As the Occupy ...protests continue, we are gaining more of an understanding of their "goals". It appears as if they are protesting success and achievement. If someone has something, they want it but are unwilling to put in the effort to get it. If you want a Mercedes, you can work long hours and earn it or you can demand that you are owed a car like that which is the mantra of the Occupy groups.
Don't take my word for it, go to their site OccupyWallStreet.org and you will see it in their own words and actions. This is not your Tea Party rally. These are lawbreakers who ignore police orders to the extent they are arrested and pepper sprayed. Their signs are anti-capitalistic and pro-chaos.
To compare them to Tea Party members as the Administration has tried to do over the past couple days, it an insult to the law abiding, small government protesters who saw the financial troubles coming in early 2009 when the first rallies started. The Occupy folks want governmental hand outs, the Tea Party people want Washington out of their lives. The contrast could not be clearer.
Life never is fair. Sometimes people with above normal intelligence get stuck in everyday jobs while those who are more "street smart" advance rapidly and make millions. Other times luck comes to play when opportunity meets preparation. Being at the right spot at the time is definitely helpful. Other people make millions because they know how to make things and create articles that improve our lives. Most people who are successful in this country made the money themselves. Yes, some did inherit it or marry it (e.g. Theresa Heinz and John Kerry), but that is a vast minority.
There is an old Irish proverb which says: poor to rich to poor in three generations. I have seen that in my life also. It seems like for a lot of families, dad makes the money, son either continues to build the business or crashes it and grandson bankrupts it. (To be politically correct, you can substitute the female gender for all parties!) It is not always true, but for the vast majority it is.
So to blame the rich, who for the most part are the job creators, for the problems will be readily rectified in one or two more generations. Then there will be the "new" rich we can all admire or blame for our own failures.
These Occupy groups are trying to level the playing field by bringing down to their level, those who have achieved. We should be trying to raise everyone up, not bring those who are successful, down. To do that is not America, it is czarist Russia before the Revolution type thinking. This is not the route that the United States should be following.
You might have friends who believe themselves to be very intelligent and have other friends who have been successful. In our life it seems the underachieving bright people are always jealous of those who have done well. Why? It must be part of human nature or another reason might be that because school came so easy to the bright ones, they did not develop the skills to compete in the real world outside of the classroom. We all have known the very bright nerd who could not keep a job, because everyone was so "stupid" where they worked.
The impression we get is that the Occupy Wall Street people are jealous of the achievers. They want some of what they have. "It is not fair that he/she has four houses and I live in this crappy one bedroom apartment. I should have my own house!" This sounds eerily familiar with Russia, Cuba, China, Cambodia, Korea et. al.
One last comment. These protesters continue to rail against "business." Why are there no complaints about basketball, baseball, football players, musicians and actors? All of these people make millions for "entertaining" us. They produce nothing tangible yet they have not been condemned. In fact, Michael Moore who has made millions condemning business in his movies, spoke at the Occupy Wall Street rally. My guess it that as long as you are against business regardless of your millions, it is OK. If this is true, this is a confused message.
Bobby Eberle writes today more about this phenomena that is spreading across the US.
Don't take my word for it, go to their site OccupyWallStreet.org and you will see it in their own words and actions. This is not your Tea Party rally. These are lawbreakers who ignore police orders to the extent they are arrested and pepper sprayed. Their signs are anti-capitalistic and pro-chaos.
To compare them to Tea Party members as the Administration has tried to do over the past couple days, it an insult to the law abiding, small government protesters who saw the financial troubles coming in early 2009 when the first rallies started. The Occupy folks want governmental hand outs, the Tea Party people want Washington out of their lives. The contrast could not be clearer.
Life never is fair. Sometimes people with above normal intelligence get stuck in everyday jobs while those who are more "street smart" advance rapidly and make millions. Other times luck comes to play when opportunity meets preparation. Being at the right spot at the time is definitely helpful. Other people make millions because they know how to make things and create articles that improve our lives. Most people who are successful in this country made the money themselves. Yes, some did inherit it or marry it (e.g. Theresa Heinz and John Kerry), but that is a vast minority.
There is an old Irish proverb which says: poor to rich to poor in three generations. I have seen that in my life also. It seems like for a lot of families, dad makes the money, son either continues to build the business or crashes it and grandson bankrupts it. (To be politically correct, you can substitute the female gender for all parties!) It is not always true, but for the vast majority it is.
So to blame the rich, who for the most part are the job creators, for the problems will be readily rectified in one or two more generations. Then there will be the "new" rich we can all admire or blame for our own failures.
These Occupy groups are trying to level the playing field by bringing down to their level, those who have achieved. We should be trying to raise everyone up, not bring those who are successful, down. To do that is not America, it is czarist Russia before the Revolution type thinking. This is not the route that the United States should be following.
