• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Occupy <Your Town>

I lol'd. Someone get this man a television show.

"They Tried To Silence The Only Sane Man At Occupy Toronto: "Karl Marx Was Wrong"

 
From the front lines

I've worked in SF's Financial District for years. So far as I can tell, the occupation has managed to:

  • Drive away most of the local panhandlers. In fairness, I can't say if they've been assimilated into the movement or if they've been driven off. They have, however, been replaced by new aggressive panhandlers in greater numbers.

  • Impede local small business. Justin Herman Plaza, home of one of the camps, is also home to a farmer's, arts & crafts market which operates in the plaza daily. I've noticed the number of vendors is declining, probably because they've managed to:

  • Turn Justin Herman Plaza into a **** hole. Literally. I passed through the plaza last Thursday. The sometimes pungent aroma of SF's eastern waterfront has been replaced by the stench coming from the camp itself. No small feat, indeed.

The Nimble Pianist said:
Yeah, no matter how much I might sympathize with the idea that wage disparity and stagnation is a problem I just cannot get on board with a movement that seems to be teeming with conspiracy theorists.
Click to expand...

Amen.

NSFW language.



btw, I guess these guys didn't get the memo. BofA moved its headquarters from SF years ago. Not surprising though.
 
Wow. Megaphones just suck the intelligence out of people, don't they? There is probably some sort of algebra to describe it. Some sort of inverse relationship, I guess...
 
BTMO said:
Wow. Megaphones just suck the intelligence out of people, don't they? There is probably some sort of algebra to describe it. Some sort of inverse relationship, I guess...
Click to expand...

Sounds like a valid theory.
Alex Jones probably keeps that thing under his pillow.
 
gumboot said:
I think some of these protestors have this bizarre notion that if we "spread the wealth" evenly we'll all live like corporate CEOs. Boy are they in for a rude surprise if they ever get anywhere.
Click to expand...
Can't think how you get that impression. The line in London is very much that there shouldn't be the wide extremes of wealth, with people living in abject poverty, whilst others piss thousands up the wall on a single meal.
 
The group in Dunedin (NZ) were issued a trespass order yesterday, as they are occupying a park in the middle of the city. A friend of mine went down there to offer support to the protesters. She said that at the appointed time, the police drove by but did nothing else. The protesters have indicated they won't be going.

Incidentally, the city council wants them gone as they are breaching the camping bylaws. It has little to do with the protest per se - they've been there and not been asked to leave for nearly 3 weeks...
 
Information Analyst said:
Can't think how you get that impression. The line in London is very much that there shouldn't be the wide extremes of wealth, with people living in abject poverty, whilst others piss thousands up the wall on a single meal.
Click to expand...


If the world's wealth were spread evenly we'd all be living in abject poverty.
 
BTMO said:
Yep - and they don't want that. They just want more. Someone else's more...
Click to expand...

For some, perhaps, it's as simple as that. For others it's actually a bit more subtle. The big banks were bailed out using someone else's money, but are doing far too little far too slowly to make sure that either (a) they pay the money back and (b) make sure it doesn't happen again.

A good number of the protestors in London, at least, are protesting that more needs to be done because that money could be much better spent elsewhere right now, rather than on nice chunky bonuses to bankers.

Of course it's much easier to pick out the protestors with the unrealistic or weird goals and dismiss everyone who protests as a smelly hippy, but I do think within the protest there are some realistic and sensible goals.

And people are starting to take notice, and nobody's felt the need to set fire to anything.
 
richardm said:
Of course it's much easier to pick out the protestors with the unrealistic or weird goals and dismiss everyone who protests as a smelly hippy, but I do think within the protest there are some realistic and sensible goals.
Click to expand...

This is true, but I would question the sensibility and realism of those who think they can promote their goals by attaching themselves to such a disorganized, poorly-defined, ambeotic movement. As you have pointed out,t he realistic goals are lost in the noise, so to speak, and even within a similar camp you have various people in the "movement" supporting opposing ideas.

I think these occupy movements are going to end up changing nothing unless and until someone can step up to a leadership role and at least take some steps in presenting a unified message...rather than the disparate mob it currently is.
 
Last edited:
Yes, you're probably right that something needs to crystallise, and sooner rather than later if they don't want to just collapse under their own weight. I think the London protest is getting close to the crystallisation point however, mainly because the effect they've had on the clergy of St Paul's Cathedral - an iconic British building and much-loved, even if you're not religious - has hit the news in quite a big way.
 
Also - while the big bank bailouts (and indeed national bailouts) were most unpalatable, the time to protest those bailouts has long passed. Its all a sunk cost now. The people who should be up in arms are the Europeans who are about to sink more $ into a Greek white elephant.

Capitalism as defined by US big banks as 'Capitalism except when you screw-up and look for a government handout to fix your problem' definitely isn't the way forward. But neither is appropriating wealth and handing it out / Robin Hooding your way to some mock utopia.
 
I think most people were reasonably content at the time that the bailouts were necessary, on the condition that the banks would reform. What's annoying people now is that the banks are sitting on the money and failing to reform.
 
CynicalSkeptic said:
Similar in Houston. There was some arts fair at the park they're occupying near city hall, so they moved to another park for a few days. I work about a mile away, I really should go by there some time to observe.
Click to expand...

There won't be much to see. It looks just like any camping ground, but without the showers and the girls in bikinis.
 
The one in Fort Wayne, IN is going pretty good. The park that they are occupying is right next to a major thoroughfare and a block away from city hall. Went there yesterday and donated bunch of stuff. Hopefully they keep up the good fight. They are doing daily protests so I might have to go back there soon for a little protesting.
 
richardm said:
For some, perhaps, it's as simple as that. For others it's actually a bit more subtle. The big banks were bailed out using someone else's money, but are doing far too little far too slowly to make sure that either (a) they pay the money back and (b) make sure it doesn't happen again.

A good number of the protestors in London, at least, are protesting that more needs to be done because that money could be much better spent elsewhere right now, rather than on nice chunky bonuses to bankers.

Of course it's much easier to pick out the protestors with the unrealistic or weird goals and dismiss everyone who protests as a smelly hippy, but I do think within the protest there are some realistic and sensible goals.

And people are starting to take notice, and nobody's felt the need to set fire to anything.
Click to expand...




Herein lies one of the problems with this movement. Because they've not established a cause for which they're protesting, the movement attracts people with practically any issue you can imagine. I am sure individual people involved in various occupations around the world have sensible and reasonable wants, but the occupation has no voice. In such situations the loudest clamors tend to be heard first, and these are inevitably the stupidest.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom