One of the things I hear again and again from critics of the Occupy movement is that they lack a set of coherent demands. That they don’t have all the solutions yet. But here’s the thing: we’re not at solutions yet, we’re still identifying the problem. The coherent demand is stop. Stop the marginalization of working and poor people. Stop the outsized corporate power. Stop the cozy relationships that allow a few people to profit at the expense of the rest of us. Stop. The status quo isn’t working.
There’s time for figuring out the solutions, and the people here will probably fracture when that time comes. But right now we’re still identifying the problems. So right now there’s a place for the moderates and socialists, for the Ron Paul supporters and for the union folks. They all know things are shit. They all know this can’t hold.
Kind of reminds me of the TEA Party folks and their movement except the enemy here is crony capitalism.
I support the idea of attacking these crony capitalists, but, while Wall Street and Goldman Sachs are good target of the protest, don’t forget to go after the arrogant bastards in Washington, DC that are all part of it, too!
your only at the problem identifying stage??? LOL, you gotta be fucking kidding me.
Look, you gotta do better than that pal…
Screaming like petulant children about problems(real or perceived), and then saying “we dont have a solution” is fucking asinine. NO WONDER THESE MORONS DONT HAVE JOBS!
Let me break it down for real you simple-style:
Employable people identify problems, calmly, and then offer MULTIPLE solutions
Unemployable people kinda sorta identify problems, jump up and down real loud, and can typically never offer up any solution, other than “change!”(whatever the fuck that entails)
these people need to look at themselves rather than blame everyone else for their situation.
Disclaimer: yes, I know and aknowledge that there are many people who are smart, well educated, hard working, and responsible who have been bitten hard by the economy..funny, I dont see many(if any) of them at the sit-in in seattle.
It’s funny, the reporters all mouth the same “what do they want. They lack coherent demands!” crap and then go on to list coherent complaints by the Occupy Wall Street folks.
And who decided that it was the protestors job to figure out how fix every little thing that’s wrong with our economy? IT’S NOT THEIR JOB! They’re airing a grievance, well, several related ones in this case. You want them to shut up and go away? Then fix the grievances. You know what they are. You know how to do it. Fix it and they’ll go home.
@3
so other than screaming “change!!!!”, you think its ok to complain like the dickens and be clueless to any solutions??
sorry Michael, I have higher expectations of people.
how about even a rough idea of a solution? something to get started on? anything???
and “give me their money because they have too much” isnt a god damned solution.
@4
If this ↑↑↑ was all that was going on at those protests they would have folded in 3 days. It’s not and there’s no reason to enter into dialog with someone who makes the types of claims you do.
I mean, you come off as more of a puffy, spoiled, narcissistic, 13 year old, as any one at those protests.
lol Michael.
shorter Michael: yes Mookie, you are right and I dont know what to write in response.
the Wall street types will have a coming to jesus soon, but it wont be because of a bunch of scruffy ass losers sitting in a park with nary an idea between them other than what color to paint a sign.
Hmmm.. Spot on..
@7
just like your menstrual pad….
Hey look,
Scruffy ass losers in a park in America made it on to the front page of The Times of London!
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/
50 scruffy ass losers in a park!
http://occupywallst.org/media/img/foley-square.jpg
8 – Made the point. Thanks for playing..
9 – Tax the rich.. Looks like a coherent demand to me and made by an old-timer.
The Canadians must just love American scruffy ass losers.
Yeah,150 is more than a dozen/
But, surly no one with any clout identifies with these scruffy ass losers.
So yeah, “Mookie” come back when you can argue with something that vaguely looks like a fact.
@11
She didn’t look very scruffy either.
Ha! Look what I just turned up!
Hey Mookie, eat my shorts!
Shoot, I’ve been going to Westlake every day to hang out for awhile. Some might call me scruffy, but I employ people, pay shitloads of taxes, and have never defaulted on a damned thing. The Occupy people understand where the problem in this country lies. The Teabaggers do not.
It’s fun to watch the MSM acting non-plussed about why anybody would be demonstrating against Wall Street fat-cats — like it’s a pet rock craze or something.
What’s there to stop? The self-interested exercise of economic and political power (the two are now entertwined) that has concentrated during 30 years of Republican governance? How do you stop that? Do you ask the rich and powerful to give up their wealth and power? Do you think they will? It’s going to take more than street demonstrations to change the GOP Culture of Corruption (TM) that has taken over our country. The only way to rid our society of this cancer is to eliminate Republicans from elective offices at the ballto box — 100% of them should be gone. I’m not in favor of one-party government; but, for a while at least, we need public offices occupied by Democrats, not streets occupied by powerless protesters.
One public office that needs to be vacated ASAP is the SCOTUS seat occupied by Clarence Thomas, the most corrupt justice of recent memory (or perhaps any memory). He needs to be gone. We’ve got to elect a Democratic Congress next year so he can be impeached and removed if he continues to lack the decency to resign.
@6 You surely rank among the scruffiest losers I’ve ever seen.
PI @ 1–
I find it ironic that this “Protest” organized by MoveOn.org and the Unions to help a failed Obama regime, focuses on Wall Street and Goldman Sachs..which contributed more money in 2008 to Obama than McCain. Obama gladly took at all that money. He fans the flames of class warfare for his political campaign…but what has he done?
Obama should have immediately ordered Holder to hold the crooks at FANNIE, FREDDIE and all the banks accountable legally. What has Obama done to date? Nothing. In fact, Obama has found new ways to be crooked. Bush, Barney Frank & Chris Dodd ought to be in jail over this as well as the plunderer’s who profited.
But what has Obama’s regime actually done? NOTHING!
So you have these MoveOn/Union drones protesting something THEIR PRESIDENT has failed to do anything about as far as accountability.
What a joke.
How many of these long-term “protestors” have jobs or are aggressively trying to find a job? How many are paid to “protest”? Why aren’t they “protesting” infront of the White House? The jobless report only shows those actively looking. The REAL UNEMPLOYMENT of nearly 23% is being treated like a dirty secret. Folks are becoming addicted to being unemployed. These are desperate times. What has Obama done when he had total control of the Senate & House to create jobs besides a failed Stimulus??
Just in–
The Obama Administration keeps trying to tell us things are improving. They claim to be creating all these jobs and spinning statistics. But one stat jumps out, an employment-population ratio at an anemic 58.3 percent.
Things just don’t add up.
The protestors really ought to be in DC screaming for jobs and good data. I’ve listened to many of these dirtbags in their dirty, stinky designer alpaca sweaters and knit caps mommy & daddy bought.
They are losers trying to be relevant.
It’s clearly an orchestrated political move on behalf of a desperate Obama who took lots of money from Wall St. and has done nothing to prosecute the criminals these idiots are protesting about.
@20 “Bush, Barney Frank & Chris Dodd ought to be in jail over this as well as the plunderer’s who profited.”
STFU, you dumbfuck, cheerleading Klown.
zzZZZzzzzz.. bullshit.. late comers..
What’s a joke is that this KLOWN on orders from his right wing masters is pasting the latest right wing bullshit spin.
I’m bored..
Looks like the London Times page changed overnight – not surprising since it’s a new day. Anybody got a static link to the old page, so I can see what they were talking about?
You are wrong. There are not coherent demands at the Occupy protests. Occupy is a collection of dozens of separate causes.
From king5.com:
“SEATTLE — Hundreds of protesters will fill downtown Seattle Friday as two protests are expected to converge into one at Westlake Park this afternoon. One is Occupy Seattle, the other is protesting on the tenth anniversary of the war in Afghanistan.
The second group, called Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) is leading a march through downtown Seattle. They’ll meet at Seattle Central Community College between 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m., march down Pine Street and 4th Avenue and end up at Westlake Park.”
What Wall Street, the GOP, and the vested interests have unified message regarding oversight by the people, our government, and taxes:
That’s from this morning’s Morning Jay, weeklystandard.com.
About time rhp woke up for his whuppin’. Down at Wednesday’s open thread. Occupy that, sweetheart.
What the protesters need to realize is that they could bring the big banks to their knees almost over night, by transfering their bank account and credit cards to credit unions. Not only would this really make a huge statement about how the banks conduct their business, but it would save the protesters lost of money when it comes to interest rates and other bank and credit card charges. I did this years ago! Come on you youngins, wake up and really do some good.
# 30: Good idea.
I switched everything over to BECU a long time ago, finally re-financed my mortage through them about a year and a half ago. All the commercial banks said they could “meet or beat” BECU, but when it came down to it, they just pushed money between fees, points, and interest rates, so that they never did better than BECU when looking at the whole package.
Last night we received a flyer from CitiBank offering $150 if we opened a checking account with them. I just through it in the trash. If they are willing to give me $150, they surely expect to get it back in the form of extra fees somewhere along the line.
@30, 31
Yup, great ideas – and I’ve seen some agitation on this point – but needs to be more widespread.
We bank with WSECU (Wa State Employees’ – used to be at UW), and mortgage with Homestreet.
Also, our cell is CREDO – which gives the profits to non-profits per member vote. (and they used to send a coupon for a free pint of Ben and Jerry’s with a new account!)
Were even a small fraction of leftists to move our accounts – could have big impact that would be heard.
@26
Nah, I was just defusing the argument that the protestors were just a handful of loser kids in a park. Would a handful of loser kids in a park in America make the London papers?
@21
Taking over for Mookie, huh. We’ve already debunked that crap three times over.
@30
It’s all of a piece.
“Liberal Scientist wonders when Republicans will be done with the charade and finally just start using the Hitler Salute “
I think that’s gonna be rolled out at the 2012 GOP copnvention, right after they start a war with Canada over the oil sands.
That’s OUR oil!
re 27: “There are not coherent demands at the Occupy protests. Occupy is a collection of dozens of separate causes.”
What would it take for you to understand the issues? Perhaps it’s just an issue of context. If the protesters had arrived in plush travel busses and were sporting hats with teabags stapled to them, I’m sure their complaints would be perfectly understandable to you.
re 27: If it doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker, it’s beyond your ken.
re 36: The Republicans need to understand that Southpark is not a blueprint for world domination.
The idiot “occupiers” really blew it with another consipiracy theory-
These lunatics screwed up themselves, blame the bank, tell supporters to send thousands of e-mails and disrupt their business…only to find out it was there own damn fault.
Lunatics!
re 41: Why are there laws against criminal conspiracies if conspiracies don’t exist?
Demonizing conspiracy theorists is itself a conspiracy. Who would benefit from making conspiracy theories seem crazy?
The same people who would assassinate John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. They underestimated Lyndon Johnson, though.