You might have friends who believe themselves to be very intelligent and have other friends who have been successful. In our life it seems the underachieving bright people are always jealous of those who have done well. Why? It must be part of human nature or another reason might be that because school came so easy to the bright ones, they did not develop the skills to compete in the real world outside of the classroom. We all have known the very bright nerd who could not keep a job, because everyone was so "stupid" where they worked.
The impression we get is that the Occupy Wall Street people are jealous of the achievers. They want some of what they have. "It is not fair that he/she has four houses and I live in this crappy one bedroom apartment. I should have my own house!" This sounds eerily familiar with Russia, Cuba, China, Cambodia, Korea et. al.
One last comment. These protesters continue to rail against "business." Why are there no complaints about basketball, baseball, football players, musicians and actors? All of these people make millions for "entertaining" us. They produce nothing tangible yet they have not been condemned. In fact, Michael Moore who has made millions condemning business in his movies, spoke at the Occupy Wall Street rally. My guess it that as long as you are against business regardless of your millions, it is OK. If this is true, this is a confused message.
Bobby Eberle writes today more about this phenomena that is spreading across the US.
Introducing the 'Something for Nothing' Protest
Down with evil corporations! No more big profits! No more corporate greed! Blah, blah, blah. Those slogans all sound great to a bunch of liberals who have nothing better to do than play video games, live at home, and not work. Why go out and earn a living when, for decades, liberals like Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and others are telling you that your plight is caused by the other guy... that you deserve what he has... and that the government will take from him and give to you. It's no wonder people are protesting. Going out and earning something on your own is so "old school."
The "Occupy Wall Street" movement is picking up steam. But what is it all about? If you look at the OccupyWallStreet.org web site, the description reads: "Occupy Wall Street is leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%." Hmmmm... the greed and corruption of the 1%? What is it these protesters want? One can only assume that they want MORE. More of what the rich have... more of what the rich control... more of what the rich enjoy.
If that is the case, then my response is: Go out and earn it! The rich pay most of the taxes, yet these protesters want them to pay even more. Why? I wish some reporters would actually ask these people if they know why they are protesting. If some rich guy is forced to pay even more in taxes, how does that help the average "Occupy Wall Street" protester? Will it get him or her a job? No. Will it buy him or her a fancy car? No. Jobs are created when job creators have an environment where they can grow. Fewer taxes and fewer regulations mean business owners can hire. Taxing these business owners makes them LESS likely to hire.
And as far as the fancy cars and boats and houses, you won't get those unless you go out and earn them! If you want to rely on the government, then you will trap yourself in a sub-standard level, because the government cannot artificially create a prosperous environment. If welfare and years of unemployment benefits are your cup of tea, then go ahead... demand more. Demand that the person working 20 hours a day to build a company or lead thousands of people pay more, so you can do less. This is insane!
Oh, and to top it off, now the Democrats are fully on board with this "movement about nothing." As Fox News reports, the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is now working on an online petition for those who want to "let billionaires, big oil and big bankers know that we're not going to let the richest 1% force draconian economic policies and massive cuts to crucial programs on Main Street Americans." Ugh! The massive cuts are due to the fact that people have been led to believe that BIG government is the only way. Now we have a government that can't afford to do what it said it was going to do, too inept to be able to do it anyway, and a population that would rather take from someone else than earn it themselves.
It just goes to show how the left-wing mindset and tactics work on people, and how terrible the results are. With the Tea Party movement, Americans were united in calling for smaller government, lower taxes, and less debt. It's about Americans versus big government. With these folks, it's about Americans versus Americans. How productive do you think that's going to be? Building a platform based on envy and jealousy is what the left is all about, and it is NOT the way to bring America together.
But they use it, because it works. It's just like the famous quote from George Bernard Shaw: "A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul."
The "Occupy Wall Street" movement is picking up steam. But what is it all about? If you look at the OccupyWallStreet.org web site, the description reads: "Occupy Wall Street is leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%." Hmmmm... the greed and corruption of the 1%? What is it these protesters want? One can only assume that they want MORE. More of what the rich have... more of what the rich control... more of what the rich enjoy.
If that is the case, then my response is: Go out and earn it! The rich pay most of the taxes, yet these protesters want them to pay even more. Why? I wish some reporters would actually ask these people if they know why they are protesting. If some rich guy is forced to pay even more in taxes, how does that help the average "Occupy Wall Street" protester? Will it get him or her a job? No. Will it buy him or her a fancy car? No. Jobs are created when job creators have an environment where they can grow. Fewer taxes and fewer regulations mean business owners can hire. Taxing these business owners makes them LESS likely to hire.
And as far as the fancy cars and boats and houses, you won't get those unless you go out and earn them! If you want to rely on the government, then you will trap yourself in a sub-standard level, because the government cannot artificially create a prosperous environment. If welfare and years of unemployment benefits are your cup of tea, then go ahead... demand more. Demand that the person working 20 hours a day to build a company or lead thousands of people pay more, so you can do less. This is insane!
