A Nice Surprise from the Montgomery Brothers

Last week I posted a guest blog from Jim Montgomery regarding the Occupy Wall Street protests that are going on.  I asked Obstructed Views to write a post about it because I knew they could tackle it better than I could.  And as mentioned before, I really like their style of writing.

Upon returning home Friday from Disneyland, I found another guest blog post from Obstructed Views in my Gmail, but this time it's from Jim's brother Kyle.  I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least.

Kyle Montgomery has giving his view point on the Occupy Wall Street "copycats", which I find very interesting, because I was thinking the same thing about some of the new protests that have sprung up lately.  However, since I do not delve into that area of the world (yes, I know I should), I am not qualified to speak on it.  I could, but I would come off sounding like some rambling fool, instead of giving an intelligent point of view, that some may or may not agree with.

I like to keep my writing to things I know and am an expert on, and that's things that have happened to me personally, or things I can relate to.

Jim and Kyle Montgomery write on things I know about, but, as mentioned, give an intelligent argument to.

Let me reiterate what I have said before about Obstructed Views; I may not agree with everything they say, but I do like their thought process.  It gives me much food for thought and I hope it does the same for you.

I will be posting Kyle's content tentative title Kyle's Two Cents around Noon PST today.

Kyle's Two Cents - Occupy Wall Street Occupies Copycats by Kyle Montgomery

First things first, we want to thank Nikki for the opportunity to voice our opinions about certain things do without further ado, here it goes!!!

I want to briefly touch on these protests once again as it seems, as is the case with any newsworthy public issue, there are multiple copycat protests occurring. This seems ridiculous and redundant. People seem to be protesting for the sake of protesting and have no real agenda other than to say they did so. To each their own and if you feel it is legitimate, then by all  means protest. The problem I have is that it seems people are protesting anything that can be deemed controversial because they know it will get coverage. What's next, everybody with the last name of McDonald in the world will stand outside of the restaurant McDonald’s and protest not getting any revenue or even a free burger?!?!?!

Overlooked in all of the protest coverage has been the fact that Herman Cain has not only become a legitimate presidential candidate, but he has become the favorite to run against Obama in the upcoming election. There are some people who feel that some of these protests have been caused by Cain and his theories. I am thrilled at the fact that this country has come to the point that physical appearance does not seem to be as important to the majority. It seems that what they are proposing to do and their stances on certain issues have become more important. For instance, Herman Cain has come out and said he will oppose government funding of abortion and that he is 100% pro-life. He did not shy away from the question and answered honestly without conviction. Whether people agree or disagree with him, he knows what he stands for and there is integrity in that. People laugh at his 9-9-9 plan but I honestly don't think it's that bad of an idea and like his slogan says "Let's get real", it definite couldn't hurt. If it is in place and does the things he envisions it doing, how could it be worse than it is now?? Now as we all know, when it comes to politicians, its one thing to say it and another to do it. The only issue I have is that people are making a big deal about him having a mustache. Herman Cain seems like the real deal and mustache or not, we should all pay attention to what he says, rather than whether he has facial hair or not!!

This is Kyle Montgomery, and this is my two cents!!

 

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Kyle Montgomery is a co-founder of Obstructed Views Blog , which is an unbiased (as long as you agree with our views) blog where we tackle the worlds of sports, entertainment, politics, current events, and anything else we feel like.  Kyle can be reached at montyobv@gmail.com and on Twitter @Obs_Views_Blog

Occupy This!

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.

Let me start by saying, kudos to these people.  The first amendment of our Constitution states:



Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 

The Occupy Wall Street/Philly people are exercising their constitutional rights of free speech and peaceful assembly.  You could almost say they are also exercising their right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.  (They are complaining to the government about abuse of power and waiting for a response)  I’m all about the right to protest and speak out against the issues that you believe are wrong.  Hell, our country was founded because a group of people protested what they perceived as Tyranny by their government.

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]

While I believe that all of those causes are worthy causes to protest, lumping them all together in one protest is insane.  Pick one and focus on it.  Again, I agree that you have the right to protest.  Hell if you want to protest a million and one things then be my guest, just don’t expect my support.  I would 100% support you if you chose some of these “causes”.  Since you chose so many you, lose me.  I can’t support some of them despite agreeing with others.

The second problem I see is with the unemployment argument.  Sure, unemployment is a huge problem in this country.  If this is their main “cause” I have a few issues.  First, instead of protesting, shouldn’t these people maybe be looking for jobs?  Oh yeah, that’s right; “there’s no jobs.”  Let me rephrase that; there aren’t any jobs that they’d take.  I get that you were a white collar employee.  Guess what?  If you can’t get a white collar job than you take the blue collar warehouse job to support your family.  You sure as hell shouldn’t be protesting.  An argument I get a lot is be happy you have a job Jim and you don’t know what it’s like.  You know what?  I’m very thankful I have a job and you’re right, I don’t know what it’s like.  You know why?  Because I didn’t sit on my ass and bitch and moan about how unfair it is and how the government should take care of me.

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.

The final problem I have is with the outrage at Wall Street.  Another one of “reasons” for the protest is to stop corporate greed.  Listen people.  Are those Wall Street big wigs douche bags?  Yes.  Anytime you’re paying yourself bonuses with money the government gives you to bail you out, it’s messed up.  However are they really to blame?  Who gave them the money?  That’s right, our government.  Did they ever tell them that they couldn’t pay themselves bonuses?  Not that I know of.  So who is really to blame?  Yep, our government.  That’s where the protests should be; not on Wall Street.  Besides, not every company that received a bailout used it for bonuses.  Even so, if your mom sent you to the store for groceries as a kid with $20 and said here’s the list and whatever change is left is yours, would you buy the most expensive brands?  NO.  You’d by the shit that’s on sale so you could maximize your profits.  That’s what some on Wall Street did.  Put the blame where it belongs, on our government.  Besides, most of the companies have been paying back their loans at a high interest rate.

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.

The last thing I want to touch on is strictly an Occupy Philly thing.  These people are costing the city of Philadelphia $112,000 a week in police overtime (that’s not including the hours of the police that are pulled from other districts) to ensure the safety of these protesters.  Problem is the city is cash strapped.  If you have read any of my previous posts you’d know that the schools are suffering in this city.  The mayor has made attempts to help alleviate the problem.  He has had little success but at least is trying.  I bet some of these same people protesting how bad the city government is, are the same ones that bitch when Mayor Nutter attempts to solve the issues.  Can Philadelphia really afford an extra $112,000 a week?  Nope, yet these people will be the first to whine when their streets don’t get plowed “on time” this winter.  Furthermore what is the city of Philadelphia going to do to help?  People have been bitching about the city government and how bad it is for years to no avail.

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!


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Jim Montgomery is a co-founder of Obstructed Views Blog , which is an unbiased (as long as you agree with our views) blog where we tackle the worlds of sports, entertainment, politics, current events, and anything else we feel like.  Jim can be reached at montyobv@gmail.com and on Twitter @Obs_Views_Blog