Member of the Month

KilaTsunami
October, 2024

Online

Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post. Register to become a member today!

Occupy wall street

profile picture
KravtZ
Posts: 6637 - Karma: 2,629
does this piss off anyone else? At my school there was a protest today at 9 am waking everyone up. These people have no idea what they even are protesting. So annoying. Its literally just a big party for all the hipsters and people who don't contribute to society and are jelous of everyone who actually work hard and make money
Oct 16 2011 12:38AM
0 0
profile picture
emilyiscool
Posts: 1628 - Karma: 60
spent some time at occupy toronto and helped out. there not doing a whole lot so i smoked weed with the people trying to legalize weed and some girl gave me free Oxycontin but i think im just gonna sell it because i dont trust free shit. anyways people are just chilling in tents and i really dont think its doing much other then pretty much destroying the park and attracting homeless people because of the tents and free food. met some nice people who said i was pretty, but they were really hippy-ish and on god knows what. I think if they want to actually acomplish something they need a solid reason why there doing what there doing. Every time i asked someone why they were there they said "because we want change" i asked them what they wanted to change and they all were kinda dumbfounded. should be interesting to see if they end up changing anything.
Oct 21 2011 1:13AM
0 0
profile picture
MitchPee
Posts: 8871 - Karma: 1,509
There are obviously some unintelligent people who are involved in the occupy wall street movement. The blame the corporations bandwagon is just as easy to hop on as the government is evil one.

The reality is there are a lot of people in the US who want to simplify issues as much as possible so they are able to contextualize and understand them. The real problem is this just isn't possible. It's not easy to understand these issue without learning the origins and you can't just "blame the the government" or "vilify the rich". It's simply not possible. There are a lot of people who have earned money by working hard. There are also some who have probably not earned their money. There are welfare slugs and there are trust fund babies.

All of these things aside I want to mention there is a serious problem with our economic and political system. Yes, it is important to remember our lifestyle compared to certain other countries is much better. We should be appreciative of that. However, the American population is already too complacent. It's disgusting, we watch tv, we waste, we consume, we don't stop. We ignore the fact that we sell weapons to anyone that will buy them, treat the world like a chessboard no matter the people caught in the crossfire, the list goes on. It's not surprising we have terrorism or even enemies like the "axis of evil".

Economically speaking our government propped up a diseased organization. An organization that legally exploited the inner workings of a flawed system. While this was almost entirely legal, the harmful effects were felt nationwide. The American citizen is still too busy blaming their insignificant emotionally charged issues on the government or any other scapegoat they can find. The truth is our financial sector has been inefficient and reliable on speculative trading for a long time. It basically allows some people to make a lot of money and a lot of people to lose a lot of money. Leverage banking, private equity, bailouts, moral hazard, are all terms that escape the common vocabulary of the everyday citizen.

Until we can properly educate people in this country this is a worthless cause to even talk about. Too many people take politics at a personal and emotional level to even think of making progress. Hopefully one day we have a generation raised on logical thought instead of a puppet media that keeps us believing we stand for freedom and democracy.
Oct 21 2011 1:15AM
0 0
profile picture
corona
Posts: 12797 - Karma: 32,757
thought is free.
Oct 21 2011 1:16AM
0 0
profile picture
Uah
Posts: 1104 - Karma: 176
Click for larger image
Oct 21 2011 2:29AM
0 0
profile picture
AMD_5
Posts: 745 - Karma: 15
Standing ovation for this guy. Took the words right out of my mouth. For those of you who actually believe its not a big deal, watch Inside Job and you'll realize how hard Wall Street fucked you in the ass. I don't even live in America and it got me fucking angry. Regarding the movement, sure there's alot of dumb people being interviewed and shit. I look at it this way, at the very least the Occupy movement is giving people a public forum to discuss and share ideas on how to change the fucking system. Not to mention the fact it's educating people and causing them to open their eyes an realize what's going on. Knowledge truly is power. until Western society realizes that what's going on in the government is more important than who got voted off American Idol, this system is just going to perpetuate itself.
Oct 21 2011 2:31AM
0 0
profile picture
rhcp
Posts: 2598 - Karma: 18
I think it's funny that they're protesting Wall Street as a whole, like we are all fat cats with dough and free time.

