Forum Post: Why Occupy Wall Street will Inevitably End and Fail
Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 26, 2011, 1:46 p.m. EST by Romeo
(0)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
There are two reasons why the Occupy Wall Street movement will inevitably end and fail.
The first and most obvious, but cavalier, reason is that it’s eventually going to get cold in downtown wherever city. I don’t know about you, but once temperatures consistently drop below 32 degrees, you’re not going to find people sleeping in cardboard boxes. Of course, some people will stick it out, but many will not. As the numbers of occupiers dwindle down, the power of the Occupy Wall Street protest will eventually lose its strength.
The second reason is less obvious to the protesters themselves. Protests does not bring about change; Boycotts bring about change. But first, even a boycott has to have a clear goal or direction–Occupy Wall Street has neither.
Occupy Wall Street protestors have made no clear demands. In fact, as it stands there is no one leader to even give demands. And even if there were demands, there is no one person or corporation to give the demands to. The protest is a movement that moves…nothing. The general idea and call for the protest is
…to protest corporate influence on democracy, address a growing disparity in wealth, and the absence of legal repercussions behind the recent global financial crisis.
I agree that the above ideas should be addressed, but they are too broad of a subject to even bring about legislation of some sort.
Corporate Influence on Democracy
I definitely understand the concerns of corporate influence on democracy that comes mainly by way of Lobbyist. I agree that this must stop. If I contribute $2 million to a political campaign and can give more if needed, why wouldn’t a certain politician help sway a vote my way?
If I have powerful and rich lawyers to shut out the little guy AND a Supreme Court to support such B.S. (such as the eminent domain case in Kelo v. City of New London) how can change come about? How would I, as a protester, change the way our processes are decided. Wouldn’t a Lobbyist simply pay off the politician to shut down the proposed law that would get rid of said Lobbyist?
A Growing Disparity in Wealth
How does one address a growing disparity in wealth without affecting the entire nation? For example, suppose the government grants everyone a $200,000 annual pay raise tomorrow, wouldn’t there still be a wealth gap that the 99% would still complain about?
What if the government gave everyone a ”clean slate” by forgiving all debts? First, we all would have to pay for this “forgiveness” by way of increased taxes, and now that everyone has a annual income of $200,000 or more, the ignorance of tax shelters by many would just cut incomes in half once again. Wouldn’t the cycle of debt and the growing wealth gap inevitably repeat itself because of so many people’s lack of financial and business accumen, in general?
Absence of Legal Repercussions
I don’t agree that there is a lack of legal repercussions in corporations, per se’. In fact, I think we already have too much government over site for corporations as it is. We had an entire financial regulation reform act passed in 2010 that “expanded the federal government’s role in the markets, reflecting a renewed mistrust of financial markets after decades in which Washington stood back from Wall Street with wide-eyed admiration.”
We already have the following regulatory boards, each with their own set of restrictions, laws, and regulations:
•U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) •Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) •Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) •Federal Reserve System (“Fed”) •Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) •Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) •National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) •Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) How much more financial regulation do we need? For each governing board, taxes have to pay for the employees and the logistics of each branch–Taxes that we all pay!
How to Get Wall Street or Whomever to Bring about Change...
Read the rest of this post here: http://romeoclayton.com/2011/10/25/occupywallstreet-will-fail/
Thanks for the post, Romeo. The folks in power have the power to print money that is why they are in power. Power is purchased with US currency. Once we agree, we can look at the basic root of money.
Our banking system CREATES money out of thin air. They get money into the economy by LENDING it. The entire wall street, federal government structure is in place because the Fed and the private banks CREATE all of OUR money. If Mommy and Daddy have the money and we the twelve year old are dependent on them to give us some of the money they HAVE POWER OVER US.
This is the deal today. Fed prints the money and gives it to the 1%...because the 1% owns the Fed, Can't say that I blame them..it is a hell of a deal...yes?
What to do besides declare defeat?
Use the State government to change this gruesome picture. In 1919 the farmers in North Dakota said.."Hey the wall street banks are screwing us! They charge us interest on our farm loans, buy our politicians and turn them against us and shut off credit to us when they please...this sucks! Lets form the Bank of North Dakota, and print the money that we need, loan at 1% interest and keep our state legislators on OUR team."
Thus it came to be...the state of North Dakota SCREWED Wall street and the federal government all in one chop.They have the lowest unemployment rate in the nation. They have the lowest foreclosure rate in the nation. They keep ALL the North Dakota MONEY IN NORTH DAKOTA where it belongs.
Go to your state legislators and get a state bank underway. Twelve states are NOW considering a state bank.
No need to sleep in the snow. Go home and take the bus to the state capital and raise holy hell until your state legislators form the bank. No card board boxes needed.
This will effectively ROB wall street and the feds of their power.
Does it need to be complicated? State legislators are a cinch to hassle...They live right down the street.
[Removed]