Forum Post: peaceful protests and all...
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 18, 2011, 4:30 a.m. EST by grunt90
(0)
from Fort Plain, NY
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
What is needed to be done for anyone to actually make a change? No matter how many people protest, I'm not sure the impact will be made if they are just telling everyone where to protest, blocking off streets for no reason and everyone being fine with it, and eventually at the end of the day, everyone will go home and it'll be back to 'normal'. I really hope something does happen, but it just seems even protesting has become regulated, and what is the point of protesting a government when they government itself is controlling when, where, and how long you protest?
Or there is something I'm not seeing. I hope it's the latter.
patience friend change dosent come overnight but at least some brilliant souls started this and a bunh more jumped on the wagon patience friend..here is a song and video....HOPE Humans On Planet Earth..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QrDLwSgg24
The Occupy Campaign should look at the political leaders and their agenda instead of Wall Street. Wall Street is a sympton and not the cause of corperate greed. Its our political leaders and their policy making that is clearly self seving. Look at the article below on their retirement plan. Why are they special? Because they passed the bill.
The Chop needs to start at the top, with political leaders!!!!!
Our Senators and Congressmen don't pay in to Social Security, and, of course, they don't collect from it. The reason is that they have a special retirement plan that they voted for themselves many years ago. For all practical purposes, it works like this:
When they retire, they continue to draw their same pay, until they die, except that it may be increased from time to time, by cost of living adjustments.
For instance, former Senator Bradley, and his wife, may be expected to draw $7,900,000, with Mrs. Bradley drawing $275,000 during the last year of her life.
This is calculated on an average life span for each.
This would be well and good, except that they paid nothing in on any kind of retirement, and neither does any other Senator or Congressman.
This fine retirement comes right out of the General Fund: our tax money.
While we who pay for it all, draw an average of $1000/month from Social Security.
Imagine for a moment that you could structure a retirement plan so desirable that people would have extra deducted so that they could increase their own personal retirement income.
A retirement plan that works so well, that Railroad employees, Postal Workers, and others who aren't in it, would clamor to get in. That is how good Social Security could be, if only one small change were made.
That change is to jerk the Golden Fleece retirement out from under the Senators and Congressmen, and put them in Social Security with the rest of us. Then watch how fast they fix it.
Don't fall for this psychological crap from any one percent goon. It's an obvious attempt to divert our attention from the obscene, unjust, immoral, and illogical concentration of wealth. Donald Trump went on record the other day telling us to blame the government instead of Wall Street and the richest one percent. His goons are obviously online and on air trying to divert our attention. Don't fall for it. Just keep protesting no matter what the one percent goons say or do. Our message is vital. Below is my two cents:
We have been mislead by Reagan, Bush Sr, Clinton, Bush Jr, Obama, and nearly every other public figure. Economic growth, job creation, and actual prosperity are not necessarily a package deal. In fact, the first two are horribly misunderstood. Economic growth/loss (GDP) is little more than a measure of wealth changing hands. A transfer of currency from one party to another. The rate at which it is traded. This was up until mid ’07′ however, has never been a measure of actual prosperity. Neither has job creation. The phrase itself has been thrown around so often, and in such a generic political manner, that it has come to mean nothing. Of course, we need to have certain things done for the benefit of society as a whole. We need farmers, builders, manufacturers, transporters, teachers, cops, firefighters, soldiers, mechanics, sanitation workers, doctors, managers, and visionaries. Their work is vital. I’ll even go out on a limb and say that we need politicians, attorneys, bankers, investors, and entertainers. In order to keep them productive, we must provide reasonable incentives. We need to compensate each by a fair measure for their actual contributions to society. We need to provide a reasonable scale of income opportunity for every independent adult, every provider, and share responsibility for those who have a legitimate need for aid. In order to achieve and sustain this, we must also address the cost of living and the distribution of wealth. Here, we have failed miserably. The majority have already lost their home equity, their financial security, and their relative buying power. The middle class have actually lost much of their ability to make ends meet, re-pay loans, pay taxes, and support their own economy. The lower class have gone nearly bankrupt. In all, its a multi-trillion dollar loss taken over about 30 years. Millions are under the impression that we need to create more jobs simply to provide more opportunity. as if that would solve the problem. It won’t. Not by a longshot. Jobs don’t necessarily create wealth. In fact, they almost never do. For the mostpart, they only transfer wealth from one party to another. A gain here. A loss there. Appreciation in one community. Depreciation in another. In order to create net wealth, you must harvest a new resource or make more efficient use of one. Either way you must have a reliable and ethical system in place to distribute that newly created wealth in order to benefit society as a whole and prevent a lagging downside. The ‘free market’ just doesn’t cut it. Its a farce. Many of the jobs created are nothing but filler. The promises empty. Sure, unemployment reached an all-time low under Bush. GDP reached an all-time high. But those are both shallow and misleading indicators. In order to gauge actual prosperity, you must consider the economy in human terms. As of ’08′ the average American was working more hours than the previous generation with far less equity to show for it. Consumer debt, forclosure, and bankruptcy were also at all-time highs. As of ’08′, every major American city was riddled with depressed communities, neglected neighborhoods, failing infrastructures, lost revenue, and gang activity. All of this has coincided with massive economic growth and job creation. Meanwhile, the rich have been getting richer and richer and richer even after taxes. Our nation’s wealth has been concentrated. Again, this represents a multi-trillion dollar loss taken by the majority. Its an absolute deal breaker. Bottom line: With or without economic growth or job creation, you must have a system in place to prevent too much wealth from being concentrated at the top. Unfortunately, we don’t. Our economy has become nothing but a giant game of Monopoly. The richest one percent already own nearly 1/2 of all United States wealth. More than double their share before Reagan took office. Still, they want more. They absolutely will not stop. Now, our society as a whole is in serious jeapordy. Greed kills.
Im hoping we will take responsibility on ourselves to do what needs to be done.