occupy wall street.

[morganm]

Yeah, you're right... we should just go with marxism.

[Silverdream]

Autocratic and Fascist governments are the most efficient. The only problem is getting someone smart on the throne.

[morganm]

Look; I agree the US has serious problems. That's why these guys "sound reasonable"... we agree there are problems that need to be addressed. I just object to these guys with their 'new' solutions.

[stubby]

I wish morganm was just trolling but I have a sad feeling he's not. There are other alternatives to usury besides marxism. In fact it was completely illegal in America up until a few decades ago and I don't remember us being particularly Marxist for the first 200 years of our history. I also don't remember the Occupy Wall Street folks demanding any specific solutions in their quest to focus attention on bringing serious problems to light, although they've proposed some modest financial reforms. Your particular flavor of misinformation makes me think there's a chance you've listened to Fox news at some point in the past.

[Zupponn]

http://www.capitalinstitute.org/blog/listening-occupy-wall-street

I read it and felt that there was something missing.

I also don't feel that Wall Street is the US's number one concern right now. There are bigger problems to be dealt with.

[stubby]

I also don't feel that Wall Street is the US's number one concern right now. There are bigger problems to be dealt with.

Oh yeah? You may be right. You know what might help with problems like those, is a government that cared about them. Maybe if you can convince your elected representative that those other problems threaten a bank or an insurance company somewhere, then they'll spring into action.

[Natalya]

I also don't feel that Wall Street is the US's number one concern right now. There are bigger problems to be dealt with.

Oh yeah? You may be right. You know what might help with problems like those, is a government that cared about them. Maybe if you can convince your elected representative that those other problems threaten a bank or an insurance company somewhere, then they'll spring into action.

You know Rayhawk, it still amazes me that I agree with you on almost every political statement you make.

[Pwnerade]

I also don't feel that Wall Street is the US's number one concern right now. There are bigger problems to be dealt with.

Oh yeah? You may be right. You know what might help with problems like those, is a government that cared about them. Maybe if you can convince your elected representative that those other problems threaten a bank or an insurance company somewhere, then they'll spring into action.

That reminds me of this:

[Keldoclock]

The mayor of NYC's salary is $1 a year.

All in all politicians don't make much money at all, however, they tend to be rich and powerful BEFORE they get into office.

[Zupponn]

I also don't feel that Wall Street is the US's number one concern right now. There are bigger problems to be dealt with.

Oh yeah? You may be right. You know what might help with problems like those, is a government that cared about them. Maybe if you can convince your elected representative that those other problems threaten a bank or an insurance company somewhere, then they'll spring into action.

I'm not sure if I need to convince my elected representatives. They've been doing a good job fighting to fix many of those problems in the past year.

[stubby]

You know Rayhawk, it still amazes me that I agree with you on almost every political statement you make.

It doesn't surprise me in the least, since I set my political rudder according to the best trolling grounds.

After listening to this guy go on about how great it is that all the talking heads "don't get it," I finally get it. Occupy Wall Street is a hipster movement. They all liked it before you heard about it and it went mainstream.

http://youtu.be/i9zkQcLi4Yo

[Natalya]

I think that Bill Maher got it right when he said that it is about making problems visible, not about resorting to traditional methods to get stuff changed (lobbying) because lobbying can't be effective when the people do it because the people don't have enough money to combat the huge corporate interests.

[Almighty Benny]

Just went down to Occupy Wall Street today. Bunch of pot smoking hippies, but many of them did actually seem to know what they were talking about when questioned. There was an undercover FOX news correspondent trolling the protesters by handing out free rolling papers and filming it, but nobody was falling for it.

As far as the idea of occupying wall street goes, I think it's a totally worthwhile cause if only to raise awareness of the issues at hand. It's one thing to make money, I think every successful company owner deserves to be rich, but this is to within a reasonable limit. The fact that CEOs are now making 350 times the average person working under them is ludicrous. In my lifetime corporate profits have doubled but CEO salaries have quadrupled. Meanwhile worker salaries compared to the economy overall have never been lower.

I agree with the protesters' stance on corporate deregulations. As much as I'm down with the concept of a free market, I really don't think we're capable of it. Some people are just too inherently greedy, and it's clear to me that banks and corporations need to be babysat by the government.

I would love to see a carbon tax placed on corporations with the profits going to green energy infrastructure, but I didn't see enough people at Occupy Wall Street preaching this idea. Many of them were just looking for handouts because they'd lost their job or their pension, which was sad but not really making much of a statement.

After seeing the protests for myself, I really don't think they're organized enough to get the message out there clearly, no matter how noble or worthy a cause it is. It's been 37 days so far though, and I'm interested to see how long they last. If you have a chance, go to a protest yourself just to see what it's like. I had a good time overall.

[Keldoclock]

If you're still in NYC, Ben, go back to the protests tomorrow at like, 3:20, and we can chill.

[mgb519]

I believe that wages were lower in the 1890's or so. That's about the best you can say about conditions today, most likely.