Forum Post: Misguided efforts
Posted 12 years ago on Sept. 18, 2012, 11 a.m. EST by swkrwithnojob
(7)
from Hauppauge, NY
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
First I would like state that this movement has many valid and important points, but I must say that I think that, unfortunately, the messages you are all sending are being received as immature and inappropriate. You are in the wrong place. You are protesting at the NYSE, which,for the most part, houses hard working middle class employees. I know this because my husband works on the floor. Yes, he makes a decent living, approx $130k per year with $10k yearly bonus. Now I would not even begin to complain about his earnings at all, but I know that many of the occupiers believe that the "1%" are the people working in that iconic building, and I assure you that they do not! Honestly, you are truly affecting regular middle class people. My husband has been spit on, pushed, harassed and threatened. Many of the occupiers he has try to engage in intellectual conversations have been misinformed, mislead and, frankly, just targeting their own peers. You would have much more of an intellectual impact if you were to inform yourselves with the locations of the REAL 1%, at their offices and homes and inconvenience and disrupt THEIR lives. That would have a much greater impact and you wouldn't alienate those that truly feel much the same as most of the occupiers! Find out where the CEOS of Goldman and BOA and all the other financial, insurance and Union Leaders and Grimy Politicians, School Superintendents etc live and work and occupy there! You need to get it right for this all to work and stop barking up the wrong trees people!
I think there are so many disenfranchised Americans that really don't know how to go about voicing their concerns that they feel a connection to any movement that speaks to their desperation. That is why the movement comes off as chaotic and immature. There are so many different agendas going on and that gets all mixed in with angry,desperate and alienated Americans who want something to be done. They just come off as uninformed and disrespectful
Oh I agree and many have tried, unfortunately, many have lost their jobs for blowing whistles on corruption. The Gov't has played the largest part in covering up this disgusting misuse of the public's trust. There are MANY honest and hardworking men and women that work in the financial industry.
last thing I'll say. In today's economy, you know what creates jobs? PROBLEMS! Thats right. If you dont have infrastructure problems you dont need workers to maintain and repair damage. If you dont have such high rates of obesity and heart disease, you wont need so many doctors, if you can automate transportation for good using MagLev Trains (please look it up), you dont need truck drivers and freight companies. Simply put, we need to automate things as much as possible, while maximizing the utilization of the human mind, which is the most powerful force in the universe. It is that which has allowed us to advance so much, and invent and create. We need all people to become educators, researchers, and inventors. We can be! We are all full of unimited mental potential. But the Market Economy shuts that down. It requires our time to be spent on mindless (usually) physical tasks that require almost no mental and creative thought. And that is a horrible waste of a human mind. Please look into the venus project for more on this beautiful vision. Peace and good luck to you all
think for a second: If I work as a salesman, or a doctor, or engineer, or whatever. What am I doing? Am I contributing to the betterment of all people? Or in the end of the day, am I just competing in the job force to maintain my advantage and bring money home for myself and MY family? And what if other people want my job, and it is scarce and not available to them...then what? Is that fair? so you see...the focus of our society is extremely selfish and immature. We need to work together as a society, to create a system that rewards collaboration, and discourages selfishness and competition. A resource based economy will do JUST THAT. Please look it up, thank you
It would be awesome if the workers of wallstreet all stood up against the illegal practices that caused the economic meltdown - toxic fraudulent products, it would be awesome to see workers at the mega monster banks all stand up and denounce the practices of their employers - like illegal foreclosures and usury lending/credit.
It's not there job to save you from the world. Try demanding the same from your dem party 1% until then why should anyone listen to you?
What? You think that the wallstreet workers who know about the illegal activities of their employers should just say and do nothing?
That depends, every situation is different. I'm sure you know people who break the law do you turn them all in? Ideally they should but life is more complicated than that and you know it
So you are saying that it is ok for people to turn a blind eye to illegal practices which crashed the economy of the USA and of Europe? Put millions of people out into the street. U R OK with that?
There's much more than that crashed te Eco. And yes you can't make people get involved they have to want to. You can't legislate morality it has ti be taught even then it may not take. But for you to think every level of work on wall street has an exact or any other level of knowledge about what the top ring is doing is naive.
Apparently you have never worked in a world wide organization. The janitor/maintenance people know as much about what is happening as many executive level management. So do receptionists assistants etc etc etc and they all have friends and coworkers that they talk to. The grapevine can be very efficient and informative.
Why people think they know and what they actually know are seldom the same. I do work in a 1 Trillion dollar global company and rumors always everywhere and most of tem are no where near the truth
You would know what was truth and what was rumor - Because?
