Occupy Wall Street Demonstrations

Great, a bunch of college-aged people engaging in their first amendment right of freedom of speech. However, I have a question did they actually accomplish anything?

People bitch when they feel frustrated and powerless. They demonstrate to show they are coming of age. For Gen X (age 31-50), OWS is a bitchfest. They had their chance 12 years ago and blew it. For Gen Y (age 11-30), OWS is a rite of passage. Boomers had their rite of passage prematurely, in the late '60s rather than mid '70s, because they were forced into it by the Vietnam war. The immaturity of their hippie movement embarrassed them into silence in the '70s, causing them to miss taking the White House when they should have, in 1980. Instead of a Boomer President, we got dinosaurs Reagan and Bush Sr. I despise Boomers for their self-righteous hypocrisy, but have to give them credit for idealistic changes to the legal system with civil rights and ending the Vietnam war. While in their yuppie chrysalis, they thought all they had to do was avoid becoming Archie Bunker like their parents. They didn't, and still don't, get the evil in metamorphosing into Gordon Gekko. If Generation X ha... Read more

Might be the ray of hope we've been looking for. Could be a flash in the pan. Potentially more significant: http://pubrecord.org/nation/8622/pentagon-papers-wall-street/

Unfortunately, I have to admit that it is a significant event, and it is possible, that it will blow us in the face some time in the future. Now, it might be funny that two youngsters are staying on Castro with plackard "Occupy Mountain View!". but that might be just beginning. There are too many unhappy people, who just wait for miracle to change their lives... You know, this Occupy Everything movement caught me off guard. I left a socialist country for the USA, because I did not believe in on these nice slogans. There is no Socialist country I was born any more, but Socialism is coming here, actually coming anywhere. It is easy to understand. I work hard and have not enough. You are rich, you have more than enough! Now, let’s share! You do not want to share, be sorry! Because all my neighbors think that what they have is not enough! So, they will come with me to help you share what you have! You are rich, I am poor, and it is not just!!! Do you think that there is something new? ... Read more

Completely disorganized party. Some people do not seem to know why they are even there. Some protesters seem to be using it as a catch-all for any type grudge they can carry. Occupy would greatly benefit from an MLK or Ghandian type leader to unify things. If they could break it down to say, 3 or 4 unified points (corporate greed, government structure which has allowed said greed to run rampant, taxation on the super rich, et al) I think more people would get on board with it. Realistically, I should have given them only three stars based on what I've seen. But I'm rooting for them despite their structural problems, so they get bumped an extra star.

Moderate story. They're not going anywhere. . .and the fox news namecalling tactics have not impressed the general population. Personally, I think it's high time a generation got sick and tired of an older generation playing roulette with their investments, telling them healthcare in not a right, crashing the housing and fiscal markets, and then telling them to be thankful to a false god for all of this to finally get a backbone and stand up. .. An easy three. . .not a big deal - but they aren't going anywhere. . .and the support for many (not all) of these people has flummoxed the illiterate media used to sound-bit philosophy.

UPDATE : Why is it "sports fans" can overturn a FIRST AID vehicle in a "protest" in defense of Coach Paterno,Friend and Confidante of Child Molesters & nobody sez "Boo" ! While ANY ruckus at a huge protest of the violation of the average citizen by the Wealthiest 1% is scrutinized & whined about ad nauseum ? Original Review : It has spread and grown,much to the chagrin of the greedy minority & their minions.People are fed up with living on the crumbs and sops that "trickle down" from the Ivory Tower. These protestors are NOT "miscreants" or "Lazy rich kids", they are people of all ages from all walks of life.Many of the younger ones are college graduates saddled with debt from student loans while they can't even find work,or at "best" end up flipping burgers with their expensive degrees gathering dust.Others are hard-working middle class people who lost their jobs and/or homes to the banks we all bailed out,or folks who worked at jobs with no health coverage and lost everything to an ... Read more