Oh, and to top it off, now the Democrats are fully on board with this "movement about nothing." As Fox News reports, the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is now working on an online petition for those who want to "let billionaires, big oil and big bankers know that we're not going to let the richest 1% force draconian economic policies and massive cuts to crucial programs on Main Street Americans." Ugh! The massive cuts are due to the fact that people have been led to believe that BIG government is the only way. Now we have a government that can't afford to do what it said it was going to do, too inept to be able to do it anyway, and a population that would rather take from someone else than earn it themselves.
It just goes to show how the left-wing mindset and tactics work on people, and how terrible the results are. With the Tea Party movement, Americans were united in calling for smaller government, lower taxes, and less debt. It's about Americans versus big government. With these folks, it's about Americans versus Americans. How productive do you think that's going to be? Building a platform based on envy and jealousy is what the left is all about, and it is NOT the way to bring America together.
But they use it, because it works. It's just like the famous quote from George Bernard Shaw: "A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul."
The "job creators" had their taxes cut already. Their effective tax rate is around 16%, which is considerable below what the median income tax-payer pays. The "job creators" have created lots of jobs in the last decade overseas, not here, with federal government subsidies that actually reward them for moving jobs to China where they can hire young girls is sweat shops to work for extremely low wages. At the same time the 99% have lost their jobs, their homes, and their life savings to the Wall Street banks and corporations that moved their jobs overseas, as the corporations have prospered throughout this recession. The super rich are doing great. Raising their marginal rate by 3% won't deprive "job creators" of money they need to create jobs (they are already sitting on trillions of cash because the middle class has been demolished by the 2008 financial crisis and so there is little consumer demand). Without consumer demand, there is little incentive to companies to expand and hire. That is why the economy is stuck -- not because there are millions of people too lazy to work. The jobs simply are not there for everyone who is looking for work. What we need now is for Congress to pass this jobs bill to fund infrastructure repairs and get people back to work in this country. The incredible profits the Wall Street banks have was largely gained by securities fraud. It is time to take back some of that money and use it to rebuild the economy that they DELIBERATELY destroyed in order to increase their own personal wealth. I am sure people join the "Occupy Wall Street" movement for many reasons, but this will be MY reason for joining. I don't know how anybody can confuse the Tea Party with the OWS movement objectives. The Tea Party policy (cut taxes for the rich and deregulate banks) is the Wall Street bank agenda in a nutshell.
ReplyDelete-David
"It's just like the famous quote from George Bernard Shaw: "A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul."
ReplyDeleteAnd a government that helps Peter rob Paul can always depend on the support of Peter. That is why Wall Street spends hundreds of millions to buy politicians. I went to my first OWS rally today.
--David
David, What were your impressions of the OWS rally and in which city did you attend? Please write back, I think many have not attended a rally and would like your impressions.
ReplyDeleteDavid, if you will send your impressions to tom.conservativemusings1@gmail.com, I will post them as an original posting, not a comment.
ReplyDeleteLet's wait til I go to a couple more. There is no university in this town -- mostly older people and blue-collar workers. I am going to Seattle soon, and I think that group will be more typical for an OWS rally (students and other young people).
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, I wish you would post at least one article about the Wall Street banks and their activities instead of articles that demogauge the protest as a bunch of Bolsheviks. How about putting at least a LITTLE focus on the banks and the Federal Reserve? Vote Ron Paul.
--David
David, I am far from a supporter of the banks. They have been hogs at the Federal trough. They have done nothing to help with the problems in the housing industry. Very few mortgages have been modified, even though billions were given to the banks. Bank of America now starts charging $5 per month for using their debit card. (They encourage people to use the card and then they start charging so they can eliminate tellers.)
ReplyDeleteI have no faith in the Federal Reserve as it has become politicized. They have no idea how to solve the financial problems of the country and keep tinkering with few results. The reason, we need a collapse to clean out the junk in the system. I describe the Federal Reserve as a dam builder who keeps piling more dirt on top of the dam to hold more water back. The water gets higher and they pile more dirt on it. However, there comes a point in time when the pressure from the water (debt) is too strong and overwhelms the dam. The resulting flood is many times worse than it needed to be. That is what we are looking forward to.
Good. We seem to agree on the banks. In 2008, they gave most of their campaign contributions to Obama. This time they are giving Romney about 3 times more than Obama (but still hedging their bets). That is how they stay in control. To me, the OWS movement is akin to shining a bright light on the cockroaches.
ReplyDeleteFor about 25% of the virtually interest-free funny money the FED has doled out to Wall Street, they could have bought all the mortgages for about $400 billion. I am sick of this #$%@!
--David