This Whole "Occupy Wallstreet" thing seems like theater of the absurd.

I'm enjoying blogging on this topic, for some reason. Maybe it's because i'm actually starting to see...what i've known for the past 5 years. Having a j.o.b. serves NO ONE, but the elite. If people are mad that the banks got 'bailed out'....where were the protesters, then? If people are upset, that Wall Street keeps giving their peeps the "hook-up"...why do they continue to use their SERVICES?

Face it....YOU ARE TO BLAME FOR THIS MESS.

Unemployment for getting fired!
Welfare for being lazy!
Banks for not knowing how to USE your money, WISELY!
Verizon for talking sh-t all day long!
Direct TV for brainwashing!
Mickey D's for getting FAT!
Oil Companies for getting you to work....an hour away from your home.
J.O.B.s for free internet and use of facebook, all day long.

People are ABUSING the system, and so is the system itself....and now you say...."We're not gonna take it"? Well, if YOU'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT...give up your luxurious lifestyles And STOP USING THEIR SERVICES! But y'all aint gonna do that....you'd rather go out into the streets and scream..."we want change"; while talking on your Blackberry or Smartphone; paying $80 bucks a month!

Change...is EXACTLY what you're getting. 2 dimes and a nickle! You damn sure aint gettin': 40 acres and a mule! hahahaha Man, i'm smokin' on this topic, because it IS humourous. All these WANNABE "patriots". hahahaha

You know what else i looooooooooove...all the comments of people saying: "I wish i could be there......" hahahahaha I don't wish i was there....I wish....PEOPLE WOULD GROW UP and STOP LIVING IN DENIAL!

Government isn't the problem, corporations aren't the problem, Wall Street isn't the problem; heck, banks aren't the problem, either. You know what the problem IS: Your addictive habit of CONSUMPTION!!! It has CONSUMED YOU!

I assure you.....life will go on without At&t, Coors, Direct Tv, BofA, Shell, the Yankees, the Steelers, or the Rock. Learn how to bake, sew, construct. It MAY save your life!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by gncnew


[quote[I didn't say Oz, I said Washington DC, big media impact there. And they're protesting "Greed"? How cute is that. What's next - "Mean People"? How about something actually concrete and not quite so ambiguous.

I know you didnt say Oz, i was simply stating that these protests wouldn't have the same media impact if they occurred far away from where the epicentre of the issue is. Would you protest a starbucks in new york by camping out in LA? No.

Read above response... this is like protesting "bad intentions"... and yep, most of those people in the pictures look like they've got NOTHING better going on, hence the make-shift coffee shops with laptops everywhere.

You might not like the actual reason of why people are protesting but guess what? They can protest for that reason and furthermore, if they wanted to protest "Mean people" They can do that to! I know, shocking isnt it? That's what the democratic dream is all about!
And what else do you expect them to be doing? They cant stand and shout all day, gotta take a break at some point or another. Make shift coffeeshops? Good idea me thinks.

Yes, there is a major flaw. Rich people give out jobs... sorry, that's the way the world works. The real source of the problems is from our Government. Besides... what's rich? To people in the 3rd world, every single one of those misfits is "rich"... so should they all be shut down too?
Rich is relative.

Rich people are rich because other people made them rich. This whole notion that "rich people create jobs so we should all cower around them and bow" is absolute nonsense. They NEEDED other people to make them money, They seem to forget that. You can be a big oil tycoon but you aren't gonna make billions if no one is gonna bust their ass for you, sorry, that's the truth of it. The real source of the problem is the big business buying the government. The government in america is OWNED. they have been BOUGHT. Money is the cancer here and you dont seem to realise it.
As for the people in the 3rd world, lets flip this picture shall we? Why are they so poor in the first place?
HMMMMMMMMM.

Who's greater good? Her kids? What if she can't make it to work, loses her job, and then they're homeless? Who's greater good? The 20 year old smart ass without a lick of life experience because now he can say "I was there man!" when he's 40?

Give me a break... the "greater good" is a socialistic theme that implies shared misery = common good. It's an illogical leap of faith that would rather see everyone suffer than only some succeed. Screw that.

Your right, people should pack up and go home. This women needs to cling desperately to her #ty low paid job so she can continue to pay tax and prop up the wealthy. Any 20 year old taking part is GAINING experience in doing it. This is life, protests happen, a 20 year old needs to know WHY they happen. I believe its the collective misery thats got a few thousand people protesting for change for the BETTER. Yano, so were not all miserable at the end of the day?