Hmm... saying I have my doubts is perhaps understating my pessimism about the whole thing. Am I against greed? Sorta. Do I think that we're not playing on a level playing field? Absolutely. Am I hesitant to support the demonstrators because I find the partisan nature of the protests disappointing? Dingity fuckin' ding. Then there is this: That's Scott Olsen. He was hit by something at Occupy Oakland. Protesters maintain that the police shot him with a non-lethal at point blank range, police say he was hit by a bottle thrown by another protester. Scott did two tours in Iraq with the Marines. This SHOULD bring me over, but there's a hitch. According to accounts, Scott ran a website that encouraged current and former Marines to share their hate for the Marine Corps in a forum where they could remain anonymous. This purports to be an archived screenshot of said website when it was still active. Well, I'm kinda fuckered here, to be honest. Where to go? What to do? Too many agendas, t... Read more

Here's one of the vids that show the SECOND most effed up thing that happened to Olsen, and it makes an attempt to show the initial strike, but some pedestrian is in the way. Watch to the end, it's pretty screwed up.

I give them credit. I must say that some of them out there should probably educate themselves as to exactly why they are protesting. Regardless though they feel in their heart that something is not right, and that is true. It's inequality and misinformation people are mostly upset about (IMO) Everyone on this planet should be able to eat a hot plate of food, take a shower, and clothe themselves. Well, I am all for taking down the Federal reserve but before doing so I believe there should be another plan in place because if there is not things could get real ugly... Here's some info for you if you are not aware why people are against the federal reserve: The Federal reserve system is the central bank of America but it's not part of the government, the own the politicians and presidents, they are the ones who have the power in this country. Just some info for your muse. Goooo Occupy wall street, I will continue to donate what I can locally here in Miami. Now, I am only wondering... Read more

I downplayed this initially, but there's something going on here--OWS is taking a life of its own. A lot of those kids on the street probably understand it more than most. Like it or not, it's a political force that has to be accounted for. Is there any political program or any real organization here? No. But there's a fundamental understanding that the political and financial orders have become calcified by years of corruption and insider dealing. The theft, the fraud, the financial manipulation is what they're charging against. It isn't based on any seated animus/envy/jealousy of the rich. It is an attack on wealth gained by ill means, which amounts to the quadillions, if you consider the full weight of derivative contracts with absolutely no collateral value backing it. Just to put it in perspective, the entire net worth of all the assets on this planet is only 40% of the $1.5 quadrillion that has been leveraged out over the past 15 yrs. alone. If you want to know why the... Read more

I don't think that these disturbances will have much impact on the positive side, but danger may lurk for those politicians supporting these groups if the public finally tires of them or some of them get out of hand.The squalor of the sites might repel some of the more fastidious among us.The general clueless comments from many of them provide high entertainment, and I get a big charge out of reading the many blog lines on Daily Kos.

Did we really look and sound like these people back in the 60's and early 70's? Did we really? AW...come on... Really? Gotta give 'em the extra star for wrangling themselves into the bathrooms of the local businesses without buying anything. (Good thing the big, bad corporations own toilets, eh mooks?) The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cWall Street Occupiedwww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire BlogThe Daily Show on Facebook

George Soros supported. Nancy Pelosi supported. Union supported. Hollywood supported. Yeah, those mobs are just poor unemployed Americans, lol.

On one hand, I sympathize with our young people, particularly since it is dawning on them that, in terms of their economic future, they have been totally screwed. Here is just one example of the sort of asshattery that they will have to pay for in the years to come: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-17/aig-hosts-event-at-ultra-luxury-resort.html On the other hand, the OWS protesters really do not have a clue on how to fix the problem. They don't seem to understand that having a culture based on a severe class structure and a legal structure that supports the top 1% is not going to be fixed: it has to be gotten rid of. These bozos can quote Jefferson all they want, but they do not seem to grasp that Jefferson himself (as were all the Framers) were part of that 1%, or else heavily invested in their interests.

Not really too interested. It seems like most of the protesters belong at a Phish concert.

Let them eat cake.