I'm having some pretty varied reactions to the current protests across the country and even the world. Part of me really wants to drop everything and join in to change the world, but I've got a family to take care of, so that's really out of the question. Another part of me fears that it is just what the Republicans needed to draw votes away from dissillusioned Obama and slip one of their own into power. But, I heard someone on the radio talking about how polarizing the two party system is and I began to see that the movement of the "99%" is an attempt to move beyond the limitations of left vs. right.
Unfortunately, when I speak with others about the Occupy movement, the theme of the responses seems to mostly be, "Those unenployed hippies don't even know what they want!" So as an employed part of the 99% I hope to lend my voice to clarifying the message.
- First and formost:
GET THE MONEY OUT OF POLITICS!!!
Right around minute 2 Dylan Ratigan states: "Your congress is a bought congress!" His emotion filled point really hits home for me. Iin my mind embodies the "one demand" and I'm not alone. It has already been clipped and added to this video:
Occupy Wall Street Our One Demand
So, this leads to the obvious question of HOW?
These 5 steps recommended by Matt Taibbi would make a good start:
Hit bankers where it hurts:
- Break up the monopolies! They are above the law and above market consequence, making them more dangerous and unaccountable than a thousand mafias combined.
- Pay for your own bailouts!A tax of 0.1 percent on all trades of stocks and bonds and a 0.01 percent tax on all trades of derivatives would generate enough revenue to pay us back for the bailouts, and still have plenty left over to fight the deficits...
- No public money for private lobbying!A company that receives a public bailout should not be allowed to use the taxpayer's own money to lobby against him. (Or better yet, in my opinion, no lobbying at all!)
- Tax hedge-fund gamblers!We need an immediate repeal of the preposterous and indefensible carried-interest tax break, which allows hedge-fund titans to pay taxes of only 15 percent on their billions in gambling income, while ordinary Americans pay twice that...
- Change the way bankers get paid!We need new laws preventing Wall Street executives from getting bonuses upfront for deals that might blow up in all of our faces later.
Still think it doesn't matter to you? Still identify more with this hardworking young man?
How does Max Udargo's response to him sound?
Do you really want the bar set this high? Do you really want to live in a society where just getting by requires a person to hold down two jobs and work 60 to 70 hours a week? Is that your idea of the American Dream?
Do you really want to spend the rest of your life working two jobs and 60 to 70 hours a week? Do you think you can? Because, let me tell you, kid, that’s not going to be as easy when you’re 50 as it was when you were 20.
And what happens if you get sick?My uncle has been saying for years that "THEY" want to turn us into a third world country, I really didn't believe him, it sounded too far fetched, but then a conservative friend of mine shared an article:
I’ve left my country, because I can’t take the Socialist slant anymore, and I am so tired of the regulations that make it almost impossible to do business in the U.S.
[Here in Costa Rica] the roads are barely wide enough to allow two cars through, yet buses and trucks manage the turns all day. I even saw an amazingly adept chicken cross the road. In six hours, seeing dozens of intersections, I saw zero STOP signs, one blinking red signal light, no ridiculous “slippery when wet” or “dangerous curves” signs, no highly paid DOT workers standing around with signs that say “SLOW” and of course, no highway marker signs or street name signs. Somehow, 5 million people manage to navigate a country a little smaller than West Virginia with barely a touch from the government.
I'm sure Costa Rica is a lovely country, but that's not what I planned for my children's future! As my brother said this morning, "I don't want to be a peasant!" and I don't want a large majority of Americans to be peasants either!
Why are the protesters occupying Wall Street, DC, or any other locations around the country?
To preserve the American Dream by getting money out of politics!