Where do you think the financial "mess" started. The Federal Reserve is a governmental institution. You can hate the players or hate the game...
Hating the players is easy but ineffective. Hating the game though... America is run by government. It's continuously eating up more and more of the GDP. We have no manufacturing jobs because of tax structures that make it impossible to produce goods in this country profitable.
Offshoring occurs because our regulations have made it impossible to produce ON SHORE. Ask Apple, they offshore. But I guess they're not the "evil rich" because we like their fun trinkets and cool ads? Or because it's sexy to have a macbook?

You mean the federal reserve that was lobbied by the banksters? Ohh look at that, wall street interfering with government again - Coincidence isnt it? Wall street IS the government. Money talks, and look at the kind of crap its coming out with. Perhaps they're paying you to post crap on this site to.

And more than once has a ridiculous person with an iPhone tried to make themselves e-famous by videoing something and making it out to be more than it appears (cough cough "Don't Tase me Bro!")

Your bound to have idiots/troublemakers within ANY and EVERY movement.

I'm actually typing during my lunch hour - at work... on a forum for people to discuss things. Now, if I came out in front of your office building with 300 friends to protests "bad teeth" - and thus kept you out of your office all day long until I got some media time... then yep, I'd be an attention whore.

By your own admission, this thread is attention seeking. You wouldn't have started it if you didn't want someone to discuss YOUR views with. Your no better then anyone else who's posting videos, blogs and taking part.

Originally posted by gncnew

Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are top 1%. Both are self made men. The top 1% are not trying to keep you down - you're lack of ambition and devotion to your goals keeps you down.

Your aware that there is more then two people who a ridiculiously wealthy yeah? What about the rest of them? are they self made to??
And not this # again "If only YOU had the Drive, YOU to could SUCCEED in OUR world!!"
I dont want to be rich, i just wanna live comfortably, that's my life's ambition. The whole rat race is a MUGS game, only an idiot devotes their life trying to win it.
Also, if you believe in the delusion that you to can be rich like them if only you work harder then everyone else then i dont think you've thought it through sweetheart. You've gotta be smart but you've gotta be bloody lucky to.

I personally don't want to work 60 hour work weeks... therefore I do not make make twice my salary. IT REALLY IS THAT SIMPLE.

There used to be times when people worked 70hrs a week and got paid pittance - This was back in the industrial revolution where the elite earned their money off the backs of the poor by monopolising industry - Making it IMPOSSIBLE for human beings to compete with manufacturing output of machines. They impoverished a great deal of the population and then blamed the poor that they were poor. Kinda like what they're doing now.
"your poor because you dont work hard enough" Gosh, makes me laugh how people buy into this game.

Those guys making all the money have no life outside of that money. We all make our choices, but you can't begrudge the result of theirs because you chose differently.

They have enough money to walk away from the game whenever they wish - The trouble is they LOVE making money. They love gambling, they love being able to own expensive things and have people be afraid of them because they have alot of money and connections.
And are you saying that i didnt choose to be rich, therefore i am not? hahaha, Hunny, i didnt choose to be poor but somehow this is where i ended up! Gee'z, if only i'd had the common sense to choose the money and not that enticing "mystery box oOooOoo"

reply to post by gncnew


You should do some digging around yourself. But since...laziness, for lack of a better word, impedes you from doing a little research, I'll throw you a bone.

The Declaration of the Occupation of New York

History in the making, thats all im gunna say.
Because there were people who thought negatively of the founding fathers too. There is always some sort of hater. BBelieve what you want to believe. muli-billion dollar profits and government hand outs + buying the politicians on both sides to get what they want.
Monsanto poisons the plabet
Oil companies poison the planet,
They keep us dependant on the system to merely survive, which is a basic human right to have a home and to be fed. There are not enough jobs, its not due to laziness. The jobs get shipped out faster than they come. If the US still had a manufacturing industry it wouldn't be an issue.
We need food and water and a warm place to live. IF there are no jobs to have, then you cannot have those basic human needs. Instead billions are forked over to profiteering crooks at the top of the food chain, billions spent on killing eachother in foreign lands FOR CORPORATE INTERESTS in those countries. The corporations run this god damn world. They have the money, they have the governments wrapped around their fingers. Everyone has a price. Instead of pumping the money into infrastructure in the homeland. We could be flying beyond our solar system right now if trillions weren't invested feeding the military industrial complex.

