Forum Post: Why is it every time I turn on my radio some caller is telling the host that OWS is just a bunch of kids looking for a handout?
Posted 12 years ago on Dec. 12, 2011, 8:42 p.m. EST by newearthorder
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What media are they listening to that is telling them that?
BTW, did you know that many of the people who call into radio shows like Rush Limbaugh are payed and are told to stick to certain talking points?
If there are banks of paid callers calling Limbaugh and other right wing talkers from right wing think tanks or government agencies Americans need to know about it.
This level of coordinated misinformation makes national discussions of important problems impossible and short circuits the feedback loops that democracy depends on.
Radio Daze by LIEL LEIBOVITZ
Here are some excerpts:
A short while later, he received the following email: “Thank you for auditioning for Premiere On Call,” it said. “Your audition was great! We’d like to invite you to join our official roster of ‘ready-to-work’ actors.” The job, the email indicated, paid $40 an hour, with one hour guaranteed per day.
But what exactly was the work? The question popped up during the audition and was explained, the actor said, clearly and simply: If he passed the audition, he would be invited periodically to call in to various talk shows and recite various scenarios that made for interesting radio. He would never be identified as an actor, and his scenarios would never be identified as fabricated—which they always were.
Two reasons:
First of all there are a lot of die-hard conservatives out there. Die-hard conservatives, like die-hard liberals, have virtually no ability to think outside of their little partisan box.
Second, there is an organized campaign to discredit OWS. Virtually all syndicated radio hosts are in on it. Their job has always been to protect the interests of the rich and their corporate golden geese.
I know that what I've just posted is pretty damn obvious. But I just had to chime in on this one. I'm a regular on talk radio.
so true
I listen to a lot of talk radio and have never heard any host say things like this. I hear it from a lot of callers. I used to do overnights at a 50k watt station here. We also had an AM side that had all the regulars including Rush.
I live in a small town in Indiana. You wouldn't believe how many people called my radio station asking to talk to Rush because they assumed he was a local guy, every day. I just can't imagine living a life of delusion.
Limbaugh, Ingraham, Beck, Levin, Hanity, Harley, McNamera, and others bash OWS just about every time they broadcast. I don't know how you could have missed their petty insults and lame psychological tricks. They seem to have slowed down the last week or so but they have been on OWS like crack addict whores on the Las Vegas Strip.
they are scared
their masters are scared
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, BROTHERS
We're rolling out an Occupy adaptation of Martin Luther King's original Nine Principles.
"Pledge For Nonviolence."
That sets up a sharp contrast between King's Christian take on Gandhi's universal truths and the nasty, ill-mannered anti-Christian hate-speech of these monsters.
Betcha OWS can pull 10,000,000 voters over to left-center morality-based world views.
I agree. They (we) probably will.
There was barely any mention of the OWS port shutdowns on the major networks today. They mentioned a few arrests with a 10 second timeframe but mentioned nothing about the shutdowns. They are losing credibility.
More today on ports. Actually there was a lot of OWS news, in total. Different things in different places. Which is good.
correction: never had crediibility.
But I think I know what you mean. Hopefully they lose credibility with a few more people
my cousin drove rensselaer trash out of the State of Vermont with pitch fork and split rail.
I wonder where he left that damn thing.
I've also been plugging this site: http://www.occupyanddemand.org/ whenever I get a chance.
My reply to those radio callers is here: http://occupywallst.org/forum/to-those-who-say-occupy-a-job/
Good one, brilliant.
Because people still don't get that OWS is for the people. OWS must strive to make this people understand that they should be on our side.
I feel that, mostly, it's because that's all people hear.
I heard NOTHING about what OWS was or really wanted until I came here and started asking myself.
Maybe OWS should be working as hard at communication as it is working at protest. Because, truly, I'm STILL trying to figure out exactly what OWS wants.
So far, I've gathered that most every one here wants forgiveness of all student debt, and wants companies to not be allowed to give money to politicians. If I were to just guess, about 50% of the occupiers want some form of Anarchy, about 50% want the government to have MORE control over the market, a bunch want stricter rulings and investigations into corporate fraud, and about a third think that 9/11 was rigged by the US Government.
