Forum Post: Why do so many members of the 99% oppose the 99% movement?
Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 16, 2011, 2:01 p.m. EST by Talleyrand
(59)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Food for thought, platform for discussion.
Talking to a guy at work who is a security guard that get pays 10/hr, he seems to believe that the 1% are the job creators, and the myth that some how it is ok that his granddaughter has barely enough loans and aid to make it through college. What we are in is an ideological war with people who don't have a real sense of where they are in society and that the interest of the corporate system is mainly to generate profits not to give them a job.
who do you believe create jobs? certainly not your fellow protestors. You're only destroying jobs, especially small businesses in the areas you're protesting in.
Yes, corporations create jobs, but overwhelmingly small business do, but this movement is mainly against large corporations with their large profit driven business cycles that do nothing to honor the hard work of there employees. They are the ones wall st controls because wall st is what incentivizes the people execs to fire workers, provide less benefits in order to generate profits that will attract investors. That is all cool until they start taking tax payer money to sign contracts or have the government back them up as investors. Which is still cool, but they need to understand they have social obligations because of this as well. They cannot just take without giving back, and that is whole problem with the bush era and the right (largely) its not pro capitalist its pro corporatism. Think, why is it that the company loses money gashes wages, but the CEO's stays the same or rises? If the company is going down it is showing the ceo is lazy, incompetent and shares part of the blame.
@ MJMorrow I think I missed where Marxist Socialism was one of OWS demands.
"kamoako (Litchfield Park, AZ) 0 points 27 minutes ago You need to understand if you are not part of the 1% the system is not working for you in some fashion. In case you did not know egypt transitioned from a dictatorship(more of a pseudodemocracy) to a democracy that is the inspiration. We are not scapegoating capitalism or bankers, were simply holding them accountable. We are simply open minded people pointing out the flaws of capitalism and asking to adopt some social based policies of regulations and reform to make sure the economy does not only server 1% but serves 100%. There is nothing to evil about socialism. Germany, Sweden, Norway, and Finland all have a strong socialist backing to their economies, and have great standard of living, with economic growth (in norway). Australia has universal healthcare but still has an economic surplus. So we are just demanding the same rights because we know that we are the richest country in the world so we can do these things. It makes sense we have all this wealth but unemployment is at 9%,39 million people are homeless and below poverty line. There are even are quite a few starving children. If the government can bail these people out, then we deserve something as well!!! not a handout, but better education,jobs, and healthcare."
The reply button is not working , so I need to post this here. You are confusing Socila Democracy with Socialism and I am starting to wonder why this attempt to confuse Socialism and Social Democracy is so frequent? Are you a Communist? If you support Socialism than you support mass murder, slavery and totalitarianism. If you support Social Democracy than good for you and you should fear the Socialists, since in the Soviet Union the Socialist killed the Social Democrats. Please do not claim that there is such a thing as Socialist Democracy, since this is not the case and your professors really lied to you. There is Social Democracy, in the countries you mentioned, but they are certainly not supporters of Classical Socialism, that would be North Korea. Norway is not a Socialist country. Please read up on Socialism and Social Democracy. The Soviet Union= Socialism, Norway= Social Democracy.
Some interesting responses from many of you. What about the way we learn or teach recent American history? How many of us have accessed the last 40 years of American history through a scholarly, historical perspective? I fear that our recent history is buried under a din of partisan hack writing that attempts to interpret the modern era to suit an agenda.
Historians have been at work piecing together what the last 40 years of America means. It is obvious that a tremendous change has taken place from what we used to be as a nation from 1945-1968 or so. Income inequality has gone up, finance has become a huge part of GDP, Americans work longer hours and union membership has waned. Voter turnout has been relatively low, yet corporate campaign contributions keep growing. I fear many people too readily just ACCEPT all of this and accuse OWS for being unpatriotic when, in reality we are fighting AGAINST all of those trends.
Just because we criticize the direction the country has been going does not mean we hate America or are Marxists or want to destroy capitalism. Too bad that too many people have knee-jerk reactions and are quick to label people "communist" when they criticize corporate power. Historically, there were times when America did not live by a corporate clock, when wealth was more evenly distributed and the super wealthy did not dominate our government as they do today. OWS is all about love for America and restoring our country to what it has been before and what it can be in the future.
Ignorance and conditioning. They don't understand where their own interests lie.
I can name a few reasons why I don't support this movement.
1)The massive push for Marxist Socialism, an evil the World can certainly do without.
2) OWS threatening our legitimate and lawful Government with an Arab Spring revolution. Our nation has rule of law and a sense of right and wrong, so why would I support betraying my country and turning the USA into a military dictatorship, like Egypt?
3) This place is a hot bed for people looking to scapegoat bankers, Senators and even Capitalism itself, for a problem we all helped create and a problem we all need to solve together.
