More and more people have joined the cause, turning the protests into a movement.

The US economy is suffering from nine percent unemployment and limited prospects for growth, creating a burden for the middle class. However, across the Atlantic there are some countries with far worse economic conditions.

The austerity measures implemented in these nations are quite harsh, yet protests against these measures did not transform into an organized movement. So why is “Occupy Wall Street” gaining ground in America?

The US has always been among the top countries in the Human Development Index, ranked fourth in 2010 and 2011.

But when this index is adjusted for inequalities, such as income distribution, health care benefits, access to resources and education, the US ranking drops 19 positions taking it to 23rd place.

The fall is mainly attributed to income inequality wherein the top one percent is making more money than everyone else. It’s from this disparity that Occupy Wall Street gets its slogan, “We are the 99 percent.”

This does not mean that the American middle class has not progressed over the past decades.

It simply says that as you go down the net wealth ladder, your chances of improving your conditions decrease.

This is a result of limited access to better education and economic resources when you belong to a low-income group.

The US economy is considered to be a plutonomy, where a small group of wealthy people control and abuse the political and economic system in their favor.

The problem is that free capitalism allows that.

In theory and practice, capitalism is concerned about the most efficient use of all economic resources, banning the monopoly of resources only when it is not efficient.

But capitalism is not at all concerned with the social welfare of a society.

The way US authorities are dealing with the movement reflects the plutonomic nature of the American system.

Coordination between mayors across the US in order to crack down on organized protests by Occupy Wall Street can be interpreted as the official reaction toward a corrective movement that wants to reshape US society.

This could lead to a situation similar to the European Revolutions of 1848, during which many middle and working class people demanded that their governments reform.

It is yet unclear if the Occupy Wall Street movement will succeed in changing the political, social and economical systems of the US or what effects it may have on the US’ diminishing leadership throughout the world.