We Need Occupy Back (Christmas, revolution, terror, Chicago)
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This wasn't a "movement." And the anger of these mobs was misplaced. Their anger should have been focused on government, because it is our increasingly oppressive government that is our major problem, and Obama is grabbing more and more power, and becoming more and more dictatorial.
Wall Street is not our problem. Those investment firms help new businesses start up, by providing needed funding. Without them, it would be much more difficult to grow a business, and successful businesses such as the many Silicon Valley companies that have developed the micro chip, Intel, Fairchild Semiconductor and the like, would likely not have been able to achieve such rapid technological advancess.
"Occupiers" would have been smarter to get behind the "Tea Party movement" which is a real movement, has been effectively working to get more freedom loving Americans elected to office. However, most of the "occupiers" appeared to be not smart enough, and were largely deadbeats.
These Occupy mobs accomplished nothing but to earn the disgust of the 99% of Americans who are law abiding, love America, love liberty, and who will restore our country to a position of prosperity and strengh, God willing.
These Obama years have been a national nightmare, with 25 million Americans without jobs, out of control government spending (borrowed money, or simply printed, which devalues our currency). Our debt now exceeds 16 Trillion.
If you are so concerned, then you need to throw this administration out of office, and as many Democrats as possible with him, then get involved to restore Constitutional Government, as our founders designed it. For nearly 200 years, our system made us the most prosperous nation in the world, with the highest standard of living, providing the greatest opportunity to lift people from poverty to prosperity and even riches, if they so desired. We had been the envy of the World, and many, many immigrants came to America to make a better life for themselves, and their families, Ayn Rand, included — her dream was to come to America, which she eventually did.
Let's agree on a couple of points. The main one being, we both want a better country. I also agree that there should definitely be a focus on the government. And I agree the piece about Obama becoming more of a dictator. But lets be clear, Bush was as well and there have been bad policies put in place under both administrations. Voting Democrat OR Republican every 4 years doesn't seem to be effective.
The Occupy Movement was simply a platform. The protest were simply a way to get Americans to wake up. It worked. We're having a discussion about the group and their effectiveness a year later. If nothing less, it started a discussion in this country.
I want to make myself clear that I supported the Tea Party initially simply because they were a group that was willing to change the conversation and influence policy. I don't really support the group today because of all of the negativity associated with the group. I also don't believe their tax policies are feasible. IMO Occupy represents opposition to more relevant issues.
Wall Street is/was a big part of the problem. Wall Street is great for PRIVATE investment. It's great for individuals wanting to increase their wealth and to make large returns on it,... BUT its not always great for commercial investment. When millions of Americans life savings is on the line, its NOT ok for banks to make risky investments. When millions of Americans homes are on the line, its NOT ok for banks to make risky loans and investments. Those decisions influence millions of Americans directly and indirectly.
We saw what happened with the "Too Big to Fail" mantra when we had to literally bail out half of our major banks so that they wouldn't go bankrupt and default. That was do to risky investments, lack of regulation, and bad investing decisions. It influenced our entire country. Not only that, but at the end of the year, after we bailed out this sect of the working class, they bonused themselves millions using American tax dollars. How is that not worth protesting for??
If you want to argue FOR the Tea Party, go ahead. But what Occupy protested also deserves serious attention.
"corporate greed" is what allowed you to send that message on your computer. It's what allows you to text your friends on your iPhone. It's what makes the garbage bags that pick up after these bums after one of their camps.
As Mr. Gecko would say..."Greed is good...Greed works"
Although you are certainly off base by suggesting that corporate greed has cultivated technology, I do think that greed does influence competition, which creates an incentive for companies to be innovative and strive to be at the forefront of technology.
However, to the OP, I can't say that I'd like to see Occupy back (at least not in the form it left off as). One of their initiatives was to somehow convince the government to forgive all student loan debt. I'm one of those stories of people who racked up a lot of college debt. At one point I had over $100k in student loan debt and the payments were very scary at first. A lot of people look for ways out of it just because of the shear fear of those monthly payments. However, once I got over feeling "entitled" to a life without the debt I created for myself, I started paying my loans aggressively and can say that it actually feels rewarding to be closer to my payoff goal each month. That's not to say that there aren't legit horror stories regarding lenders, or that it doesn't feel burdensome at times, but Occupy lost its way and lost a lot of public support when they started harping on entitlements.
