Do You Support the Occupy Wall Street Protests?

If you have been watching the news over the last few weeks then you have seen that protestors have taken to the streets in many (North) American cities to protest Wall Street and the CEOs of major Corporations.  What started as a protest in New York City has now been mobilized globally.  Last weekend while I was in Toronto I saw the Occupy Wall Street protests of Bay Street, which is the financial district in Toronto.  Occupy Wall Street Movements have been organized and protestors have taken to the streets in many major North American cities including both Chicago and Los Angeles. The Occupy Wall Street movements are also present in many cities throughout the world such as Taipei Taiwan, Rome Italy and Hong Kong.

The Occupy Wall Street protests have attracted a lot of media attention around the world, but I am not sure that this is the right kind of attention.  I am not convinced that global protests will bring change to our global financial structure.  Protestors are hoping to attract the attention of corporate CEOs, but honestly I am not sure that the CEOs of major Corporations care about the Occupy Wall Street protests.  If CEOs do not feel accountable to their shareholders (which they should) then why should/would they feel accountable to thousands of people in the streets who are not (necessarily) shareholders?

Although it is nice to see people come together in support of the Occupy Wall Street protest movements I am not sure that it will bring about global change.  I am a strong believer in standing up for what we believe in, regardless of the cause.  I personally like to see people of all races, religions, ethnicities, and backgrounds come together in support of a mutual cause.  There are so many different things in the world that tear people apart and create war amongst us that the thought of unifying over a mutual topic is very comforting.  At the end of the day regardless of our religious beliefs or our cultural background people can come together as human beings because money unites us all.

I would personally never ever want to be the CEO of a major corporation because I would personally never want to be accountable to millions of shareholders; however some people are definitely up for the job.  CEOs of major corporations have to always (or maybe I should say usually) think about what is in the best interest of their shareholders, and that is a lot of pressure.  The decisions that CEOs make regarding their corporation directly affect thousands of employers and their families as well as hundreds of thousands or millions of shareholders.  That is definitely a responsibility that I do not want to have!

Being a CEO also takes a lot of time.  This is time that could otherwise be spent with our families and friends.  I don’t know about you but I would definitely not want to work 13 hour days just to have a seven figure salary and bonus.  I am sure that having boat loads of money is nice, but having a private jet comes at the cost of having our own personal life.  This is a cost that I am not willing to expense.

Are you CEO material? Let’s Take the CEO Test!

1. Would you ever want to be a CEO? If so then why?
2. If you could be the CEO of any company which one would it be?
3. Would you take a three million dollar bonus if your share prices were down and you just cut thousands of employee jobs?
4. How would you increase profits and cut costs for your corporation?
5. Would the Occupy Wall Street Protests affect your financial decisions?

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Photo by David Shankbone

Kristina Tahnyak

Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.