The reality is that only a select few on wall street are truly wealthy (top 1%), and most of us work ridiculous hours and experience tremendous stress to earn the above-average pay we receive. I work 80-100 hours a week (just got home from work). On an hourly basis I probably make less than my friends with regular 9-5 jobs.
Oct 21 2011 4:11AM
0 0
profile picture
MitchPee
Posts: 8871 - Karma: 1,509
You're not helping my case out for hoping we raise a generation raised on logical thought.
Oct 21 2011 9:42AM
0 0
profile picture
jibmeisterflex
Posts: 719 - Karma: 63

the point is not to accomplish anything it is to bring attention to the people about obvious problems with our country

For some reason I thought most free skiers would be liberal and be supporting this

Oct 21 2011 10:12AM
0 0
profile picture
Ski_the_east01
Posts: 5203 - Karma: 2,306
job well done then cause these idiots havent done a damn thing

cant wait for the first cold snap for all of these people to leave, everyone will forget about these "protests" by mid december
Oct 21 2011 10:15AM
0 0
profile picture
MitchPee
Posts: 8871 - Karma: 1,509
You're a perfect example of what I am talking about. You want them to "lose" because someone has given you the perception of what they stand for and you react to it emotionally with anger. Subtle anger, but it is still anger. You're being played like a fiddle my friend. Can you even give a logical reason for why you feel this way? Is it because it doesn't align with the bias you have been given because of a narrow perspective in life?

This is what the media does so well. They bring us an issue we have no personal context with and allows us talking points and pre-judgements on how to feel about it. Key word: FEEL. Not think.


Oct 21 2011 10:23AM
0 0
profile picture
AwR
Posts: 5147 - Karma: 1,880
just going to drop this here
Click for larger image
Oct 21 2011 10:34AM
0 0
profile picture
joshua
Posts: 5046 - Karma: 1,280
All those people need to get a life/job/sense of purpose.
Mabeye if they spent more time working and less time protesting then they wouldn't be so "poor."
Yeah, people in third world countries starve to death, and here we have people in america whining about being poor. Don't worry, I'm sure you will get by without an ipad 2 and the 5$ cup of coffee from your hipster coffee shop.
/rant
Oct 21 2011 10:54AM
0 0
profile picture
Ski_the_east01
Posts: 5203 - Karma: 2,306
No one gave me shit, I developed my own perceptions on what I see everyday as I'm entering/leaving south station (right across from these clowns at dewey square) after or before a long day of work and class

These people have absolutely no idea what they're doing, they are just there to make a lot of noise...I have yet to see one rational or plausible argument from these protesters. It's very hard for me to sympathize with these people that sit on their ass all day long saying free college is a right of theirs. Bullshit. I've been working since I was 15, know the value of a dollar, and busted my ass to get scholarships to go to school...I graduated school and busted my ass for months to get a good paying job, now I work long hours to pay down the remainder of my student loans while going to grad school part time to get my MBA to better myself, its a lot of fucking work...these people don't work. I'd be surprised if any of them have had a full time jobs in their entire lives, this is America you work for what you get, if you want something you go out bust your balls and get it..you dont demand that other people take care of you like these degenerates
Oct 21 2011 11:03AM
0 0
profile picture
steezeknees
Posts: 819 - Karma: 9

We are closer to a genocide than anyone care to admit, who will we scapegoat. I hope its the jews!

