What do you think of the Occupy movement?
By theknute
@theknute (183)
December 18, 2011 10:22pm CST
What is your opinion of Occupy and their protests?
Do you support them and agree with them? Do you feel like you identify with them at all?
Are you against them? If so, why?
4 responses
@mensab (4200)
• Philippines
19 Dec 11
this is the time when people get fed-up with their current condition. and they see that others are benefiting from the misery of others. it is unfair. it is plain injustice. i agree with the occupy movement message. there is a grave need to shake the system and overhaul it with justice and fairness. the corporations have received bailout from the government, and now they are back with being arrogant with their profits and bonuses. they are the ones who orchestrated and started the crisis.
1 person likes this
@theknute (183)
•
19 Dec 11
I also disagree with the whole Fannie May situation and how all that played out. I was against all of the bailouts from the beginning, which is when the whole country should have spoken out, in my opinion. Also, I think any increased government spending, be it stimulus programs, bailouts, health care, etc... are all wrong to do during a recession or any time of economic despair.
How can the whole system be overhauled to be more just and fair?
@jjzone44 (917)
• United States
19 Dec 11
I used to agree with most of their positions, but because of recent developments, not so much.
I fail to see how disrupting port traffic in California is going to help their cause. Sure you may delay ships from being emptied, and that might impact business a little, but the more immediate impact would be on workers. Yep, the 99% are the people that work on those ships, and work on the docks to unload the ships. If the docks are blocked, and the working public can't do their jobs, who are the occupiers really hurting? I bet big business has insurance to pay for lost or damaged goods, but the working public doesn't have insurance to pay them for a day or two of missed wages.
Then there is their failure to disperse in Pittsburgh. BNY Mellon was letting them stay in a park that BNY owns, but now because of weather concerns, they want them out. But the occupy movement is claiming they have a right to that property. Funny but according to the law, a person who is on someone's property where they are not welcome is a trespasser.
There is nothing wrong with peaceful demonstration to bring attention to your point. But when the specificity of your point becomes blurred, and you start to become a burden to local government by requiring them to utilize money on resources to monitor your encampments and movements, your no longer part of the solution. Those resources could be better used to help fund programs for the disadvantaged, but instead they are being diverted to your "cause", so that sounds like part of the problem!
@theknute (183)
•
19 Dec 11
Excellent post! I like how you comment on what Occupy has been doing rather than just their positions on issues.
I must say I didn't agree with Occupy much from the beginning, however I have identified with their frustration a bit. I was very against the bailouts from the beginning. (I ask, where was Occupy then??)
Many news stories of people dying at Occupy protests, refusing to leave property, defecating in the open, etc... make me question the ethics and character of the movement as a whole. And if the character and ethics are poor, it either will not last, or if it lasts, no real good will come of it.
I agree that Occupy has become part of the problem and doesn't really seem to care about the 99%. They seem like a socialist front group.
1 person likes this
@jjzone44 (917)
• United States
19 Dec 11
Thank you for your comments!
I do think they have a socialist slant, and like you said, where were they when the bailouts started. They had a good idea when they appeared to want to gain attention to the majority of people who were negatively affected by bailouts, but now they seem to be more interested in just being disruptive. If they wanted to make a point, why not protest to try and get laws passed that would prevent the kind of speculative behavior by the banks and corporations that started this debacle in the first place?
1 person likes this
@theknute (183)
•
19 Dec 11
They may try getting laws changed like you stated, who knows? But to me, Occupy seems like a fragmented group that does not know what it wants, aside from attention.
ACORN's involvement bothers me, as does paying people an hourly wage to show up at the protest.
There still seems to be no solid headship to the group. Winter may cause the protests to cease. Time will tell.
1 person likes this
@andy77e (5156)
• United States
19 Dec 11
Well, all socialism requires an enormous amount of ignorance, and anger. That's something many Americans have an abundance of right now.
We had a crash. Instead of saying "hey we were dumb, and got loans we could not afford".... we say "DARN THOSE BANKS!"
I have a saying that I've used for years "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers".
Unfortunately, there are a ton of stupid people right now. It's difficult to know how long this moron train will run before it runs out of stupidity to chug on.
1 person likes this
@theknute (183)
•
19 Dec 11
LOL @ "DARN THOSE BANKS!"
2 words: financial education.
If that was valued, there would be no Occupy. No bailout either. And no CASH FOR CLUNKERS lolololol!
There needs to be more of an introspection here. "Why are we in this mess to begin with?" "Instead of changing the "flawed system", is there a way to fix my own financial problems?" But some people don't want to learn. They want the gov't to erase their mortgage since Fannie Mae got bailed out.
@knoodleknight18 (917)
• United States
19 Dec 11
Well I like the occupy movement for a lot of reasons. They've made some real breakthroughs. For one they left their computers long enough to protest. It brought national attention, it's somewhat well organized, it has enough support and recognition to actually make a difference.
I can relate to them to a degree. The stupidity of that is enraging, at least a Bush like tactic of sending everyone a check would have made people happy and helped the economy some. I can agree wall street and the stock market was never really good for the economy, it lead to the great depression about 80 years ago and it's pretty much causing a repeat. 90% of the stock market is nothing but people playing a new form of the lottery, not actually investing in a business.
What I don't like is, they don't have a clear message, they're like the 2010s version of the 60s hippies with better tools and skills but less direction. They didn't stop the NDAA like they probably should have. They got the attention but now they don't really have a clear message of how to change things.
