Forum Post: You say you want a Revolution...(John Lennon)
Posted 12 years ago on Sept. 7, 2011, 1:56 a.m. EST by anonymous
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I am glad to see somebody doing something like this, but I think there has to be a focus that people can get behind and that should be thought out beforehand. It should be 1) constructive in that it can make a change for the better (not just a rant) and 2) realistic (as any demand that doesn't have a realistic expectation of being met will make the whole thing a failure in the end- except for maybe calling attention to the fact that people in this country are fed up with things the way they are- which may be enough). I don't think it is realistic to end corporate personhood, as that demand can never be met, anymore than say "abolish all politicians." (wouldn't "corporations" include all the small businesses across America who are just trying to make a living?) But what about something specific to hold the bankers accountable (definite crooks) and are still up their old tricks. They will be asking for more money soon, as they have not learned from their mistakes, so why not say NOT ONE CENT MORE or make them repay any bonuses they got in a "bailout recovery act," since the money paid to themselves was really paid "fraudulently" after all, going against the fiduciary responsibility they have to the taxpayers- all of us Americans. But definitely cut the cord for anymore bailouts. By the way, I'm one of those boring suburban dads, so please don't protest at my house (just trying to keep my family fed- and I don't think I'll be striking oil!). Love the idea, however, of Occupying Wall Street. Our country, itself, was based on pretty radical ideas! Freedom, Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness, all that!
"AWARENESS" is an important thing for people to have. Also "WHEN YOU CHANGE THE WAY YOU LOOK AT THINGS THE THINGS YOU LOOK AT CHANGE." A Yogi said this phrase to me, and please pass it on to your fellow Americans. KEEP PREACHING THE TRUTH FOR IT SHALL SET YOU FREE.
Lennon is rolling in his grave, but only because he didn't get in on the Gravy Train before he forgot to duck...
You should be ashamed to mention the fine Capitalist Mr. Lennon in such context as this.
Now kneel, and for your penance, say 3 Pete Bests and 5 Oh Yokos.
why cant corporate personhood be stopped? there was a time when corporations had limitations, whey cant we roll back to those rules and laws? We are merely looking at taking corporate money out of government and holding corporations accountable for their actions. The bankers are not going to pay back the money they stole. They should be given a fair trial for jail time, but the idea that we are going to get the bailout money back from them is a little bit of a fantasy.
It seems to me the objective should be to blunt the influence of big money in our government so that the voice of the people is a bit louder and more persuasive. I think limiting or eliminating private funding of election campaigns could be a big step in that direction. That's what I'd focus on.
to the comment below: comparisons are odious. just because another nation, unfortunately, has it worse off human rights wise, does not mean that we should look at our quiet force as "freedom".
I simply ask that you be consistent. Comparisons are only odious if you abhor logic. American protesters don't rape news reporters. Police in America actually do a decent job of protecting citizens, and when protestors get arrested, they remain well fed and are kept in sanitary conditions. It is ok to fight injustice, but we have to pick our battles, and it is very important to stay positive.
Is Wall Street worse than the drug cartels in Mexico? Worse than Ghadaffi stealing the wealth of Libya and running to Mugabe for safe haven? Worse than the censorship in China? A little perspective helps people to appreciate the good we have and inspires us all to make what is good become even better.
Ah yes, but you forget that in our globalized post-modern society, Wall Street does not exist independently of the cartels, or Libya, or any of the suffering taking place in other countries. Global capitalism feeds on the suffering of the entire world, and Wall Street is at the center of global capitalism.
We have it good here in the US, because we export the worst of our suffering to other countries! 80% of the world population lives on under $10 per day. It didn't get this way by accident- it got this way through deliberate theft, oppression, and exploitation.