Oct 21 2011 11:10AM
0 0
profile picture
Static
Posts: 8553 - Karma: 4,087
god damn how dumb could you be? If they had a job they would still be getting ripped off by the governments strong arm at the puppet wires of the corporations. This whole thing isn't just about jobs you stupid little fucks. Honestly if you have no problem with the way things are being run then just shut the fuck up, continue to dump a third of your income (for now they arn't charging us enough to live here, that's why there's a deficit) into a bottomless pit and ignore the burning sensation in your ass.
Oct 21 2011 11:14AM
0 0
profile picture
tbayskier
Posts: 1138 - Karma: 1,642
Josh is right.  People protesting about their standard of living in Western Countries is ridiculous, there are people who don't even know if they'll eat tomorrow.
Oct 21 2011 1:06PM
0 0
profile picture
ThaLorax
Posts: 21083 - Karma: 8,455
and that makes it OK to lose your job?

what kind of fucked up logic is that?
Oct 21 2011 1:34PM
0 0
profile picture
smuggs
Posts: 6561 - Karma: 1,375
Oct 21 2011 2:01PM
0 0
profile picture
smuggs
Posts: 6561 - Karma: 1,375
Oct 21 2011 2:05PM
0 0
profile picture
smuggs
Posts: 6561 - Karma: 1,375
Oct 21 2011 2:06PM
0 0
profile picture
smuggs
Posts: 6561 - Karma: 1,375
Oct 21 2011 2:12PM
0 0
profile picture
PhaedeD
Posts: 11498 - Karma: 327
I have nothing else to add to this argument except for this.

People complain there are no jobs out there and that we need to create them.

1. Driving around the few tows/cities around where I live I see help wanted and hiring signs in windows all over the place.

2. The government is always hiring.. join the military, the pay check is there and its not a bad one. plus they will give you a signing bonus. 97% of the "unemployed" persons at OWS could have a job today if they actually looked or decided to get a government job!
Oct 21 2011 2:32PM
0 0
profile picture
Skavengers303
Posts: 964 - Karma: 192
download and watch this
Oct 21 2011 2:46PM
0 0
profile picture
Skavengers303
Posts: 964 - Karma: 192
http://rocdocs.democratandchronicle.com/delegates/article/68601

"The Conservative Party has vowed to no longer endorse Alesi because of his stance on same-sex marriage. The party's support was critical to Alesi last year: He would have lost without it."

Oct 21 2011 3:00PM
0 0
profile picture
Tasche
Posts: 5422 - Karma: 99
Working at a Subway for $8/hr with a bachelors degree is not full employment and if you have ever had to pay a bill in your fucking life you would understand this.

Its not about jobs anyway. Please take some time to learn about the relationship between government and corporate interests. That is what they are protesting.

Also the government is laying off people at a massive rate and not everyone is so comfortable with killing other people as a full time job. Are you really so stupid to believe that a company (our government) with many times more debt than revenue can continue to hire?

I get so frustrated with people like you. Stupid smug little arrogant fucks who think they are better than everyone else because they think they are going to be rich one day.

I have some bad news for you, you are going to be poor as fuck and burdened with massive debt unless you wake the fuck up and take notice to what the rulers of this country are doing. And by rulers I in no way mean the politicians, our political system is bought and paid for. Recent court rulings and the creation of a non disclosure unlimited donation system eliminated democracy long ago. I would be very surprised if the voting machines even do anything more than beep and make you feel good.

So unless you are personally making more than $350,000 a year and have close personal ties to the ruling elite I would support these protestors because they are doing something that you are too much of a coward to even comprehend. Next time you have a snide little comment about employment shove it up your ass.
Oct 21 2011 3:02PM
0 0
profile picture
PhaedeD
Posts: 11498 - Karma: 327
With a bachelors degree you can go right into the military as an officer which means you will instantly be paid more.

btw there isnt the same amount of killing going on as there was 10 years ago or during WWII. Most likely if you are bright and have a college education you will be pushing paper not shooting people. maybe not what you had in mind for a job when you went to college but if you need a job and money to pay back school loans why not?

