Occupy protests in your area

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WeAreStevo

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Gennadios said:
WeAreStevo said:
O RLY?

I heard accusations of racism on the part of the protesters and that some of them beat a homeless woman.
Arrest made, or it didn't happen.

Homeless woman in question lived in the area before the occupiers moved in, I doubt she was too fond of them to begin with.

Not to seem insensitive or anything, but SF homeless... well... they're good at fishing for sympathy. Not saying that I'm 100% sure there wasn't an altercation, but I doubt even white supremacists would stoop as low as smearing feces during an assault. Anyone's guess how it got there.
Yeah that's pretty much what I was thinking. The "article" I read on it was horribly slanted (the author used sentences like "this nordic looking white man with viking locks and a hood that all of looked like a KKK hood minus the color") so I highly doubt the validity of it.

Still, I'm going to try and make it out there sometime next week. I go to school in SF so why not?
 

Sandernista

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Smagmuck_ said:
Hafrael said:
I'm studying a liberal arts degree.
I'll also kindly like to ask (If you live State's side) with your Liberal Arts degree, how do you plan to pay of your student debt, whilst still holding on to enough to lead an enjoyable life? Sure, you'll be far more educated than the usual High School graduate, but the Job Market for Liberal Arts is all but dead. Unless you're double Majoring, or Majoring for your Masters in something else, if that's the case disregard the question.
Probably end up as an assistant, or some other title that is a fancy way of saying secretary. Or a teacher. Assuming my plans to go into law fall through. ;]
 

Shadow flame master

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In my area as in my city/town, or state wise? In my town there are no protests simply because there isn't anything to protest about.

But state-wise, there is a law trying to be passed called Proposition 26(I know the number not the word) that would make it illegal to have an abortion in the state of Mississippi. I haven't seen any protestors occupy the capitol building (or anything like that), but when it comes time to vote, I'm pretty sure they would start putting up tents around all certified voting areas.

I don't have to worry seeing as I'm 17, but if they start causing shit because the bill got passed, then I would be one angry camper. Mississippi doesn't have a lot going for it, so having the national gaurd and police trying to put down the protestors isn't going to make us look any better to the world.
 

WeAreStevo

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That_Sneaky_Camper said:
*snip*

According to the definition democracy implies that our voice is heard through the elected officials that we put into power. We elect people that will do what we want them to do for our economy and society as a whole, if they don't do what we want then we need to tell them and make sure not to elect them next time it comes to vote. These government officials are making decisions about our lives and we need to inform them of how we want our lives to be.

You wanna know what Wall Street is? The main financial district for the United States of America, this is a protest against the market of the United States because that is where the major market decisions for our country are made. If they wanted to protest the government they should have parked outside in front of the White House or Congress.
There's a lot of differences though between the textbook definition of "Democracy" (which the US isn't. It's a Democratic Republic) and how our system works.

The issue is that Wall St., due to predatory lending, loans that had no basis to be given in the first place, and overall greed culture tanked our economy hard. The government had in the last 8 years prior to economic collapse loosened regulations on Wall St. going for the whole "invisible hand will guide the free market" type of argument. But again, this argument never accounted for the greed of everyone in the market, therefore it's core concept of "if company A sells something for 10 bucks and Company B sells it for 5, then Company A will lower their price to be more competitive" no longer applies. In that scenario (and how our system has been going for a while now) Company B says "wait...we can get 10 bucks? SWEET!" and raises prices.

Now, people at OWS (and other occupy protests) are angry that Wall Street caused the financial collapse of our nation. As a result, schools are being shut down, there's been monumental increases in tuition at public colleges, the banks are taking peoples houses because they lost their job (as a result of the banks fuck up) and cannot pay their mortgage and people are paying huge mortgages on a house they paid maybe 400,000 on and still owe that amount, but the house is now worth 100,000 (I believe this is an underwater mortgage.

That being said, Wall St. within weeks of the financial collapse got a hefty bailout. Weeks after that, CEO's got immense, multimillion dollar bonuses. This was all tax payer money. Money we now are borrowing from China and tax payers are seeing services their money is supposed to go to being cut or removed entirely.

Yet Wall St. is still posting record profits.

So that is the main reason people are pissed off at the banks. Their horrible practices got us in this mess.

The Government had it's role too lets not forget, but it's hard to get their attention unless we go after their financial backers (Wall St. lobbyists).
 

Kinokohatake

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ranyilliams said:
Ask me ANYTHING about the movement and i will do my best to answer it.
What is the end game? What will be a satisfying conclusion for you be? Wouldn't it be easier for you to take up politics in your area and work your way up and change something from the inside?
 

Smagmuck_

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ranyilliams said:
LE SOCIAL ALL CAPS SNIP
Okay, first off, I guess I will have to post my political stance.


So I'm (-1.62,-.97) from the center of the Political "Galaxy". But, I tend to lean to the right on some key issues. I'm against Gun Control, I believe a major part of the Military should be on the boarder, mostly around Texas. But, I support the legalization of Marijuana and think the Immigration should be more readily available.

The one thing I find wrong with these Protesters is that they're wanting to destroy what their fore-fathers/mothers have built. Sure, we're in an economic depression now, it happens in cycles, and people are obviously effected. But, in time it will right itself so long as there are no dangerously different changes to the system. I acknowledge that the current System is corrupt, but not to the point that my fellow generation is complaining about.

To put a personal spin on this, if I may. My father grew up in rural Kansas, he grew up in a tad abusive household, with a paddle and the like. And by the time he was my age (I'm seventeen) he had secured a decent job working on an Oil Rig in Texas, staying with a High School friend and returning home on the weekends. He made a decent living, equivalent to someone with their Assoc. Degree today. This went on until he was 19 where when he was moving some piping, a securing latch snapped causing his hands to be crushed where upon he upped and just walked off the Oil Rig, collecting his pay and leaving back for Kansas as soon as he healed. During this time he had a deep sense of Capitalism embedded in him, but during this time, you earned by how hard you worked.

A few years down the line, he upