Why Occupy Wall Street is Now More Popular Than the Tea Party
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-10-26/why-occupy-wall-street-now-more-popular-tea-party
A new Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll has revealed that more people support the Occupy Wall Street movement than the Tea Party. The spark for the movement came from “Adbusters” – an anti-consumerism magazine based in Vancouver. It proposed an "occupation" of Wall Street on September 17, 2011. The idea caught fire. Since the first protest, “occupy” movements have sprung up in across the country from Seattle to El Paso,Texas. The movement has been accused of being a “mob” and a front for special interests. But progressive politicians are increasingly trying to harness the movement’s support. Join us to discuss the appeal of the movement and its impact on American politics.
Guests
Jim Tankersley
reporter, National Journal
Ken Vogel
chief investigative reporter, POLITICO
Jonathan Smucker
volunteer, Occupy Wall Street
Michele Pendergast
volunteer, Occupy San Francisco
Joshua
volunteer, Occupy Chicago
Corryn Freeman
volunteer, Occupy DC/K Street
Comments
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sarasotagal wrote:
"So many can't find work and find their lives are unravelling quickly- What did Perry said most recently when asked about the growing disparity? He said " I just don't care". At least he's honest. Stupid but honest"
Got a better idea sarastagal:
How about moving to North Dakota. Unemployment there is 3%. Make darn good money in the oil patch. Estimates $85,000 to $150,000. Ever though about that? Go where the jobs are? Do you think that some of these recent graduates from elite schools with big loans can work than off in the oil patch?
I just looked up "banana republic" on Wikipedia. It says it is "a politically unstable country dependent upon limited primary productions, which is ruled by a plutocracy, a small, self-elected, wealthy group who exploit the country by means of a politico-economic oligarchy."
I think everyone is missing something -- we in the U.S. need to have a good discussion about what a society is for, and what a government is for.
If all of the people who have joined this discussion moved somewhere and formed a community, what would be our expectations? At the extremes, some people might like the rest to give them free board and room, and some people might like the rest to be their supine prey. Do most of us want a society in which someone who has a factory can hire workers for next to nothing and replace them with healthier workers when they get to infirm to continue working or when they strike for higher wages? Do most of us want a society that will let children starve to death because their parents do not have enough money to buy food? Do most of us want to refuse to pay for the education of the offspring of others? Do most of us want to have fire departments that the homeowner has to pay fees for -- or watch his house burn while the firetrucks stand by? Do most of us want only the people who own cars and trucks to pay for roads, and for the roads that are provided to be of a quality proportional to the total wealth of those whose houses are served by it?
What should one have to give up to get what one wants? If I am a wealthy man with my own household militia, maybe I should get what I want without contributing to the community from which I take it all. Should the people who do not have that kind of wealth and power just give in and provide Mr. Big with everything he wants?
If we want a society that provides certain infrastructure items and certain protections for the common human being, then we will have to be willing to pay for what we get. What way of dividing costs is (1) fair and (2) provides the maximum good for all?
These kinds of issues fall under what is generally called a "social contract." It seems to me that the U.S. no longer has a clear understanding of what our social contract is or should be.
I PLEDGE to not vote for ANY incumbent elected official at any level of government for 7 years. I don't see any other way to clean out system and get it back to functioning the way it was envisioned to work. Right now the system is rigged so 99% of us fight over table scraps while the 1% enjoys the banquet.
Take the PLEDGE!
Jeffrey
there are those who have worked their ways into that 1% through determination and hard work. There are many in the 1% who have made their millions billions by paying pathetic wages, providing no health care etc. There are those who have made their millions, billions through investments, capital gains, etc. Not off the sweat of their brows or brains or paying people pathetic wages.
Under Clinton capital gains taxes went from 28% to 20%. Under Bush 43 they went from 20% to 15%. Why is it that money being made from money should be taxed lower than the incomes of those who are out working 8-6 or more everyday?
The working class are not asking for hand outs. They are asking for a level playing field. They are asking the 1% to pay their fair share.
mean,
you sure selected the appropriate name for yourself. Bet you are one of those people who wears a little cross around their neck or star of David as you walk over the poor on your way into your church or synagogue.
As I said "I bet" Your attacks on others sound similar to the arguments of folks like Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Bachman, Bill Kristol, etc
You have no idea what I have done in my life. But can assure you I have put in my time and still doing it. Have only paid taxes etc for 45 years glad to do so. So keep your head up where the sun does not shine. Keep insulting people when you know nothing about them. You lose.
Again folks should go to the GET MONEY OUT website. Read, sign and spread far and wide. Keep pushing folks. Keep pushing
There's an interesting Occupy site that is based on zipcode. http://www.occupybyzip.com
Anyone can post photos and material by sending to your-zipcode@occupybyzip.com.
Honest question. I was very confused by your use of the word volunteer when speaking to what I thought where participants in the protests in different cities throughout the country. Why were they being called volunteers? Were they media people looking at the protestors or where they part of some other group and were commenting on the protesting or where they just protestors? The use of the word volunteer made the entire show confusing for me because I was unsure who exactly those people were.
In my understanding the word volunteer means a person who without being forced takes on a service or an action. The word is defined by doing something that they are not forced to do and to use it for people who take part in a protest movement seems to be an incorrect use of the word. Voluntary. Volition. It is the act of not being forced that is being defined and to use it in this case seems an stretch on the definition.
the media needs to stop equivocating and acting like they have no idea what occupy wall street is about. You have been documenting and holding repeated programs for years that demonstrate that we are playing a deadly game of swinging back and forth between political parties that have been bought and paid for by monied interests years ago. We are not against corporations, banks, the news media, or even the government. We are against the hijacking of the democracy and the economy by people who show NO capacity to contribute to the welfare of the vast majority of the country, and who find it 'patriotic' to condemn the 99% for being the victims of their machinations. I would also like to implore you to stop acting like this country was ever some kind of economic utopia for the vast majority of people. The fact that you no longer mention poor people over the 'public' airwaves is not sufficient to make them disappear either today or historically. It is not lost on me or anyone else with a brain that journalists are caught in the same political economic bind as the rest of us. While there are a few who have the courage to speak the truth, the vast majority of media outlets left and right desperately cling to the corporate feeding trough for their survival and cannot afford to piss off ' Big Daddy Wall Street.