Oct 21 2011 3:14PM
0 0
profile picture
PhaedeD
Posts: 11498 - Karma: 327
I have news for you. I will never be poor or burdened with massive debt. its the truth, sorry..

Click for larger image
Oct 21 2011 3:16PM
0 0
profile picture
PhaedeD
Posts: 11498 - Karma: 327
and read through this entire thread please. I always said I understand the real reasons why the people are protest and I understand the problems with the big business and government.. My personal stance on the Occupy shit is basically occupy somewhere that can make a change.

Yes the people in the big business are the problem, they pay the politicians/government what ever you wanna say a lot of money to have things put in their favor. everyone gets that EVEN ME!!

As long as the same people are in our government we will have this problem and as long as the people running these big business are still running them we will have these people in the government.

We need people in the government that are going to be uninfluenced by the big business. You can stand outside someones office all day with a sign but as long as their pocket is getting fatter and fatter they arent going to care. The change needs to come from laws and policies, laws and policies come from people in the government. Once laws and polices are changed or made then the people in the big business are fucked and cant pay to have whoever they want in the government.

Protestors should be outside government offices, capital buildings, their governors house, town halls, places like these. They need to be there saying we will not elect you again or give you one fucking dime if you do not act for the people. When no laws or policies are made to try and help the people, you dont vote for that person.

Eventually someone is going to have to come out that is a real human and wont be influenced by the government. It will be incredible hard but if this person is true in his ways and people believe them then they may have a chance at making it into our government.

Standing in wall street isnt keeping money out of the big businesses pockets. standing in wall street is just making the government spend more money on paying people such as police overtime.
Oct 21 2011 3:27PM
0 0
profile picture
Tasche
Posts: 5422 - Karma: 99
But it started this conversation. That is what protesting is about.
Oct 21 2011 3:41PM
0 0
profile picture
PhaedeD
Posts: 11498 - Karma: 327
ya protesting is about being heard I understand that also.

Come on though its like the people on wall street have "heard" the protestors they have been there for a while and nothing has changed other than their voice getting out which is yes a good thing!

Im just saying lets move the protest to somewhere where the people that are "hearing" us need us. If that makes sense. A politician can get all the money in the world from someone to run a campaign but they need US to be elected. People in politics also need to be held accountable for what they say. thats probably one of our largest problems. we need to get rid of this, i will do this this this and this if I am elected. If someone says they are going to do something and they dont they need to be held accountable for that. we elected the person because we thought they were capable of doing a job. If they dont follow through on what they said they would do and what we thought they would do they arent doing their job. when people dont do their job they get fired. the same thing needs to happen in politics. I think thats something we can all agree on.
Oct 21 2011 3:49PM
0 0
profile picture
Download-My-Apps
Posts: 5069 - Karma: 1,017
thank you. The ignorance on NS about this stuff is laughable.

My only beef with the occupy movement is how its being turned over with communist, tea party motives. Its not what it should be about. I also feel it could be far more effective, there is enough people to make change yet the demands at occupy wall street were insane, they need to offer a reasonable solution.
Oct 21 2011 8:52PM
0 0
profile picture
ThaLorax
Posts: 21083 - Karma: 8,455
Just thought I'd post here to say I went to the Occupy in my town today. The energy there was amazing. People brining home cooked food for each other,local farms donating some of their product, people networking and talking about sociopolitical change. The people there were some of the coolest people I've met in a long time too and they were all very hospitable and friendly.
Oct 22 2011 12:39AM
0 0
profile picture
Uah
Posts: 1104 - Karma: 176
and we all lived happily ever after :)
Oct 22 2011 12:44AM
0 0
profile picture
MitchPee
Posts: 8871 - Karma: 1,509
Okay please understand not to take offense to this, but nobody gives a shit what or wasn't handed to you and how or how not hard you have worked. It's completely off topic and irrelevant. I applaud you on your focus to hard work and education. I agree and am in a similar working 70 hours a week/grad school situation. It just isn't relevant to the conversation.