What is my demand? I don't just demand an end to my own suffering. I demand an end to the suffering of all of my brothers and sisters around the world regardless of where they were born or what language they speak. The starving children in sub-Saharan Africa and the broken men and women in the Middle East can't stand on Wall Street and protest the world banking elite sitting atop the system that oppresses them- so I say we do it for them!! Western Slope Marxist
So why dont you and your comrades donate half your salaries to those who are suffering? Why not meet with heads of major corporations and convince them to do the same? You might be surprised. Instead of tearing down the system, use it for goof. Bill Gates certainly did. Be a Bill Gates, not a Richard Ayers.
I appreciate the desire to maintain a positive attitude- I really do- but I refuse to allow a desire for positivity to lull me into complacency when faced with injustice.
CEOs pay themselves salaries that are thousands of times more than what they pay their employees for one reason: they can! If it was as simple as just "asking" them to help out the little guy, would the world be in the state that it is now?
Bill Gates giving a few billion to charity is a very sweet gesture- but does this somehow justify the continuity of a system that is literally draining the wealth from the bottom and redistributing it to the top? No amount of philanthropy can balance the systemic inequalities we are now experiencing.
Right now, those in power know that they can do whatever they want to us without consequences. Suck the value from our 401(k), take away our social security, cut Medicare, cut unemployment, freeze salaries, bail out the banks with OUR tax dollars, inflate the money supply so our dollars buy less-- and look, the masses do nothing! They just sit there and take it!
That's why gatherings like this are important. We need to show those in power that they can only go so far. There are many, many more of us than there are of them-and they need to be reminded of that simple fact.. Western Slope Marxist
"meet with heads of corporations to convince them to do the same (help people)"???? Are you joking?? These men wouldn't PISS on you if you were fire! These are the men who would US their bought-and-paid-for US judges to for us to PAY them to work for them! Their greed knows NO bounds!
You CANNOT level with them, you CANNOT expect ANYTHING out of them but more of the same! MORE DEATH in the name of PROFITS! MORE state-backed overthrow of democratically-elected governments abroad! More poverty for those already impoverished! MORE STEALING of precious resources needed to sustaining life itself in the countries they already have a strangle-hold on!! THAT is what these men do! Even suggesting there is a SHRED of altruism in the hearts of these men is simply OUTRAGEOUS!!!
Outlaw derivatives, plain and simple. And other fancy financial instruments that allow speculators to create phantom wealth out of the air, using leveraged capital stolen from the pockets of you and me.
The problem is that if they don't keep it vague and ethereal, then people will actually realize how ridiculous it is to protest, um, whatever it is everybody's angry about. If people think too much, the protest's numbers will dwindle. No. Instead, blame the system: the nameless, faceless system. Don't use logic. Build up negative feelings of suffering and oppression by focusing on specific acts of injustice, no matter how rare they are. Find the bad apples and focus on those, but don't praise the good, hard-working people in authority. In truth, America is one of the most moral and generous nations on earth. Yeah, the system needs lots of work, but a little perspective would be very bad for anyone who wants to genuinely believe the American system is all evil (while conveniently overlooking the rape, plunder, and murders that resulted from Egypt's protests). Therefore, this movement has no specifics! No demands! They use nice sounding words like "freedom" and "justice", and pretend that 99% of Americans want to take down the system and create change by force of collective temper tantrums. If you want to make a difference, vote. If you want to have a bigger influence, volunteer and do something that makes someone else's life better. Don't think you have to tear down the system and start over to fix the relatively small problems we have in the United States. Go live in the trash dumps of Juarez for a week or spend an hour on the sewage-ridden beaches of Liberia and then tell me that America has problems that can't be fixed from within. Look at the good along with the bad, and be the kind of person who makes it better through hard work and generosity instead of obstructionism and tantrums.
'If you want to make a difference, vote.' Really? Our Congress is bought by lobbyists and special interests. It's called a 'bribe.' How is voting going to change that?
These trash dumps and beaches in Liberia you speak of are a DIRECT result of the policies emanating Wall St!
i concur