#OccupyWallStreet Discussion

people keep talking about the 70-90% marginal tax rate. I'd go back to that if we went back to the size of the government when those tax rates were in effect. (Hint, the government was less than 20% it's current size)

NO government job produces value, so all the government jobs are essentially parasitical.

Actually they haven't been debunked. All I need to do is point at the last 2 years or should I say 10 years (dot com bubble burst). You will also see that it is commonly accepted that almost every recession / depression has been preceeded by banking deregulation and over leveraging. This goes back 300 years.

I'm actually a big proponent of small government but then I also realize the one entity which can provide value in terms of infrastructure has the ability to borrow at almost no cost and with no limits is the federal government. The mistake you are making is that government spending = government jobs. I would say people working at lockheed/ mcdonald /duglass / skanska/ name any other government contractor are stimulative.

you are asserting facts not in evidence.

a bunch of ugly, armchair naysayers. but hey that's politics

Whatever the eventual level of fail here, can most people generally agree that a visible protest against the excesses and systematic failures of Wall Street is a good idea? Sure, Sept '08 would have been better, the message could have been HUGELY more effective and Anons & anti-globalists may have to come to a better understanding about how to work effectively together. But they did get off teh couch and do something.

If I was God of Protests, I would decree an immediate follow-up blitz on the Chicago commodities market (or maybe on Rosh Hashanah), as those speculators are worsening the world food crisis considerably, which was as much a factor in Tunisia, Egypt, ..., rising up as Wall Street has been. But it still so often still comes down to legislation, litigation and negotiated settlements in the end game that the Left in any form fails to form an actionable policy, because we started off not knowing what our actual goals are.

When will pressure groups & coalitions realize that pressure has top be channeled towards a specific target? Otherwise it's like dribbler waves across a long beach, the disturbance is barely noticeable to anyone not looking directly at that spot.

Dox?

As are you.

Not really.

Uhm. Their idea of a protest was sleeping on cardboard in a park like a bunch of homeless bums, banging on drums and singing about peace and love and communism.

They're basically the definition of hippies.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1057018--protests-dwindle-in-attempt-to-occupy-wall-street

yeah, we get it you don't like hippies. And, apparently EVERYONE at this rally is a "homeless bum banging on drums."

Have you seen them? They totally are.

• Top Stories

anonymous


By Adrian Chen Sep 21, 2011 12:21 PM
10,841 107
19th Century Law Banning Masks Used to Arrest Wall Street Protesters


The Occupy Wall Street protests continue into their fourth day of free pizza and anti-capitalism shenanigans. And the NYPD has come up with a weird way of cracking down—with an old law that outlaws masks at protests.
According to the Wall Street Journal, five protestors have been charged under an "obscure, 150-year-old statute that bans masked gatherings."
A lot of these people have been wearing bandannas, but it's safe to assume some were wearing the Guy Fawkes mask, the trademark of the hacktivist group Anonymous, that's helped organize the protests.(Well, actually the trademark of Time Warner, which makes a rather ironic profit off of Anonymous' masks.)
According to the WSJ, the law was enacted in 1845 in response to protests by "tenant farmer". (What? Maybe those were the hacktivists of their day?) The protestors dressed up like Indians in "calico gowns and leather masks" and went on a rampage.
Luckily the law makes an exception for masquerade parties, or else Halloween on the Lower East Side would be an absolute disaster this year.
[Image via David Shankbone/Flickr]

all this coming from a priestess of none conformity.

I like that, I'mma gonna reuse that.

I'll just leave this here:
http://news.yahoo.com/2-police-officers-charged-death-calif-man-182031549.html

Shows your blind belief that "the cops-always-protect-and-serve" is bunk, as are your other rightwingFaggot views.

i luv u man?

of course they are toting peace and love, the institution they are protesting against is pretty much based on war and hate.
of course they are communist, the institution they are protesting against is based on rampant capitalism
of course they play music and paint things, the institution they are protesting against is virtually, categorically uncreative
of they are dirty and smelly, they've travelled from miles away and are camping out in an urban setting

because it's better to focus on the fundamental, philosophical differences you have with your opponents than identifying actionable problems
because there are no economic models other than extreme communism and capitalism
because acting out is better than being heard
because asking for hygiene products when you're already begging for pizzas and free lawyers would just be pushing the envelope too far, wouldn't it?

Take a shower, hippie leftie WITP fuck. =]
There is no draft, no vietnam, and nobody is getting shot. Just gross people with gross ideas sleeping on a gross street is all.

PS: Speaking of WITP, I heard a storm was coming in that direction.

I'm not rationalizing, I'm explaining it

So they need more diverse numbers, not criticism and judgment

As an environmentally conscious individual, I have to conserve water...

...for the hydroponics in my basement.

You mean the storm when they realize that mavendetta robbed them? It should be quite the interesting day.

What they really need is to be removed from the private property theyre currently dirtying up and making smell bad

no, i think they need diverse numbers AND criticism

We're talking about WITPers now, right?

i just don't see how you can be against a peaceful protest, especially on a forum like this.

Bunch of naysayers! rabble rabble rabble

We can be against a poorly orchestrated protest for a number of reasons:
1) It weakens the pool of potential activists for future events
2) It poisons the public perspective of activism
3) It wastes time and resources that could be put to more productive use
4) Anonymous eats its own babies

Yeah same thing happened to me with the dave matthews band.

I think i kinda liked the music, but never really listened to it, because their fan base was a bunch of toolsheds. I didnt want to be associated with them.
I'm sure they were ok people though, and i'm not gonna make that same fallacy here.

Forming high school cliques, and basing a movement on their connotations is a no-go for me.

Public perception is a bitch.

True enough, only about 40-50 percent of the people there were like hard-core hippies.
Imma go back tomorrow night, but this time im gonna concentrate on throwing hackey sacks into sewer grates and breaking hookahs.

Maybe if i'm successful enough i'll convince some of you elitist fucks to either help fix it, or get out the way

What's a newspaper?

rabble rabble rabble

well arguments can be made about a 'constructive draft'
there is iraq, afghanistan, libya, and a few more on the horizon
and soldiers are getting shot/blown up all the time for economic reasons only

1. critical =/= against
2. we're not in the way
3. dave matthews band never existed... and nothing of value was lost
4. rabble rabble

Yeah, and they joined willingly, knowing the chances they could get shot/blown up, so I'm sure everyone who was drafted into the Vietnam War absolutely loves the fact that you think it was equivalent to some 18 year old kid deciding he might like to join the military out of high school.

Never claimed they always do. Claimed most of them do, and claimed the ones that don't are resoundingly hated by the ones that do. And lol at me being rightwing.

Effective protesting technique: be indistinguishable from homeless people.

And you are the definition of what exactly? Hatefulness?

Lol, if you think I'm the definition of hatefulness, you must be new here.

Yeah, the homeless should probably just be disposed of quietly and without sorrow, right?

No, I asked you to answer the question. Think you might be able? Or would the attempt at introspection kill you?

Protest for what? Not everyone here is politically motivated. I'm here to fight Scientology. That's it. Not to listen to the political ideologies of college freshmen.
But yeah, protest for what? I was at wall street. I saw signs for freeing some guy who was going to get executed, signs for socialism, signs for communism, signs for anarchy, signs for taking down corporations (ironaically enough, made by people with macbook airs), signs for ron paul, signs against ron paul, signs for 9/11 truther nutjobs, signs for LGBT awareness, signs for furries (not making this up. Tigerlillies.), and a whole ton of other shit id rather not remember. Not a unified goal to speak of. Furthermore, there was absolutely nothing there of any interest. Just typical fringe-left ideological bullcrap and various vultures that feed off of it. Fuck no I don't support it.

I was referring to a real draft, not a fake made up in your head draft. Sorry for that mix up.