Now you want to condemn those people for not being logical yet you make a sweeping generalization, unfounded line of assumptions, and a statement from a few sarcastic signs as the dogma for the movement? How do you not see the error in your logic here? By no means am I stating I agree with everything or even anything the movement stands for. Just telling you that you cannot talk about a group of people like that based on what you feel. Why don't you go talk to the people and see what it's all about instead of getting it 4th 5th and 6th hand from non-credible sources.

This is America, you work for what you get? Are you shitting me? You really think that's how America works? Yes it is true for a large portion of the middle and upper middle class but you need a reality check man. Capital investment sustainment is not "working for what you get" neither is living off the government by welfare checks. I'm all for hard work and earning things by contributing labor and extensions of that labor (capital) but to blame the shit on one portion of the population as a scapegoat like you are is just downright ridiculous.
Oct 22 2011 12:58AM
0 0
profile picture
themostcrunkmonk
Posts: 28 - Karma: 10
"Join the Military".

Oh you so funnnnyyyy.
Oct 22 2011 1:34AM
0 0
profile picture
ThaLorax
Posts: 21083 - Karma: 8,455
If you can make it through the 30 minutes, watch this:
Oct 22 2011 4:09PM
0 0
profile picture
VT_FLO
Posts: 3806 - Karma: 147
Hipsters you say?

Click for larger image
And just look at this damn hippy! he sure as hell doesn't know what he's doing there. It's not like he was fighting for his life while you were skiing off of your parent's money.

Click for larger image

And this SOB has no idea what he wants! It's not like we have been forced into socialism that creates a ruling class: the super wealthy by PREVENTING BANKS AND BUSINESSES FROM FAILING (aka, not letting capitalism run its course)
Click for larger image

Click for larger image

Click for larger image
Yeah people have NO idea what they are angry about!
Click for larger image

I find nothing wrong with this conduct...
Click for larger image

more dirty hippies, hey wait is that my neighbour?
Click for larger image
I'm sure these older people have no idea about contemporary politics and what they have done to us since the 1970s as well.
Click for larger image

In conclusion, Get off the TV, read a fucking book, LISTEN to what people have to say and form your own god damned opinion.
Oct 22 2011 4:34PM
0 0
profile picture
babujib
Posts: 5039 - Karma: 104
i understand why they are protesting (corporate greed, yadayada bullshit whatever) but theyre asking for a complete removal of the fed? im sorry, but anyone who has any knowledge whatsoever of how our economy works wouldnt be so stupid, hence why they are looked at as kooks
Oct 22 2011 5:17PM
0 0
profile picture
Uah
Posts: 1104 - Karma: 176
It does not piss me off page 5?
Oct 22 2011 5:51PM
0 0
profile picture
Kevski
Posts: 7056 - Karma: 2,785
As expected with someone promoting radical change, there is some brilliance and some total bullshit in there. I'm glad he started talking about climate change, because that allowed me to really take a step back and think, "who is this guy and why should I believe anything he says?". He definitely had some good views, but his fear of anything at a global scale is ridiculous. To label climate change as a conspiracy just because its past title had the word "global" in it is going a bit beyond reason.

The part about the banking system was really thought provoking though and I'm glad I watched it.

It really got me thinking about what parts of society and the economy are globalizing, and why. And who will benefit from it. Something that everyone should consider.

