Occupy..WHY?

So, it's been a while since I took the time to write a blog.  I've heard they're old news..."everything happens on twitter now," so I guess I'm going old-school!  ^_^ 

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.

  from Occupy Tri-Cities (Richland, WA) taken by Jeremy Peterson

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:

My Advice to the Occupy Wall Street Protesters

Hit bankers where it hurts:

1. Break up the monopolies! They are above the law and above market consequence, making them more dangerous and unaccountable than a thousand mafias combined.
2. 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...
3. 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!)
4. 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...
5. 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:

Costa Rica 

Libertarian Paradise

 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! 

So, if you do have a job, hold onto it, but don't look down on those who have been unable to find work, and take to the streets to make their frustrations heard.  As this sign illustrates, many may be only a layoff away from joining them! 

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!

Responsibility

[Remains of the Blue Mountain Mall / Strip Mall]

I am not exactly sure which word accurately describes the way I am feeling regarding the current state of Health Care Reform in our country right now. Perhaps fatigued is the closest. I am very excited by the historic passing of "the bill" but it was nowhere near the change I believe we so desperately need, and so far beyond what Americans on the other side of the political spectrum are willing to accept. I am tired, so tired, of the division among my fellow countrymen!

"In the eyes of way too many far-right Republicans, this is a war. They believe the Obama administration, progressives, liberals and Democrats are destroying America and replacing it with some sort of weird Brundlefly composed of communism, socialism, Maoism, Nazism and -- shock horror! --social justice. (Bob Cesca)"

I believe that the hardest issue to overcome is our inability to examine facts from the other's point of view. So, I return to an illustration I've used before and make the claim that there is, in fact, only one truth but that our examination of that truth from different angles leads us to see different realities.

Originally uploaded by ssj_george.

For instance, lets say we are all looking at Rodin's Thinker (or at least copies of said statue.) Our points of view may be different, but like the statue, reality itself cannot be shifted by our narrow vision.

USA-JULY08: Rodin's "The Thinker"
Originally uploaded by Kenneth McN.

Each side has focused on their own particular angle and sees only what is in their particular point of view.

For example, the Republican and Libertarian call for fiscal responsiblitiy focuses on the absolute truth that our nation is seriously in debt up over our heads! How could we possibly fund healthcare? (And why would we?)

But, did their point of view, perhaps, keep them from seeing the big picture?

"This time, when we went for all the marbles, we ended with none.

Could a deal have been reached? Who knows? But we do know that the gap between this plan and traditional Republican ideas is not very big. The Obama plan has a broad family resemblance to Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts plan. It builds on ideas developed at the Heritage Foundation in the early 1990s that formed the basis for Republican counter-proposals to Clintoncare in 1993-1994.

Barack Obama badly wanted Republican votes for his plan. Could we have leveraged his desire to align the plan more closely with conservative views? To finance it without redistributive taxes on productive enterprise – without weighing so heavily on small business – without expanding Medicaid? Too late now. (David Frum)"

all in the details
Originally uploaded by Doubletee.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle have we been hyper focused on the enormity of need our country has for fair access to health care?The heartbreaking experiences of families who have lost loved ones due to inadequate medical attention makes it hard for those of us who are focused on this angle to consider the practical cost of helping those in need.

Just like the mall mess featured above, we cannot only have idealistic plans to meet everyone's needs. We must also be sure we can pay for them so that we don't end up with a half finished mess. But this cannot be looked at in a vacuum. Step back and look at the big picture! If people are healthier, they can be more productive. If they are more productive they could earn more money, If they earn more money, they will pay more taxes, which will help pay for Health Care reform!

I also find it more than a little hypocritical for conservatives to throw the blame for debt at our feet, Clinton left our country with a balanced budget. That balance seemed, in my eyes, to disappear into the black hole of war funding during the Bush administration. Still, I do think that progressives could and should focus more clearly on demonstrating the fiscal responsibility of the policies we champion:

"... Democrats need to clearly show that they're standing up to greed run amuck and saving a disappearing middle class, not taking control of people and redistributing wealth...(Kathleen Reardon)

Watcher
Originally uploaded by Alex T_SF.

But, how do we, as a nation with such polarizing points of view, act responsibly for the future of our country? Certainly not with the violence that is currently boiling up! Certainly not by calling each other liars!

I long for us to set aside our distracting differences, step back from our narrow emotional points of view and look outside the box for new angles and creative solutions to our nation's needs!

But I fear that it is too late!

----------------------------------------------------

One other thought, I have been wondering about the situation with the constitutionality lawsuit. If progressives had been able to maintain the "public option" would it have negated the issue with mandating citizens to purchase service from a private company?

(BTW - Conservatives are not the only ones concerned the possibility of the government overstepping it's bounds!)

---------------------Update-----------------------

I just saw that David Frum may have been fired for the article I quoted above: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts1352

Heads up!

Just read an excellent article by Frank Schaeffer: Why the USA is Screwed.... here's an excerpt:

We've gone to the last stop on a road paved with the mantra that no one is allowed to judge anyone else's behavior. The result is a culture that drives whatever vehicles suits it and global warming be damned. The result is a culture in which divorce is easy and common and all the definitive studies which prove unequivocally that the children of divorce, abandonment and instability bear lifelong scars, that in turn directly affect their ability to function in society, be damned (not to mention the economic problems of divorced families, particularly women, those who raise the children.)

(Note: How ironic that the right wing of the "Christian" community is taking a "stand" against gay marriage when gay marriage hurts no one and shows a salutary commitment to stability and the future, and when all studies show that the real marriage meltdown, in terms of actual harm to society that is measurable, is our tolerance of "no-fault" heterosexual divorce and its effect on kids and the economy.)

If the Obama presidency is to succeed, it's going to have to go far beyond policy and laws. President-elect Obama is going to have to become an evangelist.

I like it!

I really like this video. It's catchy, to the point and makes me proud to be an Oregon Democrat!

By the way....I LOVED Michelle Obama's speech yesterday! Did you hear it?

My Attempt at Gardening

With the price of food these days, I decided this was a good year to find a spot on our acreage of rocks and plant a garden. Now, you have to understand that I have NO green thumb at all! I usually kill anything I try to grow - overwatering, underwatering, forgetting to weed, placing it too far from the sun, or to near. I know I'm really late getting it started, but it was a really cold spring, so maybe I'm not really as far behind as I would have been.


(I can't get the pictures to line up the way I want them to... oh well.)