We have them protesting in the city... Last evening my husband and I went over to the outdoor shopping mall where the main protest was happening. We noticed after they disbanded for the night... they went to Coldstone Creamery.
Sigh.
I have a ton of friends on facebook who keep reposting all of the stuff from the Occupy page... and there doesn't seem to be any actual point to any of it but just blame and conspiracy. I personally find the fault more with congress than the big businesses. But I wont go into all of that here
When in reality the original point of the protest was for a good reason most Americans do agree with.
The ones I've talked to are protesting the obscene amounts of money the big banks are just sitting on and not loaning out. They are angry that we bailed out the banks but now the banks aren't really trying to help the country--only themselves. One fellow said that the banks are sitting on trillions--enough money that if they loaned it out at decent rates they could probably end the entire world recession, but instead they are not trying to help people with it. They are only trying to fatten up their own pockets by foreclosing on more and more people who have been laid off from their jobs because of this downturn. He was protesting because he did believe it is a conspiracy by the banks to control all the housing so that people are forced to rent homes instead of buying. That way the banks get their monthly payments and still get to own the property.
Another person was protesting because he felt that big business was being paid by the government (via the messed-up tax code) to move jobs overseas--including HIS job, btw--instead of being required to bring jobs home in order to get those tax write-offs. He was angry because every time a company sends jobs overseas, their stock goes up instead of down, so the company gets a second reward for giving it in the neck to the workers of this country.
Sure there are lots of kids just doing dumb stuff out there, but there ARE legitimate gripes. However, you cannot expect news outlets who are owned by GE (one of the biggest outsourcers of jobs) and other major corporations to actually report that part of it, now can you? Instead they video all the kids taking dumps and being dumb to distract us from what the protesters really are protesting about. People just want JOBS.
JMO
Rusty
edited to add that unlike what Cain says, people are not just lazy and refusing to work and wanting everything just handed to them. Millions of people are looking for work every day. They do want jobs. They just don't want to have to move to Mexico or China or India to get them.
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The ones I've talked to are protesting the obscene amounts of money the big banks are just sitting on and not loaning out. They are angry that we bailed out the banks but now the banks aren't really trying to help the country--only themselves. One fellow said that the banks are sitting on trillions--enough money that if they loaned it out at decent rates they could probably end the entire world recession, but instead they are not trying to help people with it. They are only trying to fatten up their own pockets by foreclosing on more and more people who have been laid off from their jobs because of this downturn. He was protesting because he did believe it is a conspiracy by the banks to control all the housing so that people are forced to rent homes instead of buying. That way the banks get their monthly payments and still get to own the property.
Another person was protesting because he felt that big business was being paid by the government (via the messed-up tax code) to move jobs overseas--including HIS job, btw--instead of being required to bring jobs home in order to get those tax write-offs. He was angry because every time a company sends jobs overseas, their stock goes up instead of down, so the company gets a second reward for giving it in the neck to the workers of this country.
Sure there are lots of kids just doing dumb stuff out there, but there ARE legitimate gripes. However, you cannot expect news outlets who are owned by GE (one of the biggest outsourcers of jobs) and other major corporations to actually report that part of it, now can you? Instead they video all the kids taking dumps and being dumb to distract us from what the protesters really are protesting about. People just want JOBS.
JMO
Rusty
Yes
This is why they are protesting on Wall Street - I can say that because I live here and I support what they are doing 100 percent. They are civil, legal, clean and also now have schools going there for day trips to show the kids what it is to protest in a civil manner. People are donating money, food, water, solar energy, etc. for their basic needs. However, is it doing anything at all for their cause? Is it causing the government to take any action? I don't see it.That is a disappointment
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What it amounts to is people who don't want to be responsible for anything, but have everything.
$20 mimimum wage.
Get a paycheck whether you work or not.
Free healthcare.
Free college education.
All debts forgiven.
Sounds like the kind of people, anyone trying to run a legitimate business would want to hire.
I spent several hours this spring helping a friend who wanted to plant a garden. Basically, I did all the work. His life was too busy to even turn on the sprinkler....Why?....Because, as the saying goes, he had no skin in the game.
What would be the use of a college education, if it cost the student nothing, except a number of years of irresponsible living?
The majority of the shop owners near Occupy Wall St. are tired of the crowd....They think that they are owed free food, drink and stuff. They come in, use the bathroom to clean up, use the all the toilet paper to dry with and leave, without any recompense.
How come hard working people, who are struggling day to day, to keep their head above water, are required to carry the load for a bunch of WILLFUL slackers?
And I get my news from the largest news gathering source in the world....Drudge.
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Interesting. So it's somewhat against "big business" and banks? But it's for loaning money and providing of jobs? I'm slow on the uptake, but I thought the two went hand in hand.
Well... I am glad I am not the only one who hasn't a clue what the protest is about.
I have heard a few maybes here and maybe it started out as a legitimate cause but it seems as if it is a wanna be Tea Party but lacks the intelligentsia of organization and evidently TP or a porta-potti.
Protesting in America has become a lifestyle of sorts it seems. Whatever happen to raising a family (not under a bridge) getting married, a job, and contributing to society making it better and not relying on donated food and refreshments? I mean these people are not heroes by any stretch of the imagination and I am referring to the ones that jump on a protest for the thrill they get out of it or just something not as mundane as video games in mom's basement.
People are looking for someone to blame is what I get out of it instead of doing their part. Wall street is not the one to blame or big corporations or the government. We have a free market and the best country for opportunity. If you are destitute and jobless get off your butt forget whining about not having a job and create one. I looked at the job pages on CL (stopped looking after 10 pages 100 listings per page) and other sources and there are jobs out there if it were not so we would not be importing our labor. I have worked those low paying jobs in my youth and thankfully I am not doing them now but I would if I had too. Can anyone say "nanny state"?
As for the banks... do you blame them for not loaning money? I would not loan money to people that are not responsible. I cannot think of one foreclosure made because the borrower is making payments... sell the goodies and make your payments.
Thanks to the bailout banks can now invest all the money they get from the federal reserve in the stock market and that is what they are doing 3 or 4% guaranteed interest is better than a defaulted loan.
Their message is certainly not coherent by any means and some of their message is downright offensive. I've seen a lot of the sad stories like the 60 year old unemployed portrait painter or the 2 time convicted felon who can't find a job because he dresses like a gang banger. Whose fault is it when people place themselves in a niche profession or make themselves unemployable (dressing and acting like a gang banger will never get you a job when there are many more qualified people out there). A person with a BA in ancient Greek art studies is probably going to have to flip burgers or wait tables to pay off their $40K student loan.