4 ms·

What's the "Occupy movement", exactly? Is it really a protest against the wealthiest 1 percent? That seems really counterproductive, since most of the wealth p

by webXL 15y ago

What's the "Occupy movement", exactly? Is it really a protest against the wealthiest 1 percent? That seems really counterproductive, since most of the wealth possessed by that group was created by that group, i.e. it didn't exist 50 years ago. Unless you can prove they stole that wealth, or you can prove that government policies had nothing to do with our current economic condition, helping this "movement" is a complete waste of time. Malaria and hunger kill millions annually. Education in the U.S. continues to decline. Cancer, obesity, drugs, crime, etc. Why don't you take a stab at those problems first? Or get rich people to be more like Bill Gates rather than have a statist thug force them to fork over more of their legally and peacefully obtained property?

garethsprice 15y ago
"What's the "Occupy movement", exactly? Is it really a protest against the wealthiest 1 percent?" It's not a protest against wealth, it's a protest against how: * Deregulation allowed the financial sector to run wild, then * get bailed out by the taxpayer when it all blew up in their face, then * continuing the party as if nothing had happened (record bonuses paid from taxpayer bailout money) * while their customers (from individual families to those families' pension funds) got screwed in ways that are demonstrably fraudulent on a massive scale * while no-one in the industry gets punished * while regular people continue to get screwed, even if they did everything right (get a degree, no jobs - save up a down payment, still can't get a mortgage - need business capital, still can't get a bank loan) These guys on the left are angry at Wall Street in the same way that the right is angry at the Government. Their lives have become massively worse since the crash, while they see the people they perceive to have caused the mess continuing to party on taxpayer money. Regular people in this country are pissed at the ruling classes in a way they haven't been for generations, the only difference is in who they're blaming. Should both movements cross paths, it will be our Arab Spring/French Revolution. Turbulent times ahead.
- tzs 15y ago
  It's also a protest against animal abuse, and a protest against paper money, and a protest against the death penalty, and a protest against the military. That's the big problem with it--it is way too defocused.
  - webXL 15y ago
    You forgot fur, whaling, and the Judean People's Front.
- dd234 15y ago
  I thought that was tea party movement. This is Occupy: http://fyiblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/protestseattle.jpg?w=500&h=337 http://fyiblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/protestseattle.jp... Back to work, guys.
  - garethsprice 15y ago
    Tea party and Occupy are the same movement (anger at the ruling classes for screwing the general population) from different angles. Plenty of stupid signs from tea party rallies too: http://www.prwatch.org/files/images/Medicare.jpg http://www.prwatch.org/files/images/Medicare.jpg In any sufficiently large group of people, you can find a few idiots (and they're usually the loudest ones). The interesting/important thing here is that regular people from both left and right are mad enough to turn off their TVs, go outside and protest - three things that Americans are not naturally inclined to do. Something is seriously brewing out there...
- webXL 15y ago
  The tea party has much in common with that protest. I think both sides need to focus less on the groups of people involved and just accept that big government and big corporations are not a healthy mix. Big corporations actually don't mind a big government because regulation can work in their favor to make it harder on their smaller competitors, not to mention lobbying for special favors and direct assistance (e.g. guaranteed loans). Tea partiers should be more positive towards the political realities of a powerful government and their opponents should recognize the need for reforming entitlements and ineffective/wasteful departments, such as the Department of Education and Defense. I wouldn't describe our situation as a potential "Arab Spring/French Revolution". We have civil rights. The poor are generally well taken care of in this country, and there's plenty of opportunity for those willing to work hard -- that is those willing to change careers and work multiple jobs in hard economic times. "Do whatever it takes" is what started this country, not let's figure out a way to extract wealth from another group of people, except for the shame of slavery, of course. "Do whatever it takes" (morally - fighting an oppressive imperialist monarchy, letting all groups become citizens, etc.) can work again.

by webXL 15y ago

garethsprice 15y ago

"What's the "Occupy movement", exactly? Is it really a protest against the wealthiest 1 percent?" It's not a protest against wealth, it's a protest against how: * Deregulation allowed the financial sector to run wild, then * get bailed out by the taxpayer when it all blew up in their face, then * continuing the party as if nothing had happened (record bonuses paid from taxpayer bailout money) * while their customers (from individual families to those families' pension funds) got screwed in ways that are demonstrably fraudulent on a massive scale * while no-one in the industry gets punished * while regular people continue to get screwed, even if they did everything right (get a degree, no jobs - save up a down payment, still can't get a mortgage - need business capital, still can't get a bank loan) These guys on the left are angry at Wall Street in the same way that the right is angry at the Government. Their lives have become massively worse since the crash, while they see the people they perceive to have caused the mess continuing to party on taxpayer money. Regular people in this country are pissed at the ruling classes in a way they haven't been for generations, the only difference is in who they're blaming. Should both movements cross paths, it will be our Arab Spring/French Revolution. Turbulent times ahead.

tzs 15y ago
It's also a protest against animal abuse, and a protest against paper money, and a protest against the death penalty, and a protest against the military. That's the big problem with it--it is way too defocused.
- webXL 15y ago
  You forgot fur, whaling, and the Judean People's Front.
dd234 15y ago
I thought that was tea party movement. This is Occupy: http://fyiblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/protestseattle.jpg?w=500&h=337 http://fyiblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/protestseattle.jp... Back to work, guys.
- garethsprice 15y ago
  Tea party and Occupy are the same movement (anger at the ruling classes for screwing the general population) from different angles. Plenty of stupid signs from tea party rallies too: http://www.prwatch.org/files/images/Medicare.jpg http://www.prwatch.org/files/images/Medicare.jpg In any sufficiently large group of people, you can find a few idiots (and they're usually the loudest ones). The interesting/important thing here is that regular people from both left and right are mad enough to turn off their TVs, go outside and protest - three things that Americans are not naturally inclined to do. Something is seriously brewing out there...
webXL 15y ago
The tea party has much in common with that protest. I think both sides need to focus less on the groups of people involved and just accept that big government and big corporations are not a healthy mix. Big corporations actually don't mind a big government because regulation can work in their favor to make it harder on their smaller competitors, not to mention lobbying for special favors and direct assistance (e.g. guaranteed loans). Tea partiers should be more positive towards the political realities of a powerful government and their opponents should recognize the need for reforming entitlements and ineffective/wasteful departments, such as the Department of Education and Defense. I wouldn't describe our situation as a potential "Arab Spring/French Revolution". We have civil rights. The poor are generally well taken care of in this country, and there's plenty of opportunity for those willing to work hard -- that is those willing to change careers and work multiple jobs in hard economic times. "Do whatever it takes" is what started this country, not let's figure out a way to extract wealth from another group of people, except for the shame of slavery, of course. "Do whatever it takes" (morally - fighting an oppressive imperialist monarchy, letting all groups become citizens, etc.) can work again.