The thing is, I don't believe these occupy wallstreet douches want 'change'. It seems to me they want to be there long enough so force will have to be used to remove them, because then that will look bad on the government. They seemed to apparently wait for something like a line of students or an old lady to get peppersprayed, so they can stand up, throw their arms in the air and scream cruelty.
I don't think this is actually that far from the truth. Earlier this year I was in Madison for the union protests over the collective bargaining bill (this probably didn't receive media attention in Canada, but it was all over the local and national news here). Anyway, the protests peaked at around 100,000+ people per day, a fairly impressive number for a city with only 300,000 or so residents. But, observing the protests first-hand, it was fairly apparent to me that people get wrapped up in the "idea" of protesting, and often lose sight of the original cause. In other words, a lot of these protests just carry on because (1) it gives people something to do and allows them to live in a "fantasy world" for a period of time and (2) people enjoy the positive feedback loop you receive by protesting with like-minded citizens.
My biggest concern is in line with Seth's, that the protesting will be picked up by the Democrats or Obama and spun as some counter against someone else.
For what it is worth, Congress just hit an all-time low approval rating of 9%.
Congress is in the process of discussing the Stop Online Piracy Act...another act in line with the Patriot Act intended to strip Americans of basic rights.
People continue to not have jobs. Education continues to slip. Politicians continue to ignore the real health care issue: why is medicine so expensive? Why are health costs so expensive? Attacking the pharmaceutical companies isn't advantageous for politicians who receive huge kickbacks from Pharmaceutical companies.
Why does it take almost a billion dollars to run a campaign for presidency these days?
Why is it a trail of money and not a trail of intelligence, education, and science?
Why does Congress get to even vote on the SOPA bill? It's a bunch of old folks who are too old and decrepit to actually understand how the Internet works.
Why are there weekly postings of Police Officers or Judges or Elected Officials clearly abusing their powers posted on social media sites like Youtube?
There is this really good article by Mike Lofgren that you should all read:
Mike Lofgren retired on June 17 after 28 years as a Congressional staffer. He served 16 years as a professional staff member on the Republican side of both the House and Senate Budget Committees.
For what it's worth, the article touches on some important problems with the Political Machine in this country.
There are no easy solutions. It will get worse before it gets better. The protesting is just feelings of angst being expressed outwardly. The retaliation by the police is strange considering they are public servants of the people.
I mean there are a lot of big problems right now. Big issues. So there are a lot of reasons for people to be furious. I'm honestly surprised there hasn't been more protesting and more anger.
Re: Occupy Wallstreet
Hybrid Mode
