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| Well, not here, but roughly 40 minutes away in my own city. |
Why?
I’ve felt absolutely helpless for the last…four years, maybe? Ever since I got to college and learned that despite what they told us in high school, the system doesn’t really work—at least not anymore.
Now, however, people are finally reacting to the fact that the way society has been operating is completely ridiculous. So I wanted to get involved and show my support.
I’m sick of the government being owned by corporations.
I’m sick of the absolutely disgusting distribution of wealth in this country.
I’m sick of the fact that this is a worldwide problem.
I’m sick of the fact that widespread poverty affects not only people, but also results in devastating environmental issues based on cheaper food, irresponsible resource management, and desperate land use.
I’m sick of nobody approaching these problems.
And apparently other people are too.
This is no way to live—we need change, and since Obama isn’t providing it like he promised, we the voters will have to do so.
That said, as usual people won’t stop bitching about the movement, and yeah, some people outright disagree, I saw that one coming, but there is a whole list of arguments that just don’t make any sense to me.
1. “Oh, the movement isn’t offering a new solution to the old problems.”
2. “Oh, people are just protesting for the sake of protesting.”
3. You’re not accomplishing anything by sleeping in a park.”
4. "Actually, I'm just fine."
This is bullshit.
1. A list of demands was recently released, but whether or not you’ve read them doesn’t matter. Here are the basics:
-Ending the influence money has over our representatives.
-Raising taxes on rich corporations.
-Ending corporate welfare.1
That’s simple enough, I think.
There are other demands, obviously, but these are what I’m standing behind.
2. So what? Say some people are just protesting for the sake of protesting. Say some people just want to see a repeat of the 1960’s because they missed them or are nostalgic or something. Say a ton of protesters don’t really know what’s going on, they just want to sleep on the cold, hard, cement ground of public parks (I don’t know why they’d want that). It doesn’t matter.
Two hours at a rally and anyone who didn’t understand before will know what’s going on, and then they’ll want to participate more, because our system is fucked up. These rallies and occupations of the cities across the country are the best representation of America and what it stands for no matter how dirty some of the protesters are, because this is an exercise of our first amendment rights—freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. Plus, these rallies bring people together. People who would normally never come in contact with one another end up shoulder-to-shoulder standing up for what they believe in, and I think that’s brilliant.
3. Obviously no government official is going to go “oh, look, unhappy people are sleeping in parks, let’s change how we run things. I’m not stupid.
But this protesting is accomplishing something.
This is about awareness.
If people driving by on the street see us yelling in front of the capitol building, at the very least they’ll wonder why.
…Which will make them think.
…And perhaps lead to further dissatisfaction among the public.
And that’s how we change things.
Dissatisfied people vote.
Votes change the system.
4. This attitude is a problem.
This isn’t about the fact that you pay your taxes, aren’t in debt, have a job, whatever. This isn’t about being a college kid with minimal debt, no debt, all the debt, whatever. So what if some people made poor decisions? So what if some college students are privileged enough to both to be in school instead of the “real world” and to have the time to protest? Does nobody understand that this isn’t what the protesting is about?
It’s about how some CEOs of massive corporations make 344 times more than their lowest employees.2
It’s about how corporations are controlling our food, our medicine, our land, our information systems, our children3, and our money.
It’s about how corporations working the government have been sneaky and now that we’ve caught on we want to end the injustice.
It’s about how the wealth in this country is so unequally distributed that it’s sick.
It’s about how despite this, we as Americans (when compared to the rest of the world) are the 3% not the 99%, which is even sicker.
It’s about how some people are completely willing to allow other people die either from starvation or lack of health resources over something as pathetically stupid as green slips of paper.
It’s about how we’re no longer happy with the way things have become.4
So you know what, you’re happy with the system, fine. You call yourself the 53% or something?5 Fine. Don’t protest. I don’t care.
But don’t complain when other people exercise their constitutional rights to do just that.
The point here isn’t keeping afloat on your own. The point isn’t proving how you’re able to make it, you’re just fine.
The point here is that if this many people aren’t alright, something is wrong. Some people can’t find jobs and can’t afford to relocate. Some people can’t seek medical attention for very serious ailments. Some people can’t afford to feed their children.
So you’re doing fine? That’s great. This isn’t about you it’s about us.
I will not be owned by corporations.
I will not stand by and watch those corporations own my government.
I will not allow myself to remain under informed due to corporate media.
I will not stand by and watch everything this country once stood for, small businesses, families, children, and the earth suffer because 1% of the population is horrendously greedy.
If we don’t band together now, things are only going to get worse.
This is a revolution.
It’s okay if you’re not ready. “99%” of us are.
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_Wall_Street
2. http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/science-scope/the-secret-to-paying-ceos-more-fairly/2974
3. http://vimeo.com/28066212
4. http://www.occupytogether.org/
5. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/the-53-want-the-99-to-learn-from-their-example/
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