Tag: protests

Occupational Demands

On By WinstonIn Media, Personal Responsibility, Politics, Pop Culture, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

Usually, I try not to write about the same thing two days in a row. This isn’t my fault though. If the Occupy the Media people would just shut up, I could move on peacefully. Instead, they are talking about maybe issuing demands.

Really? Demands? Who do they think they are? What right do they have to make demands on anyone let alone everyone.

I know they claim to be the ninety-nine percent, but even they can’t be stupid enough to actually believe that. Or can they? Well, it seems they can. Wait, maybe I’m being too harsh. Maybe stupid isn’t the right word. Maybe delusional would fit better…. Nope. Stupid it is.

It’s ridiculous, but it started me thinking. Why would this tiny little group of people think the rest of the world should listen to their demands? The answer of course is the world we live in. My theory goes something like this:

We live in a brand driven society. Elections aren’t about platforms, they’re about personality and name recognition. Advertisements substitute product information for celebrities, flashy visuals and are often unrelated to the product being advertised. Celebrities use their fame and name recognition to try and shape public policy as though singing or acting has given some insight denied to us mere mortals.

Combine this with reality media which imply that everyone is secretly a celebrity or a potential business success or otherwise just one video away from fame and it all makes sense. If being a media brand is all it takes, then of course they think their demands should be acted on. The media has taken to referring to them as Occupiers. As soon as they started capitalizing that word, it became a brand and gave them the same social credibility as other pop media brands. Brands such as Bono (0%), Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie (0.03%), or Michael Moore (-300%).

It’s that assumed credibility that creates the delusion of grandeur to which they have succumbed. The media refers to them as the 99% and it reinforces their idea that they really represent all these other people. The fact is they don’t. I’ll tell you why they don’t.

The real ninety-nine percent didn’t vote for them. In our society, we vote for people to represent us. I didn’t vote for them, and neither did anyone else. They need to stop saying they represent us, and the media needs to stop reinforcing that misinformation. Which is funny because the Occupado folks love talking about corporate or government misinformation, but are not so strident when the error is in their favor.

The good news in all of this is the probable timeline. The campers are so fragmented that after two months, they still haven’t decided if they have demands. If they do have demands, they haven’t been able to decide what they are. If they figure out what the demands are, they aren’t sure if they should go public with them. At the current rate and with their “organizational structure” their grandkids may actually produce a working draft for consideration by future generations.

In the meantime, thousands are expected to flood Wall Street to celebrate the two month anniversary of the movement. The plan is to obstruct and delay workers on their way at those evil banks and such. Just out of curiosity, how does their right to free assembly trump these people’s right to go to work and support their families? But that’s not the way Occupied mind works. The unOccupied mind is a much simpler creature. Occupiers are good and therefore whatever they do must be right. Banks and those who work for them are bad keeping them from doing what they do is good.

For my money, the police and civic authorities have a responsibility to ensure the workers can get to work unhindered. The only surprise would involve them siding with the public instead of the alleged protesters. I think it would be cool if the bankers showed up for work carrying signs saying, ” The Pandering Stops Here!”.

They should be allowed to protest too.

Cheers, Winston

How To Save On Next Year’s Camping Trip

On By WinstonIn Humor, Loving Life, PersonalLeave a comment

Since losing my job with Blockbuster, I’m always on the lookout for new ways to save money.  With the help of the fine people at Occupy Whatever, I’ve come up with a great new plan.

Normally, my family and I would drive very long distances to set up our campsite and then later tear it down and drive to the next one etc.  Not having a lot of money for gas would have put a definite damper on our plans.  Not anymore!

Now that I understand that it’s not actually illegal to camp in municipal parks, we barely have to drive at all.  In fact, there’s a really nice park right across the street.  It’s within easy walking distance of Harvey’s and Starbucks.  That’s important because I don’t think I’ll be allowed a campfire, so access to food and coffee is important.  Not to mention the sanitation side of things.

If Lynn wants something a bit more exotic, the National Capital Region is lousy with parks and greenspaces.  I’m certain we can agree on one that suits our tastes and needs.  There’s a really nice one at Major’s Hill.  It is next to a lovely set of rapids that should drown out the traffic noises nicely.  Should make a nice first stop.

I had always thought that we weren’t allowed to camp on just any bit of public grass we like.  Boy was I wrong.  Apparently all we needed to do was paint up a bunch of “We are the 99%” signs to carry around and set up a few at the campsite.  Just like that we’re bulletproof.  Some people might feel that I’m not genuinely supporting the messages of my more dedicated brethren and sisteren.  That may be true, but no one says I have to.  I am almost certain that we sku onto some list somewhere as having something in common with 99% of some group.  Such as the 99% of people who would like to go camping if only it was more affordable.

On the other hand, if I do come up with gainful employment before then, it also opens up a whole range of travel options.  No more calling at the last minute trying to get a spot at a crowded and overpriced campground.  As long as we have our protest signs, every public lawn is our campground.  Viva la protesta!

I’d like to thank the nice folks at Occupy Anywhere But A Polling Booth.  Without their leadership, I’m not sure I would have hit on this bit of genius on my own.  Also, a nice shout out to the various municipal authorities who helped them to establish this precedent.  We’ll be sure to think of you during our public tour next year.

Cheers, Winston

Occupying Protesters Are Taking The Easy Route

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, Global Issues, Media, Personal Responsibility, Politics, Pop Culture, Self Awareness, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

Okay, you’ve finally got me. I can’t take it any more. Our society is caught in a feedback loop and just like the feedback at a live concert, the whining is driving me nuts.

Someone says, “One percent of the population controls most of the money while the other ninety-nine percent struggles.” and a media person likes it so they make a sound bite out of it.  People hear the sound bite and like it so they repeat it.  More media people hear it being said so they  make a story out of it and even more people hear about it.  Next thing you know, you can’t read a paper without hearing it, and you can’t throw a rock without hitting one of the alleged ninety-percent who are out protesting about it.

According to this movement, the super rich elites took all the money and used it to buy all the politicians and the only way to change it is by having these massive protests.  These three points are what I like to call, delusional; accidentally right, but not for the reasons they think and wrong because it’s bloody stupid.  Now that I’ve annoyed a bunch of folks, let me explain.

First off, the super rich didn’t “take” all the money.  We gave it to them, and we continue to do so every day.  They aren’t evil.  We are gullible.  Bill Gates never forced anyone to use Microsoft Windows or Office.  People chose to give Microsoft, and by extension, Mr. Gates lots of money.  Likewise, the late Steve Jobs didn’t wait for people in dark alleys, steal their wallets and replace them with iPhones.  No hedgefund manager ever came to anyone’s door begging them to invest in their funds.  Banks didn’t force mortgages onto people who had no hope in hell of ever paying them off.  People did those things to themselves.  Blaming the super rich is a way of deluding ourselves by taking up our cultural battle cry of, “It’s not my fault!”

The other favorite cause of financial hardship is “Corporate Greed”.  Talk about delusional, blaming that is like blaming the Easter Bunny for childhood obesity.  There’s no such thing people!  Corporations aren’t greedy because they aren’t people.  It’s called anthropomorphism.  It’s our habit of trying to understand things by assigning human traits to them.  “Corporate Greed” is another way of pretending that none of this is “our” fault.  Surprise!  It is all our fault.  Those greedy corporations are actually all about HUMAN greed.  Before you start thinking about agreeing with that, you need to read on.

It’s not just the executives that are greedy.  That’s the easy out again.  Here’s the truth.  It’s damned near every single one of us.  That’s the truth.  Yes, the executives are in a position to get a visibly larger share than those elsewhere in the organization.  Let’s stop kidding ourselves though, they aren’t the only greedy ones.  If the CEO suddenly decides to give a percentage of the profits to whatever random charity you like, how long do you think he’ll keep his job?  The shareholders are just a greedy as the CEO.  What about the rank and file employees?  Do you think they’d take a pay cut if they knew the money was going directly to fight world hunger?  Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Stop blaming other people.  Stop blaming some imaginary bogeyman.  Accept responsibility for your choices.  We can’t change other people, only ourselves.  If we don’t like our world, it’s up to us to change it.  But it’s almost like the tagline from season one of the TV series “Heroes”, only in this case it’s, “Change yourself.  Change the world!”  Which brings me to my next point.

Do rich and powerful lobbyists use money to influence politics?  Of course they do!  (See, I told you they’re right about that.)  We need to be clear about why they do it though.  No it’s not because they are corrupt, or politicians are weak, or because the New World Order told them to.  Nope.  The reason once again is closer to home.  All those people who whine that the system is broken so there’s no point in participating,  they give carte blanche to the lobbyists and the politicians to work out any deal they like.  The system isn’t going to change itself, it’s up to the voters to do it.  So if you can organize thousands of protesters all over the country, how come you can’t get them to the polls.  It’s votes that put politicians in office. Organize block voting, and you could have a huge impact on who gets into office and who gets out.  But it’s a hell of a lot easier to sit in a tent in the park and blame the super rich and corporate greed.  Which brings me to my last point.

Protesting may raise awareness.  I doubt it, but it might.  Do you really believe that everyone else is so stupid that they won’t realize there’s a problem if you don’t camp in a park?  I recently lost my job because of greedy people making bad decisions.  Do you think I didn’t know that was a bad thing?  The biggest annoyance out of all this is the massive self-righteous arrogance of the protesters.  The idea that they are more aware or enlightened than the rest.  If everyone else understood what they do, we’d all be out there.  Well, not all of us would.  I know I wouldn’t because I understand something they don’t.  The protests won’t work because shortcuts never do.  If you really want to change things, you have to do the heavy lifting just like everyone else.

They’ll find out that taking the easy route almost never takes you where you want to go.  What they should really be occupying are some political activism workshops.  Maybe someone can host a few in a tent in a park.  Have fun with that.

Cheers, Winston