“Bump that, I won’t do what you told me”…I wouldn’t rush to say the Occupy Wall Street movement is the Rage Against the Machine that most conservatives are claiming. In fact, in a matter of weeks the grassroots campaign against corporate greed in America has proven to be a viable, organized, and well-represented social movement.
Occupy Wall Street movement spreading to a city near you...
With help from social networking sites the non-violent, social, and political change craze started by small town multi media company Adbusters (based out of Vancouver) has occupied dozens of cities across North America and there isn’t any signs of slowing down. What I think is beautiful about this movement is it’s a mix of Liberals, Conservatives, Left, Right, Middle, Young & Old…it’s clear Americans are fed up and angry. And with Union backing it’s safe to say OWS is a legitimate cause looking for fundamental change.
Long overdue, but people are starting to realize it’s not Republicans’ fault, it’s not Democrats’ fault…it’s the institution’s fault.
Rather than serving the public, it’s evident the government has once again started their mud-slinging tactics with looming reelections in 2012.
The Republicans fought to the tea over the budget deficit and nearly allowed our country to default. A political strategy, this gives conservatives ammunition to say, “Hey, our credit rating was downgraded for the 1st time in American history under your watch, Obama.”
But it’s on both sides….
I’m sorry Mr. President (I voted for you) but your Create Jobs Bill is not the answer. It’s another Stimulus 2.0, a band-aid on a gushing wound, and a cannonball political strategy for Democrats to fire back at Republicans for not passing a bill that’s only a temporary fix to create jobs.
This country needs to sit down, sit back and look at our society from a grand scheme. At this rate, my children’s and grandchildren’s future career paths may be maids and house boys for the Chinese.
It’s pathetic that in a time where Americans are experiencing record highs in mortgage foreclosures, unemployment and, jobless rates our self-interested government chooses not to do their primary job – serve their people.
So where do we go from here?
Well, unfortunately I hold a much more grim opinion on the state of American politics than most and believe there is no way of avoiding a greater depression. However, there are some ideological steps that if taken, can help us avoid complete disaster.
Occupy Wall Street is a step in the right direction but, without a face for the organization and clearly defined issues to support it can only do so much. Thus far, Dylan Ratigan has been the main voice of the movement and in my eyes a Libertarian like Ron Paul could be the face for these angry Americans.
Dylan Ratigan, MSNBC host of The Dylan Ratigan Show
Mr. Ratigan, unlike most mainstream media faces has been a powerful voice for OWS and I salute him. Think about it, it has been almost a month since OWS began, and in our instantaneous news cycle this tremendously influential story is lacking the coverage it deserves. Well, considering the fact this is a movement against corporate America, it comes to no surprise that most news networks (who happen to be owned by a handful of corporations) would choose not to give coverage to an issue that, is ultimately against their own demise. Thank you Dylan…I have signed your Get Money Out petition.
Why can the OWS movement identify with Ron Paul?
Ron Paul - Libertarian bidding for GOP nomination
At this point the relationship between corporate America and the government is so big and coercive it’s manipulative.
As a Libertarian, Mr. Paul believes that government spending should be cut drastically, government should be axed rather than scalped. Cutting the head off of government spending, and putting more power in the hands of the people is an idea I think Occupy Wall Streeters could resonate with. To me, this makes sense and would help America’s debt problem. We’re not talking about complex ideas here, it’s simple arithmetic…spend less than we consume.
In my opinion, we should cut our military spending by 50%…maybe even more. Government agencies like the SEC, FDA, DEA, HUD, ATF, EPA, and OSHA – should be abolished, along with the Federal Reserve. Unfortunately, these ideas are too radical for common Americans to consider. Even if Ron were elected, I’m positive he would have the heads of the FBI, CIA, DOD, NSA, and a half-dozen other lesser-known Praetorian guard agencies breathing down his neck telling him, “you’re not going to change the order of business around here.”
Some issues the OWS movement ought to rally around:
Get the money out! Mr. Ratigan, I’m with you on this one. Let’s stop allowing our private industries to buy out our government. SEPARATE MONEY FROM THE STATE. 94% of candidates who raise the most money win their elections, this is an alarming number and a clear identifier Americans are being bought out. Seriously, technology has come a long way…do you really have to travel across the country to make personal appearances using the same rhetoric city to city? Have you ever heard of Skype?
FREE & FAIR MEDIA! It’s clear this is an issue that goes hand in hand with the OWS movement. Our media has become so distorted, biased, and, inaccurate I feel like I’m Winston Smith in Michael Radford’s film of George Orwell’s novel, 1984. Most in part to the fact news networks are owned by a handful of corporations who dominate the dialogue. Check out Save the News.Org for more details…they’re an organization advocating for free and fair media.
Tax discrimination and class warfare are common sayings I’ve been hearing. Is it that radical of an idea for there to be a flat tax across the board and the bottom/top 5-10% get tax decreases/increases to offset the books? And forget loopholes…this is America. WE ARE ONE BIG LOOPHOLE.
All in all, this isn’t the laughable hippie movement many conservatives are making it out to be. People are finally turning their anger into positive and peaceful action. Certainly, this cause raises some legitimate fundamental problems with our country. I see this movement carrying over and many of these issues becoming serious topics of debate for the 2012 election. So please, make sure you register to vote, do research and, vote for the politician that will represent YOU and not corporate greed.
