Forum Post: OWS Still Afraid to Get Political?
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 29, 2011, 7:39 a.m. EST by hchc
(3297)
from Tampa, FL
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
With national elections coming up, who can argue that the entire process isnt bought. Its a joke. Its hysterical. The candidates to lead the country are pathetic, and so is the people's responses to these elections, that they allegedly control. So who is to blame? The parties that role out corrupted yes men every election, or the public, who is too lazy and apathetic to demands anything else?
On the right, we have a three headed circus of Perry, Romney and Cain. What a joke. Paul gets laughed at, even though he is the only one who wants to stop the killing. And where are Buddy Roemer (who backs OWS) and Gary Johnson. In my opinion, those three should be the lead horses.
On the left, we have just as much apathy. How can Democrats not be demanding someone else get up there? Where is Dennis Kucinich? Where is Elizabeth Warren?
Where are the third parties to represent the change? Where are the independent candidates to challenge the status quo? Where are the people in the streets demanding we have new leadership, platforms and change?
OWS doesnt want to get "political". Politicians are the only ones who can re-write the legislation that led to this fleecing. Seems to me the entire country still isnt ready to get serious.
"Politicians are the only ones who can re-write the legislation that led to this fleecing."
LOL! I love this argument. Sorry--writing laws doesn't prevent those laws from being broken. If that were the case, we wouldn't have any more murders, rapes or robberies, now, would we? I guess in your mind, legislators should just write better murder, rape and robbery laws and the problem will be solved...LOL! Sorry, but there are PLENTY of very good securities laws on the books--they just weren't enforced, that's all. I hate Congress as much as anyone, but their job isn't to enforce the law. That's the job of the SEC and the Justice Department--WHERE WERE THEY? Congress can pass all the laws it wants, but if you don't put the lawbreakers behind bars (and instead let them pay a laughable fine without having to admit to any wrongdoing), they'll keep breaking the law--guaranteed. It's pretty simple...
Who appoints the members of the SEC?
Well I don't want to break the law.
I want it not to have become law in the first place.
Writing laws may not prevent these laws from being broken, but properly staffing and funding the appropriate enforcement agencies and pursuing civil and criminal penalties against groups who decide that they are above the law will sure has hell cut down on the amount of crap that large corporations are willing to risk pulling. The problem is that these matters too are highly political; the Congress decides how much to fund regulatory agencies and the President can choose to bring or drop prosecutions and lawsuits against offenders as he wishes. If we want change we're going to need a Congress willing to fund and fully back the SEC and other regulatory agencies and a president willing to exercise the power vested in the DOJ to address abuses.
It has nothing to do with a lack of SEC funding, or the President's desire to drop prosecutions. It has to do with the SEC being in Wall Street's pocket. Which is EXACTLY why Judge Jed Rakoff's ruling yesterday that the SEC couldn't just let Citigroup off with a fine and no admission of wrongdoing is so important. As Matt Taibbi points out in the attached article, the SEC has had a "wink-wink, nudge-nudge arrangement" with the banks for years. It's a joke. I mean, if the SEC is willing to fine these banks, then they're obviously admitting that they broke the law--you don't fine someone for the hell of it, or because they're doing a good job. So for the SEC to then turn around and say, "We're going to fine you, but you don't have to admit any wrongdoing" is ITSELF criminal. The bottom line is, the banks broke the law, and the SEC chose not to indict them because the SEC has a symbiotic relationship with the banks. Why do you think so many ex-SEC employees go on to work for the banks? Here's the Taibbi story: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/11/28/matt-taibbi-explains-judicial-butt-kicking-of-citigroup-deal-with-sec
The thing is that that again is a political question: who appoints the SEC people and what rules do they have to follow? Apparently the answers are the wrong people and far too few. I'm incredibly glad that Jed Rakoff is choosing to deal with Citigroup as he is; we need someone to actually deal with this mess and the practice of fining banks a pittance and then sweeping the matter under the rug is no way to address financial wrongdoing. If we want to fix this, then we're going to need two things: an independent pipeline of candidates for SEC employment and some revolving door legislation that would slap retiring SEC people with a twenty-year cooldown period before they would be allowed to work in the financial sector.
And if they arent serious by now, will they ever be? Aggression isnt something that is slowly built up over the course of years, you either have it or you dont.
Most involved are full grown adults. They either have the ambition to take the bull by the horns, or they are just another scared American.
We The People are Rewriting the Book..The old book is dead,and rotting,putrid in all its' lies and deceptions,exploitations and manipulations..We will keep the ones that tell the truth,Ron Lawll, Dennis Kucinich,and a few others with integrity..We will begin governing with General Assemblies,pay the people to get involved,Peoples' Forest and Wildlife Service,Earth Restoration Projects.Let People manage their environments,not Corporate Fascists..
Good post. I agree that OWS should at least start talking about alternative candidates... especially ones that are refusing corporate money, as apparently Buddy Roemer does.
I also agree that Obama needs to be challenged from the Left. I voted for him, but he's already lost my vote for next time. I'm not voting for ANYONE taking corporate money.
The problem with trying to affect change, at this point anyway is that our political system has become so polluted by big money, that it is impossible to fix from withinin, in the traditional ways that have worked in the past. Because there are so many people that benefit from the rigged, corrupt status quo, the only way to change it is from the outside, which is what we are trying to do now. Gandhi, King, and the Viet Nam war protesters all knew that. Change will only come when we are able to rally a plurality of Americans to our side and DEMAND it. Only then will we have the chance to have a sea change in the way our political and financial institutions operate. Anything less will only be band-aid fixes or the illusion of a fix.
The quickest way to get 'there' is by reaching out to more of the people who have suffered the most or have extreme anxiety about their futures. We need to get grandma and grandpa on our side and if we do, we will then know that we are getting close to having a government that answers to the people, and not to 'big money'.
And there is no reason that we shouldn't be able to recruit seniors considering how our government has figured out a new way to come up with the cost of living which shortchanges them on their social security checks (which are tied to the cost of living index) causing an enormous financial hardship to them. Then we have the seniors who are worried about having their pensions severely reduced, or in some cases completely wiped out, all at the hands of that foul smelling crew at Wall St. and with the help of our elected representatives, of course. Believe me, reaching out to them (seniors) is a MUST if this movement is going to succeed.
So as a young grandpa myself, and seeing how it is almost winter, my advice to you youngn's is to 1 .Stay involved, and network with each other, 2. Keep the pot at a low boil, attending demonstrations when you can, 3. Educate yourselves thoroughly on how the financial and political systems screwed us, 4. Engage the older generation in what you have learned or already know, and show empathy for their plight, 5. Write thoughtful letters to the editor and, and stay above the fray as much as possible, 6. Strategize and organize, 7. Keep your grades up if you are in school, 8. Work hard and excel at your job, and if you don't have one, get a job (no I am not a troll) and save your money, and lastly, 9. Get plenty of sleep.
Spring and all that it symbolizes will be here soon, and I expect this summer wil be a lot hotter than usual.
Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) - a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.
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