This article is about a very important issue in my mind and I hope that most of you agree. We all know about the Occupy Wall Street Movement and what they represent but do they themselves know what they’re doing this for? I don’t believe they do and as I go on, I’ll explain the pros and cons of this current movement and why it doesn’t have the effectiveness it should.
I always enjoy starting on a good note, so here it goes. A movement such as this has been able to turn the tides of governments, dictators, whole countries and most importantly, have inspired people to get involved. I love seeing the Occupy Movement in the sense that people are passionate about what is happening in this country and they want you to care about it too. I also believe that they are protesting some key elements that are bringing this country down such as the Federal Reserve and a corrupt money market that essentially dictates the direction this country is heading in. I love seeing the streets filled with people fighting for a cause they believe in because, after all, a revolution is how this country was founded. I also love how they have remained non-violent, for the most part. So, in short, I’m all in favor of an occupy movement. I’m just not in favor of THIS occupy movement.
The problem I have with this occupy movement is the lack of intellect, the lack of planning, the lack of cognitive thinking, the fact that they refer to themselves as the 99% and most importantly, the lack of knowledge on the very issues they are out there protesting. I’ve been to a couple occupy movements in Charleston, S.C. and I’ve seen the videos and done the research on as many as I could find. The one, fundamental problem that I have seen in every single movement around the country is that people just straight out do not know what they are there for. They say things like, “End the Fed’” and “Wall Street is corrupt.” Or my favorite, “We are the 99%.” The people I have asked and the people I have seen asked about these issues don’t have a damn clue as to WHY the Federal Reserve is a bad thing or Why Wall Street’s practices are not in within the highest standards of a money market that handles our countries finances. They think that they’re the 99% because we have a high unemployment rate or, because although the cost of living has gone up and minimum wage has not, that they have been short-sided. These things may be true but they are in no way whatsoever the 99% of the world, nor are they the 99% of this country for that matter.
I could go on for days about why we should end the Fed or why we need to change the practices of Wall Street but that is not the intent of this article. The one message that I want to promote to everyone above everything I ever write, is that you need to educate yourself on the issues and get involved. Having a firm knowledge on what your point of view is not only lets people know that educated and prepared for debate, it also gives credibility to your claims. Do you have any idea how ridiculous those people sound when they’re asked why the Fed is bad and they blurt out some random gibberish? They bring down the status of the movement and then a stereotype begins that everyone there is just like that one moron. You lose credibility on everything you are fighting for. Nobody wants to listen to that and eventually your voice is drowned out by morons. Educate yourselves. Help educate others. Spread what you know and stand by the things you say. They’re absolutely right, they are the 99%.They’re the 99% that don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. I’ve seen some amazing speakers at these movements who have really had inspiring words and knew what they were saying. If this movement was filled with people like that, I’d quit my job and go live in the streets with them.
This was also very poorly planned. Maybe not poorly planned but definitely poorly executed. The word of this movement didn’t spread far enough, the message wasn’t clearly stated and goals were not outlined in detail. Once people got wind of the movement, every retard who wanted to say something decided to show up. There were so many different points of view and lack of knowledge on THEIR OWN VIEWS!!!!, that it was nauseating. There was no clear message, you couldn’t find a knowledgeable person due to the crowd of incompetent sheep and you could figure out which direction they were firing these shots at. There was no objective. No goal line. No push for the hill because nobody had a clue where the hill was. It’s mass madness aimed in no particular direction, with no particular point and that is why this movement will fail.
In conclusion, I love the idea of this. I love the passion, although it’s not known what that passion is, and I love that so many people are willing to get behind something like this. However, we need to be educated and knowledgeable on the issues. The best analogy I can think of is, you can’t fire a weapon that has no ammunition. We are all capable of being this great weapon that can turn the tides of the country we live in but it’s the ammo that makes the weapon effective. Once again, thank you for reading and I welcome any comments, good or bad.
I wonder, what are your thoughts about similarities and differences between the 60s movement of Peace and Free Love to ‘We are the 99%’ ? I also wonder if the nation during the 60s looked at that movement in the same light as that of OWS? As I sat in a Social Movements and Community class this past Semester, we discussed OWS as it unfolded and I could see this raw energy and blind acceptance about being part of something bigger then themselves. For the Seniors in the class, they recounted with great passion going to an Obama rally her in Manassas, VA when “Change we can Believe” In was in full throttle acceptance. I see this is as another energizing item to cause serious damage to our Nation’s Founding. “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Edmund Burke
ReplyDeleteThere are many similarities between these two movements and I think the biggest one is the demographic. In the 60's they were mostly college aged kids with a few older ones strewn about which is just what this movement is. You also see an extreme passion, as blind as it may be, throughout both generations. The difference is, the 60's movements completed some of there goals where as this one will not. For one, the 60's had a primary focus of ending Vietnam and promoting peace, so there a clear 'enemy' to fight; the government. With OWS, they're fighting many fronts, the Fed, Wall Street and a corrupt government, but there is no clear 'enemy.' There isn't a single person they can go to for results. The Fed and Wall Street are comprised of MANY different people and there isn't a clear target of who is to blame in the government. Not only that, but when dealing the Fed and Wall Street, the leaders are not elected, they don't serve a limited term and more importantly,they aren't required to look after the people's best interests. The government is, so in the 60's when a vast number of people called for peace, the government had to listen. OWS has a massive advantage thanks to the ease of communication and access to information. They didn't have that in the 60's but what they did have was support from many public figures. I think the general populace back then looked at that movement much in the way that ours looks at OWS, however, having the support of musical, political and radio figures really opened up the doors for that Peace movement. It wasn't widely criticized the way OWS is because there was so much support for that issue and not just by people who held no credit in the community. You have John Lennon who was a major influence and brought with him all of his followers. You had woodstock that preached peace and just prior to that, you had Dr. Martin Luther King who preached peace. So when you bring together all of those factors and their respective followers, you have a widespread and supported movement. You also have to factor in the military and police killing protesters and committing violent acts. That opens up a whole new wave of support for peace. We don't have that today. We're not a generation who has been a part of a revolution so we're new to the idea and many supporters, like you said, just blindly follow it. The good thing about OWS is that it has opened the eyes of many people and made them question what is happening. The downside is, OWS gets so much negative press that majority of people push it to the wayside. If we can educate ourselves and give credibility to our claims, I can really see this having serious impact on our country. Whether that impact is good or bad? Too early for me to say.
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