rawrmaddisaurus,
There are a lot of disgruntled people in this country. The majority of us are struggling very hard to make ends meet during this economic downturn we have been facing. There is a small portion (the 1%), who are profiting more than ever in these times. I paid more in taxes personally (and i am dirt poor, no savings, no car, no health insurance) than 5 major corporations COMBINED. How does that make any sense? I am told that as an American, my support in paying taxes helps our country pay for education, infrastructure and the like. So why do corporations not have to support America? Especially since…..
Corporations were given the legal status of an individual Meaning they can use their considerable wealth to support politicians. When elections are only able to be won by the politician with the most money (go and do some research, it’s rare that the politician with the least amount of money in their ‘war chest’ will win), this becomes another major problem. Corporations do not just donate to one candidate, they will give to both Republican and Democratic candidates, so that whoever gets elected, they can say ‘hey, we gave you tons of money, you better not support bills or legislation that can affect our way of doing business, or we won’t support you financially during your re-election campaign’. If the politicians don’t get the money, they in all likelihood will not get re-elected.
So politicians pander to us (the 99%) with rhetoric and ideas of helping us all out, but once elected cannot act on some of their promises without losing money, and hence power in government.
And look, this is honestly a very basic 101 crash course, not cited, its opinion based on what i’ve read and seen. Go look up this stuff yourself. There are many other concerns with the protesters of Occupy Wall Street, but most all of them spawn from this basic problem.
How do these protests help? One answer i do know, another i do not. I know that this is how we the poor and struggling can make ourselves seen and heard. We can start dialogues on how to be better individuals, communities, and citizens that help each other, understand each other, and grow together. We do not have to do this alone, the struggle is a noble one to be shared with those who stand in solidarity with us.
I however do not have a plan. I am not an economist, political analyst, historian, or expert in civics, but I’ve also not been campaigning around for years telling people if elected i will bring change, and formulate a plan to help the people in our country while being monetarily tied to what is essentially corporate sponsorship. We want the people to be the primary interest of politicians. Not how they are going to fund their re-election campaign. But this is how we demand that things need to change without a huge bankroll behind us.
There are many other topics to be addressed as well. We will not censor any concern, this is why it seems hard to pin down what is going on. Not because we don’t know whats wrong, but because there are so many things going wrong that we don’t know which one to start with. It’s about communication, with each other, and with those who hold power and aren’t willing to listen honestly to us.
I hope this helps. The fact that you asked starts this very dialogue. Don’t just jump right in, do some research, ask more questions, get educated. Then realize where you stand.
and what exactly you’re expecting to happen.
please don’t be incendiary or insinuate that i’m stupid or ignorant or conservative or whatever; just explain.
(Source: adragonisnoslave)
