I saw a video of Michael Moore the other day talking about this movement which pretty much reminds me of his movie Capitalism:A Love Story. So now a bunch of people are occupying Wall St and it's spreading to other cities around the world, 100 in total so far.
“Occupy Wall Street is a leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions,” reads a statement on the website. “The one thing we all have in common is that we are the 99 percent that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1 percent,” the statement says. “We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants.”
So what's the opinion, ANR fam? Just a fad?
And ya gotta admit... this is a great protest slogan.
So far, it's a bunch of disorganized people with no clear goal other than a vague "clean up corporate America." Most of the protesters I've seen interviewed can't even clearly articulate what they are actually are against or how they want to affect change. I imagine once Winter starts, most of these people are gonna quickly lose their enthusiasm for sitting in rain and snow day after day picketing.
This kind of unsettled dislike for Wall Street is nothing new through out history. I just read about this today. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_bombing
I had know idea. At that point it was the biggest act of terrorism on US soil.
12:01 p.m. on September 16, 1920
At noon, a horse-drawn wagon passed by lunchtime crowds on Wall Street in New York City and stopped across the street from the headquarters of the J.P. Morgan bank at 23 Wall Street, on the Financial District's busiest corner. Inside, 100 pounds (45 kg) of dynamite with 500 pounds (230 kg) of heavy, cast-iron sash weights exploded in a timer-set detonation,[3] sending the slugs tearing through the air.[4] The horse and wagon were blasted into small fragments, but the driver was believed to have left the vehicle and escaped.
The 38 victims, most of whom died within moments of the blast, were mostly young people who worked as messengers, stenographers, clerks and brokers. Many of the wounded suffered severe injuries.[5] The bomb caused more than $2 million in property damage ($23 million inflation adjusted) and destroyed most of the interior spaces of the Morgan building.[6]
Although the site I'm linking is clearing unreliable for most anything... the story is good in the sense that it is pointing out the irony and hypocrisy of the movement. http://www.infowars.com/occupy-wall-str ... -of-obama/
"These young people are speaking for the vast majority of Americans who are frustrated by the bankers and brokers who have profited on the backs of hard-working people," Hanley added in a statement. "While we battle it out day after day, month after month, the millionaires and billionaires on Wall Street sit by -- untouched -- and lecture us on the level of our sacrifice."
ellis wrote:Also... the unions are getting involved now.
I think these ignorant kids may have woken up the sleeping giant of hard-working, blue collar Americans.
Yeah, because modern day unions are all about helping the working class.
Cynicism aside, when you consider the fact that a giant chunk of the unions retirement account values vanished almost overnight... I can comfortably say that the sleeping giant has finally found an opportunity to march to the financial district of NYC.
ellis wrote:Also... the unions are getting involved now.
I think these ignorant kids may have woken up the sleeping giant of hard-working, blue collar Americans.
Yeah, because modern day unions are all about helping the working class.
Cynicism aside, when you consider the fact that a giant chunk of the unions retirement account values vanished almost overnight... I can comfortably say that the sleeping giant has finally found an opportunity to march to the financial district of NYC.
ellis wrote:Although the site I'm linking is clearing unreliable for most anything... the story is good in the sense that it is pointing out the irony and hypocrisy of the movement. http://www.infowars.com/occupy-wall-str ... -of-obama/
That's hard to even read. The ignorance on both sides of the political spectrum is staggering. This country is in terrible shape and I fear for the future. If you haven't seen Idiocracy I suggest watching it. It's funny as hell, but depressing because it doesn't seem all that far fetched.
ellis wrote:Also... the unions are getting involved now.
I think these ignorant kids may have woken up the sleeping giant of hard-working, blue collar Americans.
Yeah, because modern day unions are all about helping the working class.
Cynicism aside, when you consider the fact that a giant chunk of the unions retirement account values vanished almost overnight... I can comfortably say that the sleeping giant has finally found an opportunity to march to the financial district of NYC.
