I know it's damn near old news, but I think I want to write about the Occupy movement. I'm not going to get into much news or background, because that's what Google is for.
I honestly haven't been watching the Occupy movement very closely, but I have been doing some thinking on the topic. I thought the whole Occupy Wall Street thing was completely ridiculous and stupid, and that they were going about solving their problems the wrong way, and that got me thinking about what these protesters should have done...
Which was exactly the goal of the protest, so I guess it wasn't that stupid after all. Hopefully someone comes up with a solution, because I don't have one. I can only identify the problem and hope that someone smarter than me can fix it.
The main complaint is that 1% of the people control 99% of the wealth. I'm not sure where those statistics come from, but whatever. It is the perception that counts.
Fact is, as reported by Forbes Magazine (I just looked this up), Bill Gates is worth $56 Billion. That's just one example. There's all kinds of people worth stupid amounts of money like that. Those of us that make $30,000/yr and have a net worth of $4.75 have started really taking exception to that. The question I think the Occupy protesters have on their minds is "What the fuck do you need all that money for?"
Good question. I don't have that kind of money, so I can't answer it.
What do the protesters want done? I've heard the phrase "abolish the class system". Officially, the western world doesn't really have a class system, but realistically, it certainly does. Ever since we figured out how to use our thumbs to grip sticks to hit each other with, there has been an aristocracy. I don't see this ever changing.
The history of aristocracy in our society started with the guys that could fight best being in charge of the people who sewed leathers together. It evolved into nobility. Democracy made nobility obsolete. The aristocracy is now the major shareholders of large corporations.
The problem isn't the existence of an aristocracy, but the excessive power they seem to have over the common folk. Democratic governments cater to these large corporations to get their hands on some of the tax revenue to effectively run their respective countries. They have to, otherwise these corporations will take their business elsewhere and another government well get all the money (and power). The problem is the rich/poor gap. It's gotten so damned huge. Bill Gates's net worth: $56,000,000,000.00. Tyrel McLelland's net worth: ? (I'm not wearing pants right now, so I can't count the change in my pocket)
We cannot abolish the class system. Simply can't be done. It's been tried. There have been so many revolutions over the ages. The guys with sticks got beat down by the nerds who had enough of being hit with sticks and figured out how to tie rocks onto the ends of their sticks. The French got upset with their rich/poor gap and cut the heads off their nobility with a really neat invention called the Guillotine. Now, the common folk are at a similar point again, and the warning signs are all there. When Marie Antoinette had mobs camped outside her walls starving, she didn't recognize that there was actually a problem that needed fixing. She allegedly said "Qu’ils mangent de la brioche." or "let them eat cake". This ended up making her a lot shorter. I really hope the currently aristocracy sees the warning signs and comes up with a solution, or they may meet a similar fate, figuratively or literally. I have no idea. I hope it doesn't come to that, but I do think that the onus is likely on the corporations to come up with a solution before there is a major issue. Maybe spend some of that R&D money on solving this problem?
Now, I want to talk about the protesters for a minute. Search "occupy wall street - police" on YouTube. You will see the police trying to clear public and commercial areas of protesters who are passively (and sometimes actively) resisting. When the people don't cooperate, the police use varying levels of force to move them. Keep an open mind while watching this. Now read the comments below the video. Wow, eh? Police sure are evil bastards. In order to join the police, you must have a real hate on for your fellow man, right?
The Mayor of New York ordered the police to distribute orders to the Occupy protesters in the park saying that for public safety and general cleanliness, everyone had to leave the park. After everything was cleaned up, they would be allowed to return. Seems fair to me, no?
Everyone has taken the stand of the government is trying to control what we do in our spare time on public land. Bullshit. The hygiene and attitude of the place was downright scary. It needed doing.
I'm not going to dwell on that part of the point. The main point is this park had been taken over by the protesters. It was not available for the enjoyment of the public anymore. If you weren't a protester, it was an unpleasant place to be.
I watched other videos of people sitting in front of commercial buildings. I don't mean Wall Street Stock Exchange buildings, I mean little ma & pa shops downtown. With all the protesters camped out on the street in front of these businesses, these poor people had to close their stores and run like hell. There were no customers travelling the area, and who knows when protesters might turn violent and start looting and hurting people?
Thank God that the protesters didn't get violent. At least they haven't, yet. The police aren't the problem in this case! The police are still trying to do their jobs and maintain general law and order. Yes, the protesters have the right to be protesting. In fact, I encourage it. Everyone else's rights need to be remembered, too.
That's the Occupy movement in Ty's view. Feel free to comment.
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