum benefits by the scruff of their necks and time will tell whether they can effectively strangulate them to their benefit.