I won't debate on the occupy movements though, because NSG is the most ridiculous place to try to have an intellectual conversation about anything that involves changing people's lifestyles or society. I definitely support them though as long as they aren't dominated by the trendy bandwagoners or people with other agendas that want mainstream exposure. Protest is a part of the political system, glad to see it making some noise.
Oct 22 2011 7:57PM
0 0
profile picture
Download-My-Apps
Posts: 5069 - Karma: 1,017
I went to Occupy Vancouver today to hear David Suzuki speak, it was very interesting. He touched base on sustainability and globalization. In general, I felt the speakers there were well spoken and touched some very important issues, they also stated that we need to hold on the positives of capitalism too, no need to make a system that would be worse than the one we already have. However, they said we should walk to banks and close our accounts. That was stupid.
Oct 22 2011 8:15PM
0 0
profile picture
ThaLorax
Posts: 21083 - Karma: 8,455
I'm a Natural Resources Management major with a minor in Global Environmental Sustainability, so most people would expect me to be the last person to say this, but there's a lot of truth to what he says about the whole climate change thing. That video was just a snipped of books worth of material that he's written. He knows what climate change is, he just doesn't believe in pushing sustainability through international laws, fees, and sanctions.


Either way, his talking points on the banking system are spot on though.
Oct 23 2011 3:10AM
0 0
profile picture
Kevski
Posts: 7056 - Karma: 2,785
If he does know scientific detail about global climate change (which I really didn't think he conveyed), he'd understand that it involves natural systems that don't stop at international borders. Since it's a global problem where everyone feels the effects of everyone else's actions, it seems logical that it be tackled in a global sense if any solution is going to be reached. To go about it in an inefficient localized manner just to avoid anything global doesn't make sense. And since some countries aren't doing anything with the recommendations to improve (eg. Canada because our PM's family is in oil), laws, fees, and sanctions are probably necessary to make anything happen. I think he's taking his anti-globalization argument a little too far in this situation, that's all.

Not meaning to take this thread off topic. Just find it strange when someone takes issue to the world coming together attempting to try to solve a problem and benefit the future of mankind.
Oct 23 2011 5:20AM
0 0
profile picture
ThaLorax
Posts: 21083 - Karma: 8,455
That's just the thing. He has no issue with promoting sustainability. His issue is with the stuff like carbon taxing. There's a lot more important things to worry about other than an element that is an an essential element of life and how it affects a cycle that is out of our control and that we really don't understand as much as the media tell you. What we should be focusing on is environmental problems like habitat destruction (and loss of their ecosystem services), forest degradation (which take in that CO2 to produce O2 for you to breath), top soil loss, clean water access, agricultural runoff polluting watersheds, and much more. The problem needs to be addressed locally at a global scale rather than having a blanket law to govern the globe on an issue that is a scientific theory spread by those with an interest to gain from it. Carbon and it's effects on climate change are theory, not fact, and lots of scientists have been caught fudging data to make the situation look worse than it is.
Oct 23 2011 5:59AM
0 0
profile picture
midwestpowhunter
Posts: 2198 - Karma: 189
i like what he says

Oct 23 2011 4:59PM
0 0
profile picture
roddy116
Posts: 10630 - Karma: 7,456
1. i dont know what the fuck the protestors are trying to get out of this.
2. corporate america people worked hard to get to where they are
3. protestors are whiny becuause they are protesting about things that they do not have
so shut up protestors
Oct 23 2011 5:12PM
0 0
profile picture
*simba*
Posts: 9125 - Karma: 512
I hung out and chatted with some protestors on Wall Street yesterday. It's a really cool/interesting place to spend time at and you learn A LOT by talking with them for a while.

Here's som picxs:
Click for larger image
Click for larger image
Oct 23 2011 5:14PM
0 0
profile picture
Skavengers303
Posts: 964 - Karma: 192

1. you would know why they are protesting if you read the thread

2. for the most part yes, but that is irrelevant to why people are protesting

3. this is completely contradictory to your #1. I guess I agree, because we don't have a non corrupted government and economic system

Please actually do research on why the protests are happening, because after reading this thread I have decided that the only people against the protests are the people who don’t understand why the protests are happening.

Oct 23 2011 5:24PM
0 0
profile picture
Download-My-Apps
Posts: 5069 - Karma: 1,017
then I suggest you a do a little research.
Oct 23 2011 5:38PM
0 0
All times are Eastern (-5)