Protests and News

[fauxklore]

I sort of understand Occupy Wall Street. Only soft of, because I can't tell what a positive outcome would be. Do they want to hang all the bankers?

I completely fail to understand the Occupy X people, where X is some random city. I know people are angry about the economy (and I am, too, though I think the blame is more complex than the mobs seem to.) But I don't see any concrete goals out of this movement.

I'm also bemused by the way the media is handling this. Yesterday, there were a bunch of yahoos who tried to push their way into the Air and Space Museum. (The issue was that they were carrying signs, which are not allowed in the museum.) From what I can tell from real news sources, some of them grabbed a security guard and a second guard pepper sprayed one person. It turns out that this has nothing to do with Occupy DC, but is a group who objects to the use of drones. And the museum has a display of drones.

Of course, the immediate news stories were that Occupy DC protestors were maced at the Museum. The problem is that the push to report things first pushes accuracy way down in priority.

For the record, I believe that extrajudicial killing of U.S. citizens is wrong. I believe that is true whatever weapon is used, but I don't see how forcing one's way into a museum that displays something that can be used as a weapon is anywhere close to taking real action.

Comments

[ron_newman]

I haven't participated in Occupy, other than to briefly visit the Boston encampment. But here's what I would see as components of a possible positive outcome:

- An immediate moratorium on home foreclosures

- Requiring banks to participate in restimulating the economy by writing off mortgage and credit-card debt, thus freeing up that money for ordinary working people (and unemployed people) to spend more productively

- Liquidating Bank of America and other huge parasitical banks, breaking them back up into the small local banks they were assembled from

[fauxklore]

I have some issues with writing off debt that people voluntarily got themselves into. That amounts to rewarding people for being irresponsible. (I make exceptions in cases of fraud and deception.)

I still don't understand occupying random cities. Protesting outside headquarters of the large banks makes sense. But why, say, Occupy Portland (Oregon)?

[ron_newman]

If it will alleviate misery and restimulate the economy, I'll put aside any misgivings about rewarding ordinary people for irresponsibility.

We've already rewarded the banks for much larger irresponsibilities. Forcing the banks to take a haircut now is distributive justice, and seems in the spirit of the Haftarah portion we read yesterday.

I don't know much about Oregon, but Boston is one of Bank of America's large regional headquarters, as they took over what were once BayBank, Bank of Boston, Shawmut Bank, Bank of New England, Fleet Bank, and other formerly local and regional banks.

ETA: Boston also has a Federal Reserve Bank, as do some other cities that are now undergoing Occupy protests.

[cahwyguy.livejournal.com]

You can gain some insight by listening to Friday's Planet Money Podcast on "What Is Occupy Wall Street" (http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/10/07/141158199/the-friday-podcast-what-is-occupy-wall-street).

[ron_newman]

The editor of the right-wing American Spectator has implicated himself as a provocateur in the Air and Space Museum confrontation.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Occupy Wall Street &ct is already doing a significant amount of good. They're changing the terms of debate in the United States.

What they are saying is, "We would like our policies to reflect the fact that we are turning into an oligarchy, and we'd like our policies to fight that."

There aren't SPECIFIC policy initiatives being mentioned, because they're trying to point out a GENERAL situation. And they've already changed the debate in Congress. The Democrats are starting to be energized, although not to the degree I'd like. People are beginning to recognize the degree of income inequality in the country, and to recognize that it's harmful. People are willing to consider taxing the wealthiest Americans more.

Occupy Wall Street &ct. isn't about any specific policy changes, but rather about "winning the hearts and minds" of the United States. And it's working.

And also, as Ron said, the Air and Space Museum thing was instigated by a right wing blogger who wanted to discredit them.