every day for two hours. Two hours is all I can take because then they begin repeating themselves. But I digress.
I’ve been waiting and waiting to comment on the Occupy Wall Street protests. To be honest, I really didn’t care too much about the whole movement until they moved into Philadelphia. Now that they have been here for almost a month I feel it’s time to weigh in. I agree with some of what they are saying. There is also a lot about them that drives me crazy. Mostly though there are just a lot of questions that they have me asking. Most of this will be directed towards the Occupy Philly people but from what I hear and read their “cause” is in line with Occupy Wall Street views.
The problem that I have is; what exactly are they protesting? You ask 10 people you’ll probably get 10 different answers. I’ve heard they are protesting everything from corporate greed, to unemployment, to shitty healthcare. Huh? Pick one people. This is where you lose me. A couple weeks ago a friend of mine posted the following on his Facebook status: This in from my time at Occupy Philly today. Saturday at 1pm people are meeting at city hall for a march to independence hall. The walk is being organized by the direct action team and "Fight for Philly". Thousands attended last week and they expect thousands again this week. If you can make it out to support then do there are plenty of problems in america, shitty healthcare, corporate greed and corruption, political insignificance and puppetry, police brutality and wrecklessness, financial theft and fraud, prescription drug lobbies as legal dope dealers...no matter what you've been a victim of at least one of these has most likely affected you, pick one and go represent yourself. [sic]
When I graduated college I couldn’t find a job. Did I blame the government or Wall Street? Did I look for handouts and pity? Fuck no. You know what I did? I went around and spent my “free time” looking for god damn job. Lo and behold, guess what happened? Yep, I found a job. Was it the job I wanted? Nope. I had a college degree but I was a seafood clerk in a supermarket making $8.90 an hour. Talk about humbling. Did it suck? Absolutely. Did I feel that I was “better” than the job? Sure. Unfortunately I didn’t have many other options. Sure I could have protested but I was too busy working as many hours as I could to support myself. It wasn’t the ideal situation but shit happens. I worked hard and eventually became a manager. I was able to make enough money to pay for myself to back to school to get my master’s degree. Again, I didn’t sit on my ass and expect others to help me. I helped myself.
Before anyone chimes in, I know there are some hard luck cases. There are some older folks who can’t get hired because of their age and/or experience. This does suck. Let’s be honest though, whose fault is this? Certainly not the person who is unemployed. Is it Home Depot or Wal-mart’s fault? No. They are in the business to make money. They can hire a young kid in high school (or 2 for that matter) for minimum wage to do the same job that “unemployed Joe” wants $12 an hour to do. How is that Wal-mart’s fault? Last time I checked we live in a capitalist society. That means that Wal-Mart is trying to make a profit. I know that Wal-Mart etc., all have their faults but it’s an example and I’m not here to debate Wal-Mart. (maybe that’s a good idea for another post) Is it the governments fault? Hardly. What are they supposed to do? Make a law that says Wal-Mart has to hire “unemployed Joe” at $12 an hour instead of little Timmy for minimum wage? No because where I come from that’s socialism.
Speaking of our government and why people should be protesting them, they’re the ones who create the laws with the loopholes that allow these corporations to get away with these things. Companies book their revenue offshore to avoid paying taxes. Again, they’re in the business of making money so who can blame them? If I could make a few extra dollars by doing business in another country guess what? I’m shipping my business to China or wherever. Our government is the entity that allows this. Protest them. Put the blame where it belongs. You want to be upset with someone? Start in D.C., not Wall Street, Philly, or any other city for that matter.
In conclusion, I think the Occupy Wall Street movement has potential. Unfortunately they don’t have a clear focus. (Or maybe even all the facts) I’d also like to know how many people are protesting just for the sake of protesting. Our founding fathers protested perceived Tyranny by the British. Their focus was “no taxation without representation”. We all know how that worked out. Yo Occupy Wall Street/Philly, choose a cause and go with it. Also, you want me to feel sorry for you? Do me a favor. Stop tweeting about your exploits on your IPad2. As far as I’m concerned if you have an IPad2 (which I can’t afford WITH a decent job) you’re not in that bad of shape. You look like a fool. That’s all for today. Until next time this is Jimbo saying hell no I won’t go!On LinkedIn, I am part of a few blogger/writer support groups. Yes, I do call them support groups, although we do not sit around and discuss our problems. Rather, these groups helps us with our problems with regards to writing. But I digress.
Through one of these groups, either Bloggers Helping Bloggers or The Blog Zone, I came across the blog Obstructed Views and immediately became a fan. I may not agree with everything that is being written, but Obstructed Views makes some valid points about a lot of things.
If some of your remember, I wrote a piece called How to Make a Million Dollars After Prison, which was a piece I wrote off the backs of one of Obstructed Views piece titled Suck My Vick Although I did agree with their take on the Michael Vick situation, I respected it a great deal.
I ask everyone to please welcome Jim Montgomery from Obstructed Views as my first guest blogger for this week, and I hope for many weeks to come.