Get over it. THE WORLD IS #ED! And OWS is doing # about it.

Originally posted by gncnew
ROFL... really? come on now man. What "machine" are they protesting against. Those are people just like you an me working at Wall Street.

Correct, there are some people in that area working like you and me. And I'm sure some of those people would love to see the Federal Reserve end, and see corporations and banks stop hording away all of the countries money.

I would constitute "the machine" as the entity which consists of extraordinary wealthy people that have no face whom which find it in their best interest that the rest of us, middle class and those who are even worse off(which I am worse off, and have been even worst off than I am now) never have a chance to excel in life, that many will end up working for them at the sole of their foot while they profit off the hard manual labor that we provide for them. Ask yourself this, how much would it hurt the big corporations to pay their low totem pole employs say, 20-30% more hourly? And when we look at minimum wage, and look at what's 20-30% more, that's not a whole lot now is it? Paying them that much more wouldn't hurt their quarterlies all that bad I assume.

And thus, they will pay. As time progresses so does society and eventual economical reform will occur.

Difference is - I went into the Marines out of high school, didn't finish my degree until I was 30 (did it online as I worked full time) and now make a nice average "middle class" income.

Thank you for serving our country. While you may not see anything wrong with this situation, there are plenty of people who we're well off in the position you are now and are no longer. I'm sure you'd be thinking differently if you and your family was living at a campsite, in a tent. In fact, if you didn't I'd say it's safe to assume you're either mad, or you don't have a family to provide for and you don't mind living in a tent. My youth didn't have the nice luxuries that most families do, and most people like me don't make it as far as I do - and this isn't a matter of subjectivity, this is a matter of not having a adequate upbringing.

Also, don't give me that "they need to try harder" mumbo jumbo, the system is rigged and it's out to destroy those without privilege. It's nearly 2012, we have quantum computers, we have the science, medicine and technology to create a better tomorrow - but creating a better tomorrow isn't profitable to big business.

If you're honestly completely blind to the oblivious corruption that is rampant throughout the planet right now, then maybe you should take a closer look. If you can't see it, well... ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

reply to post by gncnew


S&F for you sir. This was timely and well stated. You keep hearing all these hippies talk about wanting change, well....what exactly is it that you want? All you'll get is a resounding "Ummmmmm...." It's ridiculous and this screaming and crying when the cops ask them to either move or come with them and they resist, well, I say they have been getting what's coming to them. With the possible exception of the pepper spraying cop, he was kind of a douche.

Originally posted by b3l13v3

Originally posted by gncnew
ROFL... really? come on now man. What "machine" are they protesting against. Those are people just like you an me working at Wall Street.

Correct, there are some people in that area working like you and me. And I'm sure some of those people would love to see the Federal Reserve end, and see corporations and banks stop hording away all of the countries money.

I would constitute "the machine" as the entity which consists of extraordinary wealthy people that have no face whom which find it in their best interest that the rest of us, middle class and those who are even worse off(which I am worse off, and have been even worst off than I am now) never have a chance to excel in life, that many will end up working for them at the sole of their foot while they profit off the hard manual labor that we provide for them. Ask yourself this, how much would it hurt the big corporations to pay their low totem pole employs say, 20-30% more hourly? And when we look at minimum wage, and look at what's 20-30% more, that's not a whole lot now is it? Paying them that much more wouldn't hurt their quarterlies all that bad I assume.

And thus, they will pay. As time progresses so does society and eventual economical reform will occur.

Difference is - I went into the Marines out of high school, didn't finish my degree until I was 30 (did it online as I worked full time) and now make a nice average "middle class" income.

Thank you for serving our country. While you may not see anything wrong with this situation, there are plenty of people who we're well off in the position you are now and are no longer. I'm sure you'd be thinking differently if you and your family was living at a campsite, in a tent. In fact, if you didn't I'd say it's safe to assume you're either mad, or you don't have a family to provide for and you don't mind living in a tent. My youth didn't have the nice luxuries that most families do, and most people like me don't make it as far as I do - and this isn't a matter of subjectivity, this is a matter of not having a adequate upbringing.

