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| Chicagoist: Board of Trade has a message for Occupy Chicago |
There is also no secret that I have had misgivings about Occupy Chicago, and the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Those misgivings, however, are small in comparison to the accomplishments of that group of activist. The have brought the message of corporate accountability to the heart of Chicago’s financial district. One can’t get much closer to the pulse of Capitalism in Chicago then the corner of LaSalle and Jackson.
For those of you who do not know Chicago. LaSalle runs north and south and “T”s at Jackson. To the east, where you will often find #Ochi (Occupy Chicago), is Bank of America (will write more about them in a later installment). Across the street, on the west, is Chicago’s very own branch of the Federal Reserve. Both are imposing, if not dysfunctional, American Institutions. But the real heart of Chicago’s money movers is The CBOT.
Physically at 141 W. Jackson[1] the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT)[2], merged in 2007 with the CME[3] (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) to become the CME Group[4], reaches around the globe. It was here in this muddy, convoluted world, originally designed to protect farmers and consumers from wild price fluctuations in basic food stocks, that Wall Street’s Dirty Paper Changed hands.
At this point, pending further investigation, one can speculate (part and parcel of the CME Group’s[5] “stock and trade”) the dirty paper (toxic asset bundled commercial paper) was not generated here; it was only moved here. If true, then one would think that the boyz at the CBOT would be more sympathetic to Occupy Chicago. But, that has not been the case.[6]
As preserved by the Chicagoist[7] from the Camera of @OccupyChicago (on Twitter), the boyz of the CBOT have a different view of life. Having worked as a runner on the trading floor of the CBOT from 1980 to 1983, I can assure you that not everyone who works at the CBOT is a 1%er. There are probably fewer 1%ers at the CBOT than even the CBOT would like to admit. However, they are almost all Capitalist. I say, almost ‘cause – well, what the hell? -- I worked there; Boyz, been there, done that; know the cubby holes in the trading desk for hiding the juice cans.
The one thing that we’ve learned from the kids of Occupy Chicago is that what happens on the street is far more important than what happens on the web. The web can be a conduit to report the events from the street, but the events have to occur first. This, of course, is fundamental. However, in the Bush years, cyberactivism seemed to be about the best you could get out of most people. Their silent consent to be part of a Yahoo Group (like New Millennium News Archive [8] a.k.a. USAFWZ or The Progressive Voice) denouncing the policies that brought us to this point was the best one could hope for. Latter day baby boomers, or Generation Jones,[9] did not believe that there was the will, or the energy to take it to the streets. I did believe it was there. It was just waiting to be pushed. The recession of 2008[10], TARP[11], and the GM Bailout[12] provided that push.
For more than a generation we were all taught to be personally responsible for our own financial wellbeing. That is still the mantra of the Capitalist today. However, when it came time for the Corporation to pay for their high risk bookmaking, they stuck their hand in the public till to keep afloat. Our conservative, capitalist government invited them to the cashbox! As is often shouted, “The Banks got bailed out; we got sold out.”
That is why Occupy Chicago took to the street on September 23, 2011, and why they are still functioning out of loft space at Riverfront Work Lofts, 500 W. Cermak Rd, Chicago, Ill.[13]
So … what is changing? Succinctly, you are looking at it. I’ve acquired a new domain name, a new title, and a new mission. Actually, it is the old mission began at Forest Glen Baptist Church[14] in 1975: the attempt to make Chicago a better city.
Thank you very much, Occupy Chicago[15], and Occupy Wall Street[16] for proving I was right all along.
@cliffpotts
@cliffpotts
[1] Chicago Board of Trade Building. (2011, November 22). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:43, January 22, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chicago_Board_of_Trade_Building&oldid=461863866
[2] Chicago Board of Trade. (2012, January 18). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:43, January 22, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chicago_Board_of_Trade&oldid=471980368
[3] Chicago Mercantile Exchange. (2011, December 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:43, January 22, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chicago_Mercantile_Exchange&oldid=465687937
[4] CME Group. (2012, January 21). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:43, January 22, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=CME_Group&oldid=472481428
[9] Generation Jones. (2012, January 8). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:53, January 22, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generation_Jones&oldid=470338903
[10] Late-2000s recession. (2012, January 22). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:57, January 22, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Late-2000s_recession&oldid=472142593
[11] Troubled Asset Relief Program. (2012, January 14). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:56, January 22, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Troubled_Asset_Relief_Program&oldid=471386958
[12] Automotive industry crisis of 2008–2010. (2012, January 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:59, January 22, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Automotive_industry_crisis_of_2008%E2%80%932010&oldid=472338307
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