4) This movement claims to be leaderless, but common sense and a little digging into the origins of this movement shows otherwise. The lack of transparency, coupled with the calls for revolution, anarchy and the collapse of our Government and economic system, makes this movement seem like a symptom of a problem, a new problem, not a solution for our problems. We have a lawful and legitimate Government and we have functioning banking and business institutions. We have functioning courts. We do not need Marxist revolutions or any revolutions. We need a plan to create high paying careers, while enriching Main street and Wall Street, working within our established institutions and Government. Anyone looking to make an enemy of our Government, our Nation or our intuitions is not going to help any of us get our lives going.
You need to understand if you are not part of the 1% the system is not working for you in some fashion. In case you did not know egypt transitioned from a dictatorship(more of a pseudodemocracy) to a democracy that is the inspiration. We are not scapegoating capitalism or bankers, were simply holding them accountable. We are simply open minded people pointing out the flaws of capitalism and asking to adopt some social based policies of regulations and reform to make sure the economy does not only server 1% but serves 100%. There is nothing to evil about socialism. Germany, Sweden, Norway, and Finland all have a strong socialist backing to their economies, and have great standard of living, with economic growth (in norway). Australia has universal healthcare but still has an economic surplus. So we are just demanding the same rights because we know that we are the richest country in the world so we can do these things. It makes sense we have all this wealth but unemployment is at 9%,39 million people are homeless and below poverty line. There are even are quite a few starving children. If the government can bail these people out, then we deserve something as well!!! not a handout, but better education,jobs, and healthcare.
they have not taken the time to inform themselves of what is really going on therefore they don't understand. they r not willing to take the time to learn so they criticize instead. this helps them save face so that they don't appear uninformed......it's a real shame...i'd like to think there is hope for them to still learn about what's really going on and understand..an uninformed opinion is no opinion and worthless...i would say to them..."save ur comments till after u have done ur research to an acceptable extent...." also they maybe afraid of the truth...it's a common thing in any situation....but very counterproductive.
again, its "their" fault. when it's someone else's fault all the time, maybe you should take a look at yourself.
not everyone agrees with where the blame is being placed. My personal determination is that government is problem #1, corporate greed #2. However, the flaws of government are largely not being addressed. I know many feel the same way and that is why.
Because the 99% movement continues to prove to be IRRATIONAL and immune to facts and reason?
Here's just one of today's examples:
I think every protester needs to know this fact (link below):
From a dailymail.co.uk article printed on Oct 15th 2011 (YESTERDAY!!)
"Meet Americas 10 highest paid bosses"- quote
"The numbers, while staggering, may not be the most shocking aspect of the list: geography is.
None of the top 10 earning CEOs are from Wall Street, or even the financial sector. Three are from healthcare companies(McKesson, Express Scripts and UnitedHealth Group), two from fashion houses (Ralph Lauren and Coach), one from real estate (Vornado Realty), one from entertainment (Disney), one from internet travel (Priceline.com), one from advertising (Omnicom Group) and one from oil and gas (Ultra Petroleum)."
DID YOU CATCH THAT? NONE of the top paid CEO's are from WALL STREET OR EVEN THE FINANCIAL SECTOR! So if "pressuring the 1%" is the goal here, why on earth would your organizers choose Wall Street in the first place?????
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2049405/Meet-Americas-10-highest-paid-bosses-Forbes-list-wealthiest-CEOs.html#ixzz1ayBhM4oq
probably this is the only the thing u've ever read on the subject...take the time to REALLY inform urself......ur family is at stake too.....how much silver and gold does ur family own? i would hate to see the 99% face starvation and homelessness in the future no matter if i consider myself part of it or not....and i would hate to think i was too close minded to check it out and try to contribute to the only hope that i could help change that reality for my family....don't b too prideful....hopelessness will find u if u do not open ur eyes.
This attack on the 99% at citi bank is unforgivable. the 99% must close there bank accountant's transfer funds to a CREDIT UNION stop these banks they are robbing you, they CONTROL you. Rise up stop watching the news and make a difference we must not be silent anymore! Stop corporate greed TAKE AMERICA BACK !
Ha! I was going to post "What's the matter with Kansas?" but I see you're already there in your blog.
Yes, it's been 30 or 40 years of indoctrination to achieve this.
Media wants to "divide and conquer." Terrified at the thought that Americans from all political ideologies might align against current corruption in Wall Street and Washington.
Because your not really the 99%.
You're*
They're scared - scared that their ideals, "freedoms", convenience, liberties, and values could possibly be eroded to the extent that they have been. Also, corperate media and value creation/assertion BY the top 10% contributes more than any one person could possibly know - attributing to a seemingly "know-it-all" mentality around the country - whereby my opinion is more important than yours because it is mine - which leaves no room for intelligent argument to take place - a safety mechanism I suppose. The ironic thing is that these opinions very often are thought with very little research to cite save entertainment and news media. It IS a scary realization however, to discover one's reality may not be "true", but it should also be liberating to know that the reality is now in YOUR hands. The loss of "comfort" in this country will only make way for insight. A truly happy people hold the wealth of family and the riches of knowledge over any material possessions.
Because over the last 40 years, the 1% have that learned bread and circuses don't have to be ... bread and circuses.