Occupying Wall Street and Other Places

Now Watching: Sons of Anarchy from FX, followed by CSI from CBS, and lastly American Horror Story from FX on DVR

For a while there was nothing on this Occupation of Wall Street - but now it is suddenly everywhere.

A lot of BS from both sides of the fence. Hard to believe anyone's hard numbers for how many people are there, how many people have been arrested, or how many people are really walking the streets... But it is safe to say that folks are, and there are plenty of reactions. Some of the most strong ones based on certain members of the NYPD deciding to mace some corralled protesters (check out some video HERE).

So today in Dayton, Ohio, there was an "Occupy Dayton" protest thing of sorts. Like so much of things done here, I imagine it was pretty half-assed. But the Dayton Business Journal reported on it, saying 50-some people were there. A far cry from the reports by people on the blog of David Esrati (a local free thinker and rabble rouser that I introduced myself to a few years ago) - where people were reporting only 4 attendees and such...


Who knows.


But looking over the comments... the disparity in people's opinions is nearly unbelievable. Almost so much so, that in my quick IM conversation with David today regarding some of the comments posted to his facebook we mentioned that thing that sometimes you like you are crazy reading/seeing some of the things coming from other people. Then comes the realization that it isn't YOU who is crazy, it is them. And that we are no longer outside the Asylum.


What gets to me? The guys saying that the rich deserve to be. And those in need are there through their own fault and deserve nothing - not even sympathy. I am just not seeing it that way...


Kent Metcalf (who is in real estate (his FB says) believes all people needing any kind of assistance say things like:

I need my drugs, I want a guaranteed roof over my head & a big screen tv with an HD satellite dish. We need our porn on 70" tv's, so we can get in the mood have more children that we can't support, then we can blame rich people like you for wanting my children to be homeless.

and

Life liberty and a guaranteed high paying job, roof over our heads, free health care, the ability to procreate as much as we want, that's all we're asking for. Oh and the greedy wealthy class can give up their share and take care of my five kids. I don't want to work that hard, I'm certainly that not that intelligent. They have an obligation to provide for me and if they don't, we're just going to vote people into office that will pass legislation and take their jobs and give them to the government.

While John Manes (who is allegedly part of the Better Business Bureau) feels that the "Occupy" groups are in the wrong because:

These groups also seem to forget that their 401k and retirement plans rely on the profitability of these companies they are attacking

and

So should Japan make outsourcing illegal as well so we can lose tens of thousands of jobs. honda, toyota, bmw and mercedes all ship cars from the USA to other markets. they outsource the jobs because of all the taxes and regulations in this country that would make them noncompetitive in the marketplace, Taxes and regulations that the take over groups want to increase which will only cause more outsourcing, not less.

and let us know (when someone suggests he makes less than $20K a year)

I started life in a minimum wage job making a little more than $2.00 per hour and have worked hard over 30 years to get where I am today. I suffered through 3 bouts of unemployment the past 10 years but never relied on anyone but myself to get out of it. I lost a house when there were no programs to help you keep something you couldn't afford in the first place. So many believe that everything should be handed to them, a job is not a right, healthcare is not a right, retirement plans are not a right, these are all things you have to earn.

This is what I see as the real problem: both of these men (and, in turn, plenty of people JUST like them) seem to work on antiquated ideas: that those who are not earning lots of money are not doing so because they don't DESERVE to. They're not working hard enough to earn it. 


They are also under the delusion that many people still have 401Ks, and despite the difficulties of this economic situation, should just be working HARDER for those in economic power to keep them in charge.


In a nutshell - they are unwilling to make any real change.


Anyway...


So if you're interested, take a look a the "Declaration of the Occupation of New York City" below -- I honestly can't support certain parts of it (which I will go in future posts... I have been getting some commentary that my individual entries are just too long for most blog readers), but it is worth reading.


The one thing I just don't get it is how what amounts to an anarchistic collective can let one guy crank out their Declaration... but, whatever. All the world's a stage... I guess it needs a playwright. Let me know what you think --

Below is what Mark Ruffalo of #occupywallstreet wants to tell you about (taken from http://www.tweetdeck.com/twitter/Mruff221/~zUvRe)

Here is the General Assemblies Statement Read it and weep (tears of joy) Declaration of the Occupation of New York City 

As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

• They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
• They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
• They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
• They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
• They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.
• They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
• They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
• They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
• They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
• They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
• They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
• They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.
• They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
• They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
• They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them.
• They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
• They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.
• They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
• They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
• They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
• They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.
• They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
• They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*

To the people of the world,
We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.
Join us and make your voices heard!
*These grievances are not all-inclusive.