You see I worked at Control Data Corporation an international employer - and we the employees were aware of their failing structure while they were saying that CDC was in the glory days. Much like Enron lied to it's employees while dumping what stock holdings they had as fast as they could. Then CDC started with their world wide series of mass layoffs and sales of their real-estate holdings as well as sales of sibling business concerns.
You would know what was truth and what was rumor - Because? The same applies to you. My point was rumor mills are always going some truth out of them and some outright lies. The trick is figuring out which is which,
The figuring out what is what comes with experience.
Well, perhaps they could, but at the risk of their own livelihood. But when do people take responsibility for one's own behavior and actions and understand the consequences? When I bought my home 12 years ago, I put a 20% downpayment and took a mortgage that I knew I could afford with enough leftover to save in case of job loss etc. My husband and I went to colleges that we paid and took out loans for based on what we could afford and paid them off by doing without a BMW or luxuries. What is the responsibility of that homeowner or student that decided to take out hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy beyond their means, knowing that their salary would not pay. They go into default, blame the banks and get their slates cleaned at the expense of the hardworking, taxpaying educated American. Really?? People bought Tahoes and Suburban SUVs then complained at the price of gas and blamed the oil company. People buy the products that are made by corporations who are corrupt, complain about those corporations and so on and so on...
At the risk of their own livelihood. Yes that would be true - whistle blowers are often times punished. It is wrong but it does happen. So basically you are in agreement that wallstreet engages in illegal activities. In which case the wallstreet workers who are in fear for their livelihood and are disgusted with their employers practices should be cheering for OWS and all Occupy groups and movements for speaking out on what they themselves can ( will ) not.
Before the crash which was also helped into being by runaway gas prices at the pumps due to unregulated speculation. Most people were doing what was in their budget. Guess what? 2008 - BUST - Closed businesses - lost jobs - failure to pay what was once affordable in the budget.
People should be able to buy a Tahoe or a Suburban or a Lincoln Navigator. But all of these vehicles as well as all new vehicles being made today - should be using alternative power - like electric combined perhaps with a hydrogen fuel cell - HYBRIDS.
BTW - in case you were not aware OWS and all Occupy groups are addressing all of the corruptions in business industry and government.
My question is: What does hard work have anything to do with prosperity and progress? Did Einstein toil like a slave doing mindless tasks all his life? No! He used his hours wisely and investigated life from an angle we cannot fathom. That goes with all great thinkers. Being a slave, and working for the financial powers (any job fits into this) is NOT something that should be looked at with honor. I understand that unfortunately we all have to work to make ends meet, thats what the system demands of us. But what Im trying to say is, what we need ultimately is NOT jobs. Its resources. and they are abundant on this planet and can be given to all. We have to make up our minds, declare our resources for the common heritage of all, and utilize the most up to date scientific and technological methods of providing abundance and sustainability to all. And then we can focus on "jobs", which in the future will not be mindless hours wasted on boring and reppetitive tasks, but on selectively utilized efforts to improve the life of man as a whole
And who then, will fix your toilet when it clogs, or babysit your child while your "great" mind is out "thinking". or fix your Technology when it is broken?
just a simple example: Do you know of a house called a Monolithic dome? Its an egg shaped residential unit (which exists in few numbers around the world today), which is earthquake proof, fireproof, hurricane and tornado proof. It keeps 80% more heat during the winter, and keeps the home cool 80% more efficient during the summer. Requires basically ZERO maintenance, since the house is not built on toothpicks (AKA wooden studs), but rather a cement surrounding. It allows for up to 55% more sunlight to come in, since you can make more windows, AND maximizes living space by much more than a standard home. Im fascinated by such technology, technology of which by the way has been around for more than 70 years. Why are we not using such technology? Its simple, insurance companies need to keep their profits, and people employed, AND jobs are created through fixing walls, toilets, flooring, roofing, etc. Im being dead honest, please on youtube, lookup a monolithic dome. And get back to me, I wanna see what you think
ill tell you what, thats actually very easy to answer. Perhaps the integrity of the plumbing parts are in question, that they need to be repaired in the first place, and perhaps its better if people are educated on fixing their OWN toilets, etc. They can be, why not? Its called education. I happen to know how to fix my toilet, my home, and how to grow my food (not at all trying to show off). Just trying to show how important education is. And taking care of children is not done even remotely at the right level these days, since people are away at their "jobs". Parents and the community as a whole should take the task, or the honor, of raising the children, if there arent mindless jobs to be had. back to the toilet, any part of infrastructure maintenance in today's world is a fraud, since things are created inferior in quality the second they come out of manufacturing, for the sake of maintaining jobs and cyclical consumtion, to keep the circulation of money going
The majority of ows protesters have no idea what ows even stands for. Many of them are paid to protest by the far left wing nut jobs