Berkley Center

As a student in college, I was faced with the daunting struggles of fee hikes and rising interest rates. Later, only two years out of college and barely dipping my feet into the workforce, the subprime mortgage crisis hit the nation in 2008, creating economic havoc across the nation. Although my family and I were fortunate to have been spared of major setbacks, I was surrounded by friends who really were in crisis and had to see their homes foreclosed. Around this same time, mass layoffs were occurring as the result of budget cuts in every sector. In fact, people realized there was something unusually wrong with the job market when attorneys and law school graduates found themselves unemployed for months and some even finding that their offers had been deferred. The American dream was becoming an American nightmare.

I strongly believe that economic inequality is the single greatest problem in America today. The state of the economy has been in decline for at least a decade now, where a majority of America’s wealth has gone into war and defense. The Occupy Wall Street movement coming out of New York has become a symbol for the phrase, “Enough is enough.” We cannot afford to fund war and deficit spending any longer. Enough really is enough.

The list continues with inner-city schools bearing the brunt of these hard times. Cultural institutions must also see reductions, which is an immense tragedy because these institutions stand as alternatives and polar opposites to the institutions of war.

While the Occupy Movement has certainly brought attention to the plight of the 99%, it is time to start thinking about practical, effective solutions. But maybe a practical solution can only come out of revisiting virtues and vices, like compassion and greed. Perhaps there is a need to honestly discuss how we interact and do business with one another.

A nation is only as strong as its people; thus, when people suffer due to economic inequalities, the whole nation suffers.

sak88@georgetown.edu