All Things
But now the protests spread to other cities, including Boston. 24 persons were arrested there for refusing to leave the Bank of America building. 700 people were arrested in New York City.
This is a real movement and can no longer be swept under the rug. Of course, the newspapers all hurry to dismiss it as foolish. "They have no clear goals," the journalists write.
No clear goals? The protesters want jobs. They want affordable health insurance. They want to have as much power as Wall Street and the large corporations. What's not clear about that?
The papers never accuse the tea party of lacking clear goals. Smaller government and few other government regulations seem perfectly clear. Is it any clearer than 'jobs and health insurance'?
Thousands of New York's finest came out to protect Wall Street. In Boston the police spokesperson is quoted as saying: "When they break the law, we arrest them."
That's really reassuring. But where was the police when Wall Street manipulated the economy into a deep and stubborn recession? Did they arrest anyone?
Well no, because that's not against the law. That's just capitalism. The big operators in the financial industry can take every crazy risk and ruin the lives of many of their fellow citizens. That's not illegal.
Why is it not illegal? It seems to me that it should be.
But then I remember the golden rule: "He who has the gold, makes the rules."
And, of course, he who has the gold has been newspapers in his pocket.
The occupied Wall Street protesters want that changed. They want American democracy to be returned to the people.
What's unclear about that?
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P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Oh, Oh, Obama!The President is having a hard time of it. The New Health Care law is not working as promised. Our supposed allies are furious at US spying on their leaders. Our Mideast policy has everyone saying that...
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Occupy Wall Street-- a Year Later When groups of mostly young people descended on Zucotti Part on September 17 2011, mainstream observers expressed exasperation: " They never tell us what they want; they do not have a program."...
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OccupyWallStreetandDemocracy. DemocracyisacentralconcernoftheOccupyWallStreetMovement.Everybodyisinvitedtospeakat meetings.Everyoneislistenedtocarefully.Oftenthewholegrouprepeatsthewordsofthespeakersothateverybodyhearsthem.Moreimportantisthecommitmenttomakingdecisionsbyconsensus.Thefinaldecisionofthemeetingmustsatisfyeverybodythere.Everyoneisheardtotheextentthathisorheropinionsareincorporatedinthefinaldecision.Inclusionandequalityarekeyvalues.Inthisdemocracytherearenoleadersor“decision-makers.”...
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Mall of America or American Republic? The authors of the Constitution, deliberating in Philadelphia in the 1780s disagreed on many issues. But they were unanimous in their opinion that the new Republic they were establishing, would survive only if...
-
Casino Capitalism Financial speculation was a significant cause of the Wall Street meltdown of 2007 that is still leaving more than 9% of Americans unable to find work. Hedge Funds are important vehicles of speculation. We can get some...
All Things
Occupy Wall Street!
The Wall Street protests in New York City are entering their eighth week. During the early days you only heard about it on e-mail, from friends, from the Internet. The newspapers ignored it.
But now the protests spread to other cities, including Boston. 24 persons were arrested there for refusing to leave the Bank of America building. 700 people were arrested in New York City.
This is a real movement and can no longer be swept under the rug. Of course, the newspapers all hurry to dismiss it as foolish. "They have no clear goals," the journalists write.
No clear goals? The protesters want jobs. They want affordable health insurance. They want to have as much power as Wall Street and the large corporations. What's not clear about that?
The papers never accuse the tea party of lacking clear goals. Smaller government and few other government regulations seem perfectly clear. Is it any clearer than 'jobs and health insurance'?
Thousands of New York's finest came out to protect Wall Street. In Boston the police spokesperson is quoted as saying: "When they break the law, we arrest them."
That's really reassuring. But where was the police when Wall Street manipulated the economy into a deep and stubborn recession? Did they arrest anyone?
Well no, because that's not against the law. That's just capitalism. The big operators in the financial industry can take every crazy risk and ruin the lives of many of their fellow citizens. That's not illegal.
Why is it not illegal? It seems to me that it should be.
But then I remember the golden rule: "He who has the gold, makes the rules."
And, of course, he who has the gold has been newspapers in his pocket.
The occupied Wall Street protesters want that changed. They want American democracy to be returned to the people.
What's unclear about that?
-
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Oh, Oh, Obama!The President is having a hard time of it. The New Health Care law is not working as promised. Our supposed allies are furious at US spying on their leaders. Our Mideast policy has everyone saying that...
-
Occupy Wall Street-- a Year Later When groups of mostly young people descended on Zucotti Part on September 17 2011, mainstream observers expressed exasperation: " They never tell us what they want; they do not have a program."...
-
OccupyWallStreetandDemocracy. DemocracyisacentralconcernoftheOccupyWallStreetMovement.Everybodyisinvitedtospeakat meetings.Everyoneislistenedtocarefully.Oftenthewholegrouprepeatsthewordsofthespeakersothateverybodyhearsthem.Moreimportantisthecommitmenttomakingdecisionsbyconsensus.Thefinaldecisionofthemeetingmustsatisfyeverybodythere.Everyoneisheardtotheextentthathisorheropinionsareincorporatedinthefinaldecision.Inclusionandequalityarekeyvalues.Inthisdemocracytherearenoleadersor“decision-makers.”...
-
Mall of America or American Republic? The authors of the Constitution, deliberating in Philadelphia in the 1780s disagreed on many issues. But they were unanimous in their opinion that the new Republic they were establishing, would survive only if...
-
Casino Capitalism Financial speculation was a significant cause of the Wall Street meltdown of 2007 that is still leaving more than 9% of Americans unable to find work. Hedge Funds are important vehicles of speculation. We can get some...