Forum Post: I had an epiphany today
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 14, 2011, 11:55 a.m. EST by ArrestAllCEOS
(115)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
I was participating in the drum circle over here at Zuccotti Park, celebrating the fact that the 1% backed down to our sheer power of love and compassion and decided to let us stay. While my brothers and sisters in arms were talking about the man and sipping on their Venti Lattes I suddenly had a great vision that blew over me like an imposing dark rain cloud.
What if we are wrong? What is the reason that education costs are so high is because of big government? What if the reason for the housing crisis was because of big government? My fellow travelers here at the park want the government to do their bidding for more taxation but what if we are wrong? Why are we being funded by millionaires and billionaires including George Soros?
I felt sick to my stomach. I had to do a few healing rituals and then participated in the collectivist assembly while holding my hand up and wiggling my fingers around and repeating the speaker in the hypnotizing collective. I felt a little better, but what if we are still wrong? Please assure me brothers.
While this is obvious snark, the actual reasoning behind it is accurate. Please, pray tell, what corporation has ever made you do anything or force you to do anything? Do they advertise to you, appeal to you? Yes. Force you? No. Think about the things you are forced to do. Pay tolls on highways? Government. Income, sales, personal property and real estate taxes? Government. Car inspection and licensing fees? Government. Gasoline taxes? government. Sin taxes? Government. Anyone make you take out a mortgage? No. Any company force you to buy an Ipad, Iphone, MacBook, your new pair of designer sunglasses? No. How 'bout your beer, cigarettes, or brand name food? No. Corporations compete for your business, on a daily basis. Government does not. Until the government takes our money seriously and spends it wisely, not another dime. Government is structured to spend it foolishly. I can give you a very small example, one that hopefully you can extrapolate and realize that you're not getting screwed by corporations, you're getting screwed by the government. I was negotiating a lease with the General Services Administration real estate guy, and the government, in their wise forecasting, makes all people who wish to lease them space provide an addendum for all kinds of individual items that the government might wish to have installed at a later date (after the lease has been signed), things like duplex outlets, light fixtures, carpeting, coffee bars, etc. And you have to give them a fixed cost for each item for the entire length of the lease term (typically 5 or 10 years)! So you are supposed to forecast your costs years in advance and give them a cost you figure will cover it (in practice, you inflate the current cost for said item). The GSA guy already has his little cost list for these items. So I tell the guy duplex outlets will cost $40 each installed, and he tells me that he can only allow $38 for each outlet (my $40 was already inflated due to my not knowing how much the materials or labor might be in 8 years), but promises to make it up to me on another item. We get to the coffee bar, and I tell him the cost is $800, and he tells me that he can allow $1700 for that, so guess what, the $1700 is inserted for the cost of the coffee bar. And lo and behold, six months after they move in the space, what happens but they lady running the GSA office orders up a couple of new coffee bars, and some other upgrades before the end of the year comes because she hasn't spent her budget yet, and she's afraid if she doesn't they'll cut her budget the next year. And this, ladies and gentleman of the cause, is what's wrong in a microcosm with our government, and why you should be in Washington and not New York. Not to say that Wall St. shouldn't be prevented from being able to bring the nation to its knees with derivative trading, but the salaries of the wealthy and the small amount of additional tax revenue they'd generate that is so focused on is just a gnat on a rhino's ass. We do not need government "targets" for homeownership or anything else, which allowed bankers to loan money to people who had no business qualifying for the kind of credit they were allowed to qualify for, which helped Wall St. sell these tranches of horse manure. Back to basics folks, work, save, don't borrow more than you can easily afford, get educated, and for the ladies, don't have babies in your teens or without a form of support. And for all who can, work for yourself, not for someone else (I know this is not feasible for many, but most people have unique abilities they don't know they have, and if they find it, can put it to work for themselves making money).
"Big Government' is a reductionist line of failed logic which disregards the nuances and subtleties to corruption. It's bandied around as some grand epiphany when it is in fact, just another lame, simplistic line used by people hoping to avoid actually having to study the machinery of government and private institutions codependency.
well said
Amusing but the wrong way to go about initiating discussion.
Obvious Paulite troll is obvious.
Uh...yeah. Obvious troll is obvious.
Rest assured this is a special place in hell for trolls....lol
http://www.getmoneyout.com/ lets make a structural change that solves problems. You won't / can't define this with your fox news analysis and framing. This is not a counter culture mob for the acquisition others fairly earned money. This could help us all. This fix first so the taxes we pay are handled better by our reps and not corp puppets that do want bigger gov
Does your brain operate on 'binary' logic? Is everything either 1's or 0's to you? #1 - The greed and corruption on Wall Street, and in Corporate America, has got Washington D.C. by the balls. #2 - It has gotten so bad, that we now have a government in Washington D.C. who's sole purpose is to suck on the teat of the greed and corruption on Wall Street, and in Corporate America. Is that not obvious to you? We need "Separation of Boardroom and State". We need to put an end to Lobbyists and Campaign Contributions influencing our Political process. By protesting Wall Street, you are also protesting the Government that SERVES Wall Street.
Awesome rant troll ..Thanks for joining the protest... I think we should kick them all out and rely on local government. Just default on the debt it just paper. keep drumming in liberty park
This movement that is blowing in the wind across the country is about changing the way we communicate. We have the opportunity to become the example of what our society could be. In the park you all have found a way to make chooses that are best for the whole community. Decision are made on consensus based agreements, individuals have the ability to address large groups of people at a time and know that they are being heard because the person is repeating back their words. You all have shown respect for the place you are occupying proving your regard for the larger community as a whole. Let this experience change how we all interact in the future and not just be aware of small perspective we have on this earth but a larger picture from all viewpoints in the world.
What is wrong with ending corruption in the government, and getting representation from our representatives?
This movement may contain socialists, and tea partiers, but the 99% are united by simpler ideals.
You're just NOW realizing this?
You’ll remain a slave!
govt is something we can change if there is a goal that the 99%( 299 million people) can get behind see warren buffet`s solution ! MAYBE the leader and a clear goal!