In Advance, Please Forgive Me For This Rant

[Scoop Sea]

Forgive me for not getting the whole Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Withlacootchee, or Occupy Wakulla movement (ok, the last two haven't happened and were just thrown in there for some attempt at humor). You say that you represent "the 99%", but I just don't feel you are representing me, my family, my friends, or even anybody I know for that matter. If you want to move towards that all elusive 1%, quit camping out, go to school, and get a job............ Really, it's that simple, get a dang job. How do you have so much time on your hand that you can spend all day protesting? I know, "there aren't any jobs out there", yes there are, you might not like the occupation, but you can get a job if you try. Use it as a stepping stone and move forward, but for the good of the country, make yourself a better person, so that you can make this a greater nation.

Now, speaking of our great nation, the Occupy protesters should count their blessings that they are given the freedrom to express their opinions. If you have seen the videos of the protesters in Egypt and how they are dealt with there, then you can fully appreciate the freedoms the citizens of this fine Country enjoy.

Alright, I'm hopping off my soapbox and getting back to reading fishing articles, etc. This was just brewing in the back of my mind for a while now and I thought I would let it spew on out.

Take care and remember, all you really have to do on Earth is get to Heaven..... It's that simple.

Scoop

[Gulf Coast]

Started to share my thoughts but...I just say preach on brother !!

[Jumptrout51]

Scoop Sea for Pres.

[Flint River Pirate]

You are the man Scoop. I hope I can buy you lunch one day.

[GaryDroze]

You and I subsidized (i.e. literally paid for with our taxes) the bailout of the Savings & Loan fiasco in the 1990s, to the tune of about $2000 per taxpayer. Exactly the same thing happened in the last few years, with the sub-prime mortgage taxpayer rip-off. Let me be more specific: when the top 1% take risks and win, they get it all. WE get nothing. When they take risks and lose, WE pay for their losses. They NEVER lose.

Like most of you on this forum, I've been busting my hump for years to make a living. I drive a 1996 Ford Escort with 146,000 miles on it, live in a modest house, and work 60 hours a week as a teacher. Like you, I don't identify with occupiers who have the luxury of spare time to protest, but I sure as hell identify with the message. Which is: the richest few in this country have completely rigged it in their favor. Take 30 minutes to Google research the alarming shift in wealth in our country since 1975, and you will see what I mean. Year after year, Congress after Congress, those that have are successfully lobbying to have more, at our expense. The middle class is disappearing. This is not opinion; this is fact.

Follow the money. It never lies.

Gary Droze
US Air Force Academy
Class of 1983

[Jumptrout51]

(If) (When) the 1% falls,the 99% will fall faster and harder.
If the 1% were to cash out tomorrow and sit on their money the world as we know it would shut down.
Think about it.
The 1% IS food,fuel and technology.

[kikstand454]

Sorry jt but I respectfully disagree.
While it would be a giant shift in civilization as we know it, the 1% could not just sit on their ass(ets).
If that were to happen, one and/or two things would happen...
One, the things they are sitting on....money...stocks...futures..etc... would be de-valued to the point of worthlessness.
Two, the physical assets they are sitting on...housing...oil...drugs...would be taken by force by a desperate populace. This would be of course after a bout of total anarchy and martial law....but it would happen. The 99% can live without the 1%--- the opposite is not true.

Ask marie antionette.....

[MudDucker]

The shift of wealth is due to stupid government policies, not the 1%. The housing market collapsed due to the policies of the Barney Frank, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The derivatives were but a symptom of guberment gone wild. The deriviaties should have never been allowed, but they were created because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had an insatiable demand for cash to make loans to people who simply could never pay the loans back. This one guberment blunder caused the biggest loss of wealth by middle class folks since the great depression.

Sad thing is that the liberals in the guberment are trying to launch it again.

[reelhandy]

There's a pretty good documentary on the collapse out there called "Inside Job". I found it enlightening and at the same time discouraging. The main thing that struck me in the film is how Wall Street folks have made there way into our government, and how the same folks that influenced the deregulation that brought about the wide open Derivatives Market that ended up blowing up, are still in Washington influencing politicians and policies. There were Wall Street firms that were pushing these derivatives on unsuspecting investors all over the world, when they not only knew they worthless, but when they were actually betting money on them to fail. At the same time these worthless derivatives were all rated AAA by the same rating agencies that are now threatening to lower the USA ratings. Trillions of dollars of wealth has disappeared, and as of today not one person has yet been charged with a crime. It appears to me that Wall Street has figured out a way to privatize profits while at the same time socializing losses, and with our government in their pocket they can't lose. I think the Occupy Movement is on to something, I just don't think they are going about getting their message out in the best way.

[Reel Cowboy]

dirty hippies

[wevans]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pablo-and ... 01435.html


Occupy Sopchoppy Fails to Take Hold

Sopchoppy, FL -- Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York and similar demonstrations across the country, Occupy Sopchoppy made a pretty half-assed attempt to take over Sopchoppy's financial district. The ragged group of listless protesters disbanded only a few hours after forming.

The movement, comprised of residents Bill, Edna and Mike, floundered when occupiers remembered that Sopchoppy doesn't have a financial district, inside sources Bill, Edna and Mike revealed. Changing tack, the demonstrators marched over to Sopchoppy City Hall on Municipal Avenue.

"Well, they came complaining about how poor they were and how it was our fault because we were rich," said Mayor Colleen Q. Skipper. "I reminded them that we're all poor and that pretty much was that."

Afterwards, Occupy Sopchoppy members walked over to Backwoods Bistro and ordered a few burgers.

"I'd say we accomplished about as much as Occupy Wall Street has," said Occupy Sopchoppy spokesperson Edna.

Originally featured in the Daily Pygmy.

[Gumbo]

Very well said, Mr. Droze.

And that is hilarious, Wevans!!!

[mastercaster]

The shift of wealth is due to stupid government policies, not the 1%. The housing market collapsed due to the policies of the Barney Frank, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The derivatives were but a symptom of guberment gone wild. The deriviaties should have never been allowed, but they were created because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had an insatiable demand for cash to make loans to people who simply could never pay the loans back. This one guberment blunder caused the biggest loss of wealth by middle class folks since the great depression.

Sad thing is that the liberals in the guberment are trying to launch it again.

I agree government is at fault, they are supposed to regulate banks, corporations etc and have failed to do so for the past 30 years due to corruption.

You need to get your facts straight though. "Liberals" had little to do with what you described above, if you want to play the blame game and accomplish nothing it was actually de-regulation from the conservatives that contributed the most to sh!t storm were in.

The party or the president and majority of congress has little to do with this though, as they both continue to do the same thing. One day people are going to realize their ideologies and belief in one side or the other is the primary cause to our problems, as the same type of person continues to be voted into power.

[GaryDroze]

I launched a powerful movement at Wal-Mart this morning when I occupied a stall in the men's room.

[Scoop Sea]

I launched a powerful movement at Wal-Mart this morning when I occupied a stall in the men's room.

Thanks Gary for bringing a little humor back into this thread.....

As per your first post, it sounds like you and I are pretty well on the same page, i.e. how do they have the time to protest 24/7? Let's get to work, join the military, go to school, volunteer to help others, etc. dangitt. If you don't like the current system, VOTE...................

Chris