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Occupy Wall Street

Discussion in 'Tilted Philosophy, Politics, and Economics' started by Willravel, Sep 25, 2011.

Page 12 of 74
  1. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    Do you actually know anything about OWS? This still isn't a rhetorical question.

    This is like saying the goal of the Tea Party movement is to get America to default on its debt.
     
    Baraka_Guru, Oct 13, 2011
    #221
  2. EDDIE

    Eddie Getting Tilted

    Well, if we eliminate costly government bureaucracies and the two wars we're in, we could pay off our debt.
     
    Eddie, Oct 13, 2011
    #222
  3. Derwood

    Derwood Slightly Tilted

    Location:
    Columbus, OH
    So you're admitting you don't know what OWS is about. don't you feel better now?
     
    Derwood, Oct 13, 2011
    #223
  4. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    This is a bit off topic. How does this tie into OWS, etc?
     
    Baraka_Guru, Oct 13, 2011
    #224
  5. EDDIE

    Eddie Getting Tilted

    I was responding to your Tea Party comment above where you mentioned debt.
     
    Eddie, Oct 13, 2011
    #225
  6. Joniemack

    Joniemack Beta brainwaves in session

    Location:
    Reading, UK
    *mentions debt.....wait a minute....I know it's here somewhere....(mumbles to self) page 11, section 2, line 12.. yup..here it is*
     
    Joniemack, Oct 13, 2011
    #226
  7. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    But this is beside the point. Your view of OWS makes as much sense as saying the goal of the Tea Party is for the U.S. to default on its debt.
     
    Baraka_Guru, Oct 13, 2011
    #227
  8. Derwood

    Derwood Slightly Tilted

    Location:
    Columbus, OH
    You'd think the GOP would provide an index or table of contents with their daily talking point emails
     
    Derwood, Oct 13, 2011
    #228
  9. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    With all due respect, I mentioned it first. It was taken out of context after that, though. I'm not sure I'm all that surprised.
     
    Baraka_Guru, Oct 13, 2011
    #229
  10. Joniemack

    Joniemack Beta brainwaves in session

    Location:
    Reading, UK
    Is this one of those analogy do-hickies? That's the trouble with you liberals. Too much fancy talking. Ain't that right, Eddie?

    To be fair to Eddie, rather than taking it out of context, I don't think he understood. He is working with a very limited script, after all. Boils down to word associations and talking point triggers.
     
    Joniemack, Oct 13, 2011
    #230
  11. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    I'm actually left of liberal, but you Americans don't seem to know what that means. I think it's outlawed there or something.

    But as far as the fancy talking is concerned, you can thank my publicly financed education at a public university that I was able to afford to graduate from in good health thanks in part to the publicly funded hospital procedure I had in second year.

    I now work in the publicly funded culture industry.

    If I were American, I'd probably have the dialect of a longshoreman.
     
    Baraka_Guru, Oct 13, 2011
    #231
  12. Joniemack

    Joniemack Beta brainwaves in session

    Location:
    Reading, UK
    Well, considering the fact that" liberal" here has been pushed so close to the center, I suppose I'd have to consider myself a far left liberal, straddling the line of socialist. Normally, I'd just be a plain old liberal with far left leanings . But nothing here is normal anymore.

    You can stop rubbing it in now! :D
     
    Joniemack, Oct 13, 2011
    #232
  13. Aceventura

    Aceventura Slightly Tilted

    Location:
    North Carolina
    I don't know what it is about.

    One would think that with support of the establishment, i.e. Bloomberg, the majority in the US Senate, minority leader in the House, the President of the US - heck even Ben and Jerry's Board of Directors, there would be pause then reflection on what more the protest can accomplish. If they think they are going to make Wall St. types feel guilty about being rich - I don't think that is a realistic goal. So, I don't know what this is all about - other than my speculations. No one has clearly communicated what it is about. If they don't really know that is fair, but then for some to pretend that they know something the rest of us don't know is a bit odd.
     
    Aceventura, Oct 13, 2011
    #233
  14. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    That's what's particularly odd about American politics. There is no legitimacy beyond the centre towards the left. Well, unless you include, what, one or two independents (or is one a "Democrat") in Congress who identify themselves as social democrats. Most other Western governments have some form of social democratic party that actually holds seats in office and have actual say in the forming or critiquing of policy.

    So when you get movements such as OWS, you have people like me who nod and think, okay, here is a broad movement that actually includes the left. However, you have people comfortably on the right criticizing it as a "bunch of anti-capitalist, anti-American socialists looking for a handout." This is because most Americans don't really know what the left looks like on a political level outside of protesting or activism, which they will try to shrug off as disruptive albeit inert, as it goes against the status quo.

    With no official political left in the U.S., there is no legitimized, standard, consistent political discourse coming from the left. You have an eroding centre resisting the disproportionate discourse coming from the right, whether it be from reactionaries or stargazing libertarians. And with that, you get a far-reaching discourse that either mischaracterizes or misinterprets a movement such as OWS.

    Rubbing it in? I was just stating it as a matter of course! :cool:

    It's not about making Wall Street feel guilty about being rich. Wall Street has been rich for decades. It's about making Wall Street accountable for corruption and reckless actions driven by greed. It's in the news.
     
    Baraka_Guru, Oct 13, 2011
    #234
  15. roachboy

    roachboy Very Tilted

    it's also about disrupting plutocracy. you'd think that even the aces of the world would be down with that, were they to wake up and recognize what reality looks like in the united states.
     
    roachboy, Oct 13, 2011
    #235
  16. Aceventura

    Aceventura Slightly Tilted

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Then they should ask the Attorney General to pursue legal prosecution. These folks are not going to voluntarily say that they were guilty of anything - they are not going to come down from their high rise offices and admit they did wrong and then join in a sing-along. In fact, you are going to see them double down, like in the case of Bank of America rising debt card fees - and go to the mat defending their rights to profit like the CEO is doing today.
    --- merged: Oct 13, 2011 6:18 PM ---
    Disruption??? How about this for a disruption:

    http://rt.com/usa/news/bloomberg-clean-occupy-zuccotti-787/

    Some protest. Reminds me of the spoiled kid who is running away from home and his mom packs him a lunch?!? O.k. guys you can protest here, keep it clean, don't disrupt traffic, etc., etc.
     
    Aceventura, Oct 13, 2011
    #236
  17. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    I'm sure they aren't expecting Wall Street to do much voluntarily.
     
    Baraka_Guru, Oct 13, 2011
    #237
  18. roachboy

    roachboy Very Tilted

    roachboy, Oct 13, 2011
    #238
  19. Aceventura

    Aceventura Slightly Tilted

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Then why are they not putting pressure on the one who can actually pursue legal action? Why not put pressure on Congress and the President - those who can actually change the law? Again, they went to Wall St. - message sent. The message was received by those who can make a difference, the "establishment" as I described it - now what?
     
    Aceventura, Oct 13, 2011
    #239
  20. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    What roachboy said, and: What makes you think Congress and the President are off the hook?
     
    Baraka_Guru, Oct 13, 2011
    #240
Page 12 of 74