I think those people are wasting their time...if you're using the same methods to make a statement that they were 40 years ago...you need to find some new methods...that being said I've done my fair share of protesting and aside from some temporary media coverage I've never seen it change a thing...as someone else said earlier, there's no real point to any of this occupation its just a bunch of vague shit going on and I would rather see these people out looking for jobs...I'm in Manhattan all week, there are plenty of help wanted signs out there...I don't know...
It appears that Anonymous will target nyse.com on Monday, Oct 10th in the afternoon.
TRANSCRIPT:
________________
Citizens of the World,
We are Anonymous.
For too long, the crimes of Wall Street bankers, CEOs, and a corrupt political system have created economic injustices that has gone unchallenged. A new civil rights movement has begun.
Today, the brave citizens of New York are standing up to these atrocities, a voice of reason in an ever-failing society. Over the past few days, thousands of people have chosen to take a stand against these injustices. The 1% has abused the freedom they have been given. We are taking to the streets to show the wealthy elite that we, the 99%, are no longer going to grease the gears of this abhorrent system.
The lifeblood of the country is the working class, without it our people and our economy will crumble. Those who sustain present-day colonialism are the enablers of modern-day fascism. Our government has granted hefty tax exemptions to the rich at the cost of our social services. We as taxpayers have served as the multi-billion dollar credit line to the companies and banks that continue to systematically abuse us.
We are here to say that we do matter. We will not be manipulated, threatened, or toyed with by the wealthy. No longer can you acquire profit and political power to our detriment.
These few people are running the world, and they are running it into the ground.
Political power cannot be traded or bought; it must be earned and agreed upon by the governed. This is our chance to show them that the people will not allow this to continue.
We are forced out of our homes. We are denied medical care. We suffer from poverty and pollution. We work long hours just to stay afloat, while the 1% reap benefits we can only imagine. Our sworn enemy is the corrupted corporation. --We are the 99%.
You have complained that something needs to be done. You now have an opportunity to make a difference.
Join the protests. Organize your own. Watch online. Be a part of the movement.
This is our movement. This is your moment.
Together, make history.
I love how these people rail against corporate bail outs, yet want more government regulation and more social services. You can't regulate something and not support it when it fails because of your regulations (sub prime loans). And the moral hazards created by personal bailouts are as dangerous as those created by corporate bailouts. It's like they're so close to understanding that government is the problem and they need to get out of all aspects of private business and private lives and then they go and fuck it all up.
I'm not sure how you pulled off that rhetorical move there, Hoka.
I will say that I tend not to think very highly of 'activist' movements in general, but that's mostly because I don't like "joining a cause", and the whole herd mentality it promotes. Not to mention 'activism' tends to invite the craziest of the crazies to speak louder than everyone else. On the "Occupy Toronto" facebook wall, there are anti-water-flouridation posts... which has nothing whatsoever to do with anything. It's like an entire massive group of OzMiCs.
With that in mind, I do also think that there is something to be said for opposing the corporate model at both the theoretical and practical levels, and that this can best be done by pushing for government regulations on corporate profits and business practices. This issue is separate from the one Hoka tries to connect to it (of specifically permitted parts of the banking industry leading to the crisis... in fact it wasn't regulation that led to that, but the opposite... deregulation...)
Adurentibus Spina wrote:
I will say that I tend not to think very highly of 'activist' movements in general, but that's mostly because I don't like "joining a cause", and the whole herd mentality it promotes. Not to mention 'activism' tends to invite the craziest of the crazies to speak louder than everyone else. On the "Occupy Toronto" facebook wall, there are anti-water-flouridation posts... which has nothing whatsoever to do with anything. It's like an entire massive group of OzMiCs.
The Toronto group is a mess. I read they were going to let the police know their plans so that there would be co-operation and no surprises. Then, at the last minute they did an about face. Apparently this group can't even decide what time to meet. I think they are trying to hard to be leaderless and it's resulting in total disorganization. Somebody has to be in charge of logistics and have some kind of plan. I think the problem is that there is no singular focus. People are trying to squeeze in all kinds of causes and grievances unrelated to what this movement is supposed to be about. I was reading in the NY Times today that one of the protesters there is calling for the removal of Andrew Jackson from the $20 bills because of brutality to American Indians.
