Now, I respect the protesters for using their freedom of speech to speak out against what they feel are the injustices in the world. That is what America is all about. I don't respect the bad apples that are part of the protest who are doing things like pooping on police cars, stirring up trouble with the police, trashing the parks where the protests are being held or having sex in public. However I'm sure these hoodlums are not representative of the entire movement.
Today I read the manifesto of sorts, maybe a declaration of independence, that embodies what the Occupy Wall Street Movement is all about. And I seriously laughed my arse off.
For one thing, you keep hearing about how the protesters are against "capitalism" - that big evil word that is symbolized by Wall Street. And yet the protesters all have their iPhones, iPads, computers, etc. Um, sorry folks, but capitalism - not government or "the people" - made those gadgets possible. I'm not really sure that Steve Jobs would have been on his endless quest for newer/faster/better products if he wasn't making a gazillion dollars off of them, or if he didn't have the venture capitalists to fund the projects. Just sayin'.
But the really disturbing part, is the conflicted manifesto that the movement has created. Now granted, there is a disclaimer that this document is just a rough draft. But good gravy, it is full of conflicting ideas and half brained schemes - and I have a very hard time believing that anybody takes it seriously. You can read the entire document here, but below I have copied a few of my favorite lines, besides the one about a "General Happiness Indicator" (notes in () are mine):
- Socialize undergraduate level college. Make failing impossible to assure that everyone has the same chance in the work place post-college. (Can you tell this came from the generation where EVERYONE got a trophy just for participating?)
- Teach character building classes from grade one, measure success based on drive/cooperation/interactions with others, not only final outcome. (Because it's not how well we perform that determines success, it's how much people like us and how we work with them, right?)
- Impose universal morality for parents who do not participate in raising their children. Remove children from households with parents who refuse to educate them properly. (OK, this one's just scary. Who gets to determine the "universal morality" and who decides whether children are being educated "properly"?)
- Education should be funded with some of the $2billion/week that goes to war-funding. At least 50% of it. This will weaken our military by 50% at least, forcing the rest of the world to pick up the slack. This will in turn cause their economies to tank, taking ours with it. But at least we'll be highly educated. (I don't even need to comment on this one, do I?)
- We will have no military - only defense. (Huh?)
- There will be no war, so that's moot. The government will have one media center in which it broadcasts/reports on the news. Who do these war-mongers think are going to attack us? (Cool, I've heard this government news thing works really well in China and North Korea. As for the war-mongers, I guess maybe they just remember 9/11 and pay attention to the news everyday where PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO ATTACK US! Wait, I guess that makes me a war-monger.)
- Reinstate the draft - no loopholes for college attendees. (Why is the draft necessary if we don't have war in this utopia?)
- The government should only work with weapons manufacturers organized as Non-Profits. (Bwahahahahahaha!)
- Compulsory registration and voting for all US citizens age 18 through 70 for State and Federal elections. (Voting is your right, therefore we are FORCING you to do it! Except if you get too old, then we can't trust you.)
- Absolute debt relief. (Sweet, I'm going shopping NOW! Where did I put that credit card - oh yeah, I tore it up so I didn't go into debt. Guess I regret that fiscal prudence now. Stupid Dave Ramsey.)
- Prosecute every elected, appointed, or career bureaucratic official in the Obama administration who conspired to traffic guns to drug cartels, resulting in countless murders on both sides of the border, a scandal worse than Watergate, where nobody died. (I actually agree with this one.)
- End the war on drugs. Allow each person's neurochemical balances to be a personal choice. These substances have also been proven to give already brilliant minds newly profound insights. It is safe to assume that these insights would have remained unimagined otherwise. If we allow our scientists - if they so choose - access to take these substances while working on unrelated research, it may potentially lead to monumental breakthroughs not yet imagined. (Bwahahahahahaha!)
Even better, they have predetermined "appropriate" salary ranges for various occupations:
- Bankers $20,000
- Lawyers $27,500
- Realtors $25,000
- Doctors $28,000
- Nurses $27,500
- Teachers/Librarians/Train Engineers/Bridge Maintenance/Ship Pilots $35,000
- Police $36,000
- Public Servants $28,500
- Other public sector $30,000
- Other private sector $29,000
- Entrepreneurs/Business Owners $10,000
- Congress $30,000
- President $40,000
- Soldiers N/A
- Defense Workers $25,000
After my good laugh at the expense of Occupy Wall Street, I sat back and actually thought about this. And it's more than a little scary. If this is the mindset of our younger generations, we are in big trouble folks. Because everything they have outlined - it's called socialism.
And it has never worked ANYWHERE.
So in closing, take a look at this cartoon that was created in 1948. It's surprisingly profound and I think it needs to be broadcast in New York and every other city that is currently tolerating the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Capitalism is responsible for many good things we have in our lives today. It may not be perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than any other -ism.
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