Occupy Movement Explained

[NoBones]

wake up!!!!

socialism is upon us!!!!!!

[DonV]

Hey Ken be careful!! OR the fourth branch of government....lawyers....will show up at your door in Area 442.

I'm wondering....I hear 16% of the working force are government employees and suppose both them and their spouses vote in a block together, that's 32%. What happens when that block of voters gets to 50%?

[Islandtrader]

Originally Posted by Bigshrimpin

Honestly . . . I fully support these protests. It's about time people get pissed off about offshoring of jobs, Fed bailing out private companies/banks/gov, and high unemployment/ record number of foreclosures as a direct result of bad economic policy and poor regulation. That video is one person and not representative of the everyone protesting. A lot of these people have lost jobs, homes, families, etc from the economic climate . . . and for others to mock them is just really distasteful. We are all in this together.

If what you are saying is true (and it is true) I think this protest should be going on not on Wall Street, but at the White House and Capital.

Remember we only do what the Government allows us to do...we only have bail outs because the government allowed bail outs. We have the mortgage crisis because the government thought everyone should have a home.

Just my two cents.

[Bigshrimpin]

I don't know a lot about these protests, but the one in Boston is outside the Federal Reserve Building here . . . I don't think that is a coincidence.

In the 1970's when people were protesting the war/draft . . . protests happened at Kent State, Berkeley, etc. I don't think the location is that important, but you can see (as shown in the video clip) which people different media outlets are choosing to represent this movement.

[bbh57]

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun 1. corporatism - control of a state or organization by large interest groups; "individualism is in danger of being swamped by a kind of corporatism"
control - power to direct or determine; "under control"

[Blue_Heron]

Originally Posted by Bigshrimpin

I don't know a lot about these protests, but the one in Boston is outside the Federal Reserve Building here . . . I don't think that is a coincidence.

In the 1970's when people were protesting the war/draft . . . protests happened at Kent State, Berkeley, etc. I don't think the location is that important, but you can see (as shown in the video clip) which people different media outlets are choosing to represent this movement.

Tim,
You make a good point. The location isn't as important as the message. The anti-war message was pretty unambiguous. Unfortunately, "Fix the economy now, dammit" means a lot of different things to different people.

The OWS movement and it's offshoots around the country and around the world haven't done a very good job of articulating their message. And as you rightly point out, our modern advocacy media do us a disservice when they mine the mob for an idiot to prove whatever point they're trying to make.

Until a clear message comes out of the protests, it's hard to agree or disagree with the protestors. And the longer it goes on without a clear message, the more it looks like a freak show.

Maybe the best message we can take from it is that it's time to send some folks to Washington who are capable of having a grown-up conversation about taxation, spending, regulation, monetary policy, and the moral implications of saddling our children and grandchildren with a mountain of debt so we can all have more than our slice of the pie.

Dave

[DonV]

"Maybe the best message we can take from it is that it's time to send some folks to Washington who are capable of having a grown-up conversation about taxation, spending, regulation, monetary policy, and the moral implications of saddling our children and grandchildren with a mountain of debt so we can all have more than our slice of the pie."


Well said!!! I'm ticked because I only have one vote.

[76Red18]

They are trying to shut down the protests here in Ft. Myers due to the lack of a general liability insurance policy needed for a permit to assemble.

Nothing wrong with making money but to much corruption and greed has come into play.
Government and wallstreet are both to blame at this point. They can now act as one entity.

[Bigshrimpin]

Originally Posted by 76Red18

Nothing wrong with making money but to much corruption and greed has come into play.
Government and wallstreet are both to blame at this point. They can now act as one entity.

I suspect that is the main message of the occupy movement . . . People are pissed b/c they've lost their homes, jobs, etc. Average salaries (for 99%) have not increased over last 10 years http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/20...o-income-gain/, but cost of goods, education, health insurance, housing, child care, and fuel have skyrocketed. Some global corporations with US HQ's decide to keep profits oveseas to avoid being taxed . . . which dumps additional burden/costs of maintaining government on the average citizen.

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/17/134619...anies-billions
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/bu...pagewanted=all
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/...20046867.shtml
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/bu...pagewanted=all

[Bigshrimpin]

The Government Accountability Office reported in 2008 that of the largest 100 U.S. companies, 86 had subsidiaries abroad, and 83 of these had subsidiaries in tax havens. Bank of America had 115 subsidiaries in tax havens, including 59 in the Cayman Islands. Citigroup had 427 tax haven subsidiaries, including 91 in Luxembourg and 90 in the Cayman Islands. Goldman Sachs only had 29, 15 in the Cayman Islands.

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09157.pdf