So a few weeks ago a group of people started camping out in Manhattan. They didn't have expressed demands and they didn't have a central leader. The Media was reluctant to cover them and NYPD didn't know what to do with them. Their message was simple, "We are the 99%" They are a group of dreamers looking to change the way things are done. This certainly isn't the first time this has happened and it won't be the last. What is interesting is that this happened just a few years ago, with a different demographic, on the opposite side of the political spectrum.
I think the Tea party is the baby boomers getting back into politics. If you'll remember it was the baby boomer generation that rocked the system in the 60's. The hippies didn't support the war, they didn't trust the government and they did their thing to what ever arguable consequences. The fact is they wanted change and they fought for it. Then, demographically speaking, they became the CEO's of the 80s. When the economy got bad, they remembered the good old days and wanted to return to them and thus the tea party was formed.
Now only a few years later, a small group starts camping out in manhattan. They also have no leader and no expressed demands or plans. They know something is wrong and want to see it change. They don't trust the government, and they dont feel like they are able to change things in a conventional manner.
Which ever side you feel you are on, I hope we can put our differences aside and see that we want one thing in common, a stronger voice in our government. We want to feel like they serve us, or even to remove the them and us from the conversation entirely. Lets dispell the conspiracy theories and take back our country.
The people involved in these protests are not all very well informed and that makes easy cannon fodder for news networks (especially ones like Fox news who has no respect for and basically doesn't like young people.) Ironically it was CNN and MSNBC that was doing the exact same thing for the Tea Party people. Finding the most redneck hicks they could find and completely bashing them on the news. So I've been trying to stay away from those more biased news networks when it comes to reading about the Occupy Wall Street people. I pretty much avoid all TV news cause it's all way too insanely biased for me.
ReplyDeleteIn general I can get behind these Occupy Wall Street people. I mean I get their general point. Our government is not being run well AT ALL and something drastic needs to change! But at the same time you standing in Times Square holding up signs making fun of government spending is not getting anything done! Protesting can be great but when you don't truly know why you're doing it, it won't accomplish anything. Women and minorities have only gained the rights they have today because of protests AND taking action in politics. You need both. We're not trying to just overthrow a dictator here, we're trying to completely restructure our government. Protesting alone will not do that! If these Occupy Wall Street people actually want change, they need to get involved, not just camp out in the streets of Manhattan!
Well, the original Tea Party and OWS had similar complaints, actually. The Tea Party was formed as a protest against the Wall Street bailouts, and though their solutions might have been different (Tea Party probably favored less government actions, OWS probably favors more, in general, to stop corporate greed and create jobs). Of course,the Tea Party was quickly taken over by the GOP and turned into a corporate run group. It didn't even take very long.
ReplyDeleteOne of the main problems OWS has, when compared with the Tea Party of 2010, is that they're not political or partisan. Many of them think that's a plus, and in an idealist way, maybe it is. But the reason why the Tea Party was considered a success was because they banded together and got a bunch of their candidates elected. If they had failed to do that, they would have just been a bunch of who-cares wackos shouting in the street.
If OWS wants to make any actual changes, they're going to have to do it at the ballot box. And thusfar, I've seen nothing that suggests they're interested in going that route.
First of all, I freaking love the icon you made for this blog. Second of all, I actually heard a conservative radio host say something the other day to the effect of "OWS is not as cool as the Tea Party". I was confused because the two movements seem to have a lot in common. The Tea Party is probably just jealous of OWS because the T.P. is not getting as much attention anymore...
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