The only thing I have seen from OWS outside of coming here myself (and, really, you can't expect every one who doesn't agree with you to come here themselves) is that everything sucks. This sort of undefined and vague communication is part of the problem. I didn't know that many people here are actually very articulate. In fact, I assumed the opposite, that the majority was inarticulate people. Because there was no articulation, I assumed the absence of ability to articulate.
If OWS wants the world to see them for who they are and what they want, they need to tell the world. That starts with ABSOLUTE AGREEMENT on something, anything at all. If not unanimous agreement, then really frickin' close. Once there is agreement, there needs to be a statement. Once there's a statement, people will at least have enough information to be able to decide whether or not to ignore OWS.
That will have to be coordinated. Coordination doesn't happen when there are thousands of people trying to coordinate each other; that's chaos. Recognized with a title or not, some leaders are going to have to step forward and do some coordinating. At least behind the scenes, never to have their name submitted with the statement.
Some of these "unofficial terms and demands" need to be made official. Or modified to the point that they can represent the majority.
It's not necessarily the job of Occupy protesters to figure out what is wrong and how to fix it. That's what we pay politicians to do. The job of Occupy is simply to say that something is wrong. And that something is simply that greed and corruption has eroded government to the point where we now face a new threat of global totalitarianism from major international corporations. Many years ago, soldiers went to war and died to prevent this sort of thing. If we don't stand up for it now, we risk loosing it.
I disagree. You can tell me what's wrong with my car all day long, but unless someone also suggests how to fix it, it still won't run.
If this whole protest is about greed and corruption, you can bet that those politicians aren't going to suggest a fix. And the people who aren't occupying don't see a problem, or they do and see no solution. If occupy doesn't speak to the problem AND the solution, no one will.
So, maybe the point of occupy isn't to suggest a solution. I'm not an occupier, so I don't know. But that MUST be the point of occupy if you have any intentions of making a difference that outlasts the protest. Because things are changing a bit now, while you're protesting, but when you take the protests away, and no solution to the problem has been suggested, what are you left with?
Good news, the working group on the 99% Declaration just had their pages put back up on this site. For very good reason. Read the Declaration for some clarification to your above.
http://www.nycga.net/groups/the-99-declaration-working-group/
There a lot who are virtual occupiers, too old, too sick, too poor or too remote to show up where the TV machines are. But just as resolute, just as dedicated, just as committed as those in a big city park,
Your last paragraph has it right. Some things work better low key and it can be one or a small group, nobody said we don't need leadership. Leadership is something that everyone can contribute. If you have been a leader you know how to support a leader.
Regarding the message, I browse a lot. If you want to hear the message, it is out there. It isn't a bumper sticker, but there are a few themes that repeat over and over. They are said in different words which make them more powerful. And, that's because they don't sound like a TEA Party talking point, scripted by Bob Luntz.
Everybody using the same phrase is weak. Everybody knows it is being parroted by somebody who can't think for themselves. I like hearing every body saying the same truths in their own way, with their own story to validate them.
There are a lot of people trying to put words in your mouth. Like it?
Good points. Maybe there should be some breakdown in responsibiliies based on your "occupy" status...those who are on the street should have specific and different responsibilities, while others (too old, etc.) could have their own set of priorities (making flyers, posting on local bulliten boards, etc).
Your's is good also. We all can and should do what we can.
Exactly. This movement will be measured in years, not months, and people need to understand that fact. We are talking about waking up a population that has known nothing but what they have been told. Slowly they will wake up and contribute in whatever way they can.
There is so much to be done there will be a lot of successes along the way. But to get everything fixed that people have identified, loosely collected under "demands," will take awhile, even if we had the money and corruption out.
Did you hear they put the working group pages back up here? Way to re-occupy!
http://www.nycga.net/groups/the-99-declaration-working-group/
In many countries higher education is free, (I know, it's payed for by the tax payers). With loan forgiveness, that would just make the proper new policy retroactive.