Wall Street

JOINT CRISIS COMMITTEE

As the United States stumbles into the autumn of 2011, the ghost of the Great Recession still haunts its streets. The nation stands at a precipitous crossroads, one defined not by foreign wars or partisan gridlock, but by a socioeconomic chasm that has finally boiled over. Three years after a financial crisis brought the global economy to its knees, the government-funded bailouts have saved the banks, but millions of Americans are left behind, facing foreclosure, unemployment, and a gnawing sense that the system is rigged. The era of quiet discontent is over.

This new conflict has its epicenter in a small, privately-owned park in Lower Manhattan, where a leaderless, sprawling movement has galvanized under a simple, powerful slogan: "We are the 99%." The Occupy Wall Street movement has ignited a national firestorm, channeling the public's rage against the financial elite, the "1%", and the government they see as their enabler. They pose questions that shake the halls of power: Has corporate greed irrevocably corrupted democracy? Why were the architects of the 2008 crisis bailed out while ordinary citizens lost everything? Is the American Dream now a fiction?

From the boardrooms of JPMorgan Chase to the West Wing of the White House, the establishment watches with growing alarm. They see no righteous call for justice, but a disorganized and naive threat to a fragile economic recovery. As such, the lines are drawn. On one side stand the titans of finance and key officials in the Obama Administration, tasked with preserving stability and market confidence. On the other hand, the decentralized force of Occupy Wall Street, armed with social media and a narrative of profound injustice. Caught between them are the media, the NYPD, and a wary public whose support will determine the victor. The task of this committee is to navigate this escalating crisis. Will the government and the banks quell the dissent and restore the old order, or will occupying a single park ignite a movement that redefines American capitalism? The future of the American economy—and the very trust upon which it is built—hangs in the balance.