Occupy Wall Street: For What Reason?

The “Occupy-Fill-In-The-Blank” movement is curious to me.

It started on Wall Street and has spread to other cities around the country, including right here in Portland.

While I can sympathize with the frustration of many Americans over the current state of the economy and the excessive wealth of a very few—the so-called 1%--- embodied by the term “Wall Street”(in comparison to those in dire economic straits), I must admit that I am at a loss concerning their objective.

In Portland, driving down Congress Street by Monument Square, I see signs that:

1) Decry the politicians who have betrayed us
2) Express outrage at the war in Afghanistan
3) Implore the government to “create” jobs
4) Call for the prosecution of Wall Street executives
5) Complain about excessive taxes.

The list goes on. If you have a gripe, you’ll be welcome at the pity party, regardless of its nature and in absence of any solution that might be proposed.

I guess that’s why I am confused.

I know what each of them is AGAINST. I just don’t know what ANY of them are FOR!

Check out the video below:





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrPGoPFRUdc

Now there’s a seemingly intelligent young man who cannot for the life of him articulate one good reason why someone should pay his college tuition, other than, of course, because that’s what he wants.

While the reporter is sometimes inaccurate in castigating him over taxation, he knows that he is dealing with someone who has spent more time creating his protest sign than he did in thinking about why’s he’s there in the first place.

Worlds collide when I find myself agreeing with Newt Gingrich over ANYTHING, but I think the old sourpuss was dead-on in his assessment of the protests the other night, essentially dividing the throngs into two groups:

1) The extreme left fringe that jumps at the chance to protest against anything—and
2) Many serious and thoughtful people who have arrived without an agenda other than a need to express their frustration.

I think that’s accurate.

At some point, however, the crowds will disperse—and not because their demands have been satisfied. They’ll leave because it’s getting colder by the day and the deaf ear they’ve been shown so far will continue. Their lack of cohesion over a satisfactory outcome will do them in. In the end, they’ll be reinforced in their conviction that the system is rigged to favor those who control the vast majority of the country’s wealth.

Dejected, they will wearily go back to the unemployment line.

MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan has a petition drive that also taps into the discontent, but one that has a specific purpose—the introduction and ratification of a Constitutional Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to prohibit campaign contributions.

The premise is simple. Our politicians are bought by corporations and special interests.
Campaign contributions are the grease that slide them into office. Once elected, these politicians orient federal legislation and regulations to protect and favor these wealthy contributors. The net effect is a system where the collective good of the country’s population is subordinated to the wealth-generating goals of those few who quite literally have bought Congress. By eliminating the corrupt cash from the system, the will of the people would then prevail in the settlement of any issue.

Agree or disagree, at least there is a specific outcome targeted.

The website link is here: http://www.getmoneyout.com/

As of this writing there were nearly 200,000 signatures. Will the effort be successful? Maybe a long shot, but I have to give Ratigan credit for soliciting some bright minds to draft an amendment that is concise and would be a game changer if passed.

Of course, no one who has purchased their Congress member wants to see this---and they would undoubtedly operate the marionette strings to keep this from reaching the floor of the House.

Cynical?Maybe, but politicians everywhere had better start to realize that many Americans are starting to recoil against the corruption that’s been part of the American landscape for as long as anyone can remember.

The squeezed middle class has woken up.

Not having a job has afforded them the time to realize, perhaps for the first time just how the game is played. It’s a game they are losing.

If you are lucky to have a job, you are still losing. America itself is losing—and only a gravitational shift in the way we approach our system will correct the problem.

So, do you align more with the protesters or the status quo?
What are YOU for?


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