Also, don't give me that "they need to try harder" mumbo jumbo, the system is rigged and it's out to destroy those without privilege. It's nearly 2012, we have quantum computers, we have the science, medicine and technology to create a better tomorrow - but creating a better tomorrow isn't profitable to big business.

If you're honestly completely blind to the oblivious corruption that is rampant throughout the planet right now, then maybe you should take a closer look. If you can't see it, well... ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

Amen to that
Amen.

This is why i cannot talk to my father about this, he is retired military. And he believes everything CNN pushes out. He knows something is wrong, but he wont ever take my words.

My mother listens to me though, ill get her over and talk to her about it. Because im sure she would love to be part of our local #occupy, she's spiritual, and would love some people to teach.

The whole thing to me feels like it has an anarchy feel to it. There don't seem to be any real rules right now. But, my personal definition of anarchy is: "The period of time in between governments."

It's too bad something like this didn't happen in Washington, D.C. when the PATRIOT ACT was passed in the middle of the night. Instead of having a smooth, national protest we bottled up our dissent.

Now the tea pot has blown and I don't think we know the direction the steam is headed just yet.

I find some things funny...

"Don't hate them because they're rich." seems to be a common thing being said.

But there is truth to that. People don't hate rich people like CEOs because they're rich. To claim that is putting the blinders on and missing all the pertinent details. They hate them because they decided to do massive layoffs, ship most of the jobs overseas for 1/10 the pay (if not less), and then ask for government breaks on top of that. And instead of doing anything like re-investing the money into society, they stuff the rest into their own wallets and live a lavish lifestyle at a cost that could support a thousand people living at a lower middle-class income. (You know, a modest one flat house, compact car, typical bills paid, utilities and food. Nothing special.) That's why people are hating on the rich.

And on top of that, they've managed to buy laws via things like campaign contributions such that the average Joe can't compete by starting their own business. Essentially there's enough red-tape now in certain sectors of the economy, that it has practically become necessary to do things illegally in order to raise enough capital in order to start a legit business. I don't think it sounds fair to do things like placing factory standards with a required layout around a half-million dollars on something like a small business run by something like a half-dozen people making cookies in a home kitchen. (And that kitchen is as clean, if not cleaner than a factory environment. Ditto for safety.) But that's the kind of #### that's made into law these days, and it's not exactly fair. I doubt it's what the average citizen would want from their supposed representatives. Such standards put in place without regards to economic discrimination isn't just. So it's more than the rich trollin' about saying "U Jelly?" but they're also blatantly working to legislate things which keep us out of the game for "our protection" and then asking "U mad?". Only fair that the majority now gets off their collective ###es and does things to return the favor.

Washington does have a part in this though, for which they should be punished when the time comes. Both mainstream parties are equally guilty in this. I wouldn't be surprised if there is something like "operation vote indy" or some such as 2012 rolls about.

The truth is we've been too lazy to flush for too long, and now everyone is finally noticing and getting tired of the smell.

The funny thing about this all is I don't think that the"Occupy Wall Street" is going to do diddly squat, other than serve as the beginning of something that wont stop. The more we push corporate America and the Gov. the more they are going to push back, the more they push back the more sheeple will wake up. This is the beginning, and if you cant see what its all about than that's fine, but one day soon, your going to wake up and see the mess that we are all living in and want to change it.

And when that day comes, Then, we can have an intelligent conversation.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


So despite the fact the series of photos that you yourself linked to shows people of all ages, races and socioeconomic backgrounds you continue on to claim they are nothing more than a bunch "kids"?

Interesting.

It's not the job of the masses to research why you are protesting. It's the job of the protesters to make it clear to the masses what they are protesting.

It's out there.

I'm on the other side of the world and I have heard and understand what it's about.

If you don't understand by now, you either don't want to understand or you disagree which are both perfectly fine but please don't claim their message is not getting out.

With the lack of media coverage I imagine it's hard to get the message to those that watch TV news for their information therefore a bit of it is up to others researching and digging deeper.

Originally posted by aaron2209

It's not the job of the masses to research why you are protesting. It's the job of the protesters to make it clear to the masses what they are protesting.

It's out there.

I'm on the other side of the world and I have heard and understand what it's about.

I've had some trouble finding a solidified message. What do you think it's about, aaron2209?