I'm all for blowing the whistle on the intimate relationship between corporations and government, but we don't need to cloud that objective with pointless stuff like begging for others to pay our debt. Maybe if they were protesting the actual cost of education as well, I could get behind it. But it was sad to see what the protest quickly evolved to.
Although you are certainly off base by suggesting that corporate greed has cultivated technology, I do think that greed does influence competition, which creates an incentive for companies to be innovative and strive to be at the forefront of technology.
However, to the OP, I can't say that I'd like to see Occupy back (at least not in the form it left off as). One of their initiatives was to somehow convince the government to forgive all student loan debt. I'm one of those stories of people who racked up a lot of college debt. At one point I had over $100k in student loan debt and the payments were very scary at first. A lot of people look for ways out of it just because of the shear fear of those monthly payments. However, once I got over feeling "entitled" to a life without the debt I created for myself, I started paying my loans aggressively and can say that it actually feels rewarding to be closer to my payoff goal each month. That's not to say that there aren't legit horror stories regarding lenders, or that it doesn't feel burdensome at times, but Occupy lost its way and lost a lot of public support when they started harping on entitlements.
I'm all for blowing the whistle on the intimate relationship between corporations and government, but we don't need to cloud that objective with pointless stuff like begging for others to pay our debt. Maybe if they were protesting the actual cost of education as well, I could get behind it. But it was sad to see what the protest quickly evolved to.
I can honestly say that I've never heard the demand to pay off ALL student loan debt. It's something that I hear repeated on these forums, but its not something I've ever read or heard brought up by my friends involved in the movement.
I'd agree with you also in that the rallies need to be a lot more organized and strategic if widespread protest were ever to happen again. We don't need incidents like out in Oakland where they were damaging businesses and employees paychecks who couldn't go to work. The protest need to be strategic and with a set goal and/or purpose.
A bunch of racist kids that don't want to work. They are trying to relive the "good old days" of the 1960's protest movement by the radical left...but...so sorry....those days are long gone...
A bunch of racist kids that don't want to work. They are trying to relive the "good old days" of the 1960's protest movement by the radical left...but...so sorry....those days are long gone...
Please, re-watch the video...especially the part at 4:15.
More like, "protesting for me, to hell with everyone else".
Technically, whenever there's a protest, there's always going to be one side being protested against. So nobody can protest for the well being of ALL society. It would come down to your opinion of what's best for society.
Responding to the context of my post. I'd prefer rich kids were out trying to support the lower and middle class rather then accept handouts from their parents.
Whether a guy digs ditches or manages spreasheets, they're both working.
What you fail to recognize is that like in any business, there are people on Wall Street who are better than others, see opportunities, take risks and are rewarded for such. But, when they make the wrong decision, they are punished as well.
Was Corzine punished? How about all those corps that paid zero taxes and hauled in millions in profits?
What needs to be understood is the difference between corporatism and free market capitalism. Occupy had the right idea, but they should have been protesting the White House and Congress. The middle class is disappearing, all that will be left are the serfs and the very rich. The dominoes are stacked against the poor raising their status to become the upper class, thus incentive to improve one's status is becoming illusive. They have effectively destroyed the American dream.
I have a hard time taking OWS seriously when they couldn't even figure out how to rent Port-a-Potties if they were going to be camped in a park for days on end. Yes, I really believe that no only government should have more power, but same geniuses who couldn't even deal with their own feces should have more say on how its run...
Those of us who came of age during the late 1960's can recall the sudden flowering of small American flag decals on autos, and in homes and workplaces after the "peace" demonstrations, urban rioting and general contept for responsibility manifested in the so-called "summer of love". In one analysis in the media, one spectator commented:
"It's a simple way to show that you're not one of THEM!"
The OWS "movement" just might be one of the highest cards in Romney and the GOP's hand.
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