Forum Post: The opposition
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 23, 2011, 8:56 p.m. EST by infinitend
(5)
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I do not understand how anyone could be opposed to this movement. I have my own theories about how people who are generally misinformed tend to latch on to the talking points of the extreme right. (should change their party name to "the wrong") I'd use the term "uneducated" but that sounds "elitist", as they like to say. Even though it's not.
There is a wealth of information available at our fingertips. If you are genuinely interested in something, you can educate yourself without the lifetime enslavement that comes with student loans. Anyway, the people I encounter who oppose this movement are not wealthy. They live paycheck to paycheck yet they just don't get it. How do you explain reality to a person who acts like they have a predisposition to reject it? It's almost like some people have this need to disagree, only for the sake of doing so. I wonder if this purely rational idea of a free and equal society is not an option for us. Is there some inherent characteristic in our DNA that leaves us greedy and, after peeling away all the societal related aspects of ourselves, leaves us animalistic..primal...barley out of the jungle? (as George Carlin said)
It's not a complex issue. That is an illusion. Our vote doesn't matter to a politician. They say what we want to hear, we vote for them and they serve the interests of their corporate sponsors with no regard because even if they don't get re-elected they will have gainful employment from their corporate sponsors or already have enough money not to worry about it. The shocking part is that they usually keep getting re-elected no matter what they do (unless it involves something sexual because Americans take issue with that for some reason)
I'm 31 years old, I live in central PA, work full time and have 2 children. I cannot do all that I would like to help this movement but I always send back the junk mail credit card offers I get and tag them with a sharpie; "OWS". I hope this revolution grows in strength and in numbers. Anyone who disagrees isn't paying attention. OWS has nothing to do with party affiliation (that is just a ruse to divide us) It is simply common sense and an unwillingness to be taken advantage of. Sorry for the long post.
Beware of the pressure to have one or two focal goals. It's okay for us to be different; after all, that's what we're fundamentally about. We want sustainable economic infrastructure, most notably energy from solar, wind, geothermal, water, water wave and other highly sustainable, earth friendly sources. We want respect for all people and peoples. We want civil rights that are blind to sex, gender, sexual orientation, trans status, etc. We want a much more participatory democracy, very likely one with more than two parties and possibly one with a different voting system (like instant run-off voting for example). And yes, we sure do want money out of politics. But I have listed just a few of our goals and I do not by any means mean to exhaust the list of our priority desires. Rather, I wish to illustrate how many things we want, that they do not necessarily boil down to one two or three things, that 20 second sound bites can go take carnal knowledge of themselves : ), and that we need not bow to outside pressures to "focus" and develop a short list of demands.
"CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM needs to be THE main goal of the protests!!!"
I agree. Throw the bums out! That should be the primary goal. Or at least the first step towards bringing dignity to our county.
https://disinfo.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/SprayFounders.jpg
I agree - I talk to a lot of people about the movement and they mostly only know what they here on Fox News ("Fox News" is an oxymoron, all spin and propaganda with no real journalism, MSNBC is just as bad). By the end of our conversations, the vast majority of the people agree with what the movement wants. Here's my 2 cents: I have no problem with people making lots and lots of money - as long as they don't subvert our democracy and disenfranchise the American voter in the process. The influence needs to go back to who the founding fathers intended - the people (some "wealth redistribution" will happen automatically as the rich and powerful are no longer able to twist the laws in their favor).
For the sake our our children and future generations of Americans, we need to take back our democracy from the rich and powerful who are using their vast sums of money to "speak" as if they represent millions of Americans. They are twisting our laws and manipulating our policies in their favor at the expense of the average American. The $50 or $100 a normal American may give to a political campaign becomes meaningless when corporations or other special interests are handing our millions to buy political access to the decision making process.
For decades now the corporations and special interests have had our "representatives" bought and paid for (both on the right and the left). Don't get distracted by the symptoms - we need to address the root cause. Concentrating our efforts on getting the money out of our politics is the best way we can create an environment in which further reforms can be realized. Until we end the current system of legalized bribery (campaign donations) and paid lobbying our politicians will continue to be the LAP DOGS of the corporations and special interests. What we need first and foremost is real, loop-hole free CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM!!!! If the corruption is not dealt with first, the chance of any other meaningful reforms becoming a reality is almost zero - the special interests will just use their money to buy votes and put forward bills that create loop-holes or otherwise twist the law in their favor. If we want our children to live in a country where there vote matters, we need to get the money out of our politics, otherwise they will increasingly become the 21st century version of the "landless peasant." Spread the word - End the LEGALIZED BRIBERY!!! CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM needs to be THE main goal of the protests!!!
I like most of the above very much, but I have one criticism. MSNBC is no way "just as bad" as Fox. MSNBC does respect facts, and will even apologize for and correct many of its errors when they occur. Perhaps I'm quibbling, but I hate to see Fox benefit from misplaced even handedness.