Originally posted by revswirl

Originally posted by aaron2209

It's not the job of the masses to research why you are protesting. It's the job of the protesters to make it clear to the masses what they are protesting.

It's out there.

I'm on the other side of the world and I have heard and understand what it's about.

I've had some trouble finding a solidified message. What do you think it's about, aaron2209?

Their message was linked to earlier in the thread.

What I think it's about is irrelevant, it won't change what it is about. It is about what the protesters say it's about and they have said it.

You either agree or don't agree.

reply to post by aaron2209


Ok, thanx... i'll look for the link... appreciate it...

Originally posted by revswirl
reply to post by aaron2209

 

Ok, thanx... i'll look for the link... appreciate it...

No probs

Originally posted by aaron2209
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

So despite the fact the series of photos that you yourself linked to shows people of all ages, races and socioeconomic backgrounds you continue on to claim they are nothing more than a bunch "kids"?

Interesting.

Actually, I do see some variety there that I haven't seen during the week. Then again, the weekend photo sets always seem to have more people by virtue of it being the weekend. Someone mentioned after last weekend that the crowd numbers during the week are what tells the tale. I'm not sure I entirely support that, but there is certainly some truth to it.

The people who have set up a long term living presence in that public park, however, are the same type and class I have seen since about the 3rd day. The weekend that started this had a real protest feel by the photo sets I looked at and have posted in other threads. After that? Well..like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

While there are problems with this country that need to addressed this Occupy thing is not nearly cohesive enough to make a change.
There are too many on the far fringe for Main Street to ever really get behind them.
I agree with the
OP that many of them are bored.
I also think that a lot of them grew up in the era of new cars, vacations, and kitchen updates paid for by refinancing the family home. Too many in this entire generation fail to understand the actual average standard of living to which most people can aspire. That doesn't mean that each individual shouldn't shoot for the moon. But they also shouldn't have some kind of hissy fit melt down if they don't get there.
The off shoring of labor caused the price of consumer goods to be artifically low for most of their lifetimes. The inevitable loss of jobs that went with it lagged behind by enough that it's just like a credit card. Painless spending until the bill comes.

I don't like the bailouts on principle. BUT, I do believe our recession would have been even worse without it. That the companies who got bailout cash gave out bonuses was very, very bad form. So DON'T buy their stuff. OR their customers stuff. Send letters to their customers explaining that you are boycotting them because of their relationship with whichever firm most disgusts you. But sleeping on the street is a way to make sure that you are left out in the cold literally as well as figuratively.

I think these protests, while on some levels I can appreciate for their spirit, are filled with kids who have more idealism than real life working knowledge of how the world actually functions.

The hippies who grew up to become the Yuppies are captaining the boat that this new crop is protesting! Instead of wondering what life lesson may have caused such a change, or by contemplating the universal nature of greed, these kids are instead looking back to the hippie movement with romaticism and nostalgia.

Oh, the wheel just goes round and round. It's true. "There is nothing new under the sun".

Originally posted by aaron2209

Originally posted by revswirl

Originally posted by aaron2209

It's not the job of the masses to research why you are protesting. It's the job of the protesters to make it clear to the masses what they are protesting.

It's out there.

I'm on the other side of the world and I have heard and understand what it's about.

I've had some trouble finding a solidified message. What do you think it's about, aaron2209?

Their message was linked to earlier in the thread.

What I think it's about is irrelevant, it won't change what it is about. It is about what the protesters say it's about and they have said it.

You either agree or don't agree.

edit on 3-10-2011 by aaron2209 because: (no reason given)

First, please don't take this as an attack on you. Because it isn't. I would like to acknowledge and appreciate that you told another poster he doesn't have to agree. You are one of the few who favor the protests who seems to recognize that people have the right to disagree!
But, in terms of the message. It isn't clear. It is so multifaceted as to be meaningless.
"They took our homes!"
"They took our jobs!" (makes me think of South Park)
"gender inequality" (in one fo the most gender neutral places on earth)
"Student Loans" (uh, yeah, that we all signed up for and held our breath praying that someone would give them to us)

It's one big chorus of rabble rabble rabble rabble.
One person supporting the "movement" on here said that we need to protect the environment and invest in clean energy. Another, on here, supported the movement by saying no more of their tax dollars to fund solar programs...

Face/Palm