Forum Post: We are NOT all the same!

I would like to address some the concerns/words of the naysayers of OWS. I've listed them here, and hope you will consider my words, should you do me the favor of reading it.

First - The, 'Oh, just get a job you unwashed loser! If only you had aspired to be something, gotten a job, never made any mistakes - that would fix all the problems facing our country!' argument doesn't apply to all of us. I have a job. Since I was 16, never not had a job. We are not all the same. We can all help steer our country peaceably into equality...but the Occupy force is vital to the movement. Without it, what would we have? Arguments? Talk? What have we left to talk about? No one listened. Now, we occupy. And people listen. Half of these people who are out there Occupying did ALL the things you people are telling them to do (go to college, get a job, spend wisely) - and IT. FAILED. THEM. Not the other way around.

Third - that there is 'no agenda' and 'no solutions'. You bet there is. It simply that it's the agenda of some 200 million + people. It's varied and vast, as are the problems that our country are ignoring. It's going to take time to coalesce, and frankly who gives a damn? We pay over 500 people over $100,000 a year to do the exact thing you are blaming OWS for. CONGRESS is who you should berate for having no agenda...as it is their ONE and only purpose, and they have failed us all. Look at the debt ceiling 'crisis'. Threatening not to pay our troops because they can't get it together long enough to agree on one thing. The approval rating for people who have heard of the movement is about is 46-67%. Which is higher than Congress (9-12%) , either party (Dems 22 - 28%, Rep 19 - 25%), or the president (40%). (Time, USA today, CNN, others) We should pay Congress based on it's approval rating, I swear. Save us 70 million dollars - and seriously motivate them to do SOMEthing.

The agenda can be boiled down to this in my humble opinion: we want a level playing field. We want a future, but not just any future. One we can be proud of. We want bread and roses. We want necessities, AND enjoyment. We want to be heard, and not viewed as second-class citizens for not pretending that everything is shiny and golden. We want to address issues, and have people understand what is going on today.

Fourth - You say, 'It's not fair to tax them more! They lived the American dream, and worked hard for that money. So they have more than you, they worked hard for it.' First of all - a single mom working two jobs to support her kids who never gets a minute to herself is working hard. A man who gets a 30 million dollar bonus for doing a job that already pays him 1 million is not working hard. I'm sorry. But back to the point - If we simply cut out the pages and pages of tax credits and deductions for the rich...we wouldn't need to tax them 'more'. We'd be taxing them what the should be taxed now. I'm so very not sorry - if you make a million dollars a year or more in profit - you're on your own. (Profit, mind you. The money you just get to have, with expenses taken out). You made it. You don't need handouts that could potentially lift up the poor so that THEY can make it.

Over 100 billion is lost to offshore accounts held by these corporations every year. To make up for this loss, it cost the average US taxpayer $434 - enough to feed an average family for a month. GE paid NO taxes in 2010, despite making 5.1 billion. Social Security is capped at $108,000 or so no matter if you make 30 million dollars, you only have to pay $4,485 into it. And this is FAIR to you?

Sixth - Wall Street is a symbol. It has been since the NYSE was created so long ago. Do you remember why it was created? To pay for the Revolutionary War (among other things). To pay for the act that made us free, that made us individual. Now it is home to corporate giants who steal and gobble up everything in it's path. It's home to people who care less who you are or what you need, as long as they can have your money. Symbiology, yeah? It's brilliant. (I know - the word I'm looking for is ssssymbolism). Secondly, pretty sure OWS never said, 'People - don't buy tents made from corporations'. Pretty sure they said, 'While you're making things like tents, investments, and insurance, could you bother yourself to stop shoving your way into and corrupting our democracy for your own gain?' Lobbying is the act of 'attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies' (Like the FDA). Goldman Sachs spent 4.6 million in 2010 doing this. Citigroup spent 5.8 million. What did all that money buy them...other than the ability to influence officials in the government?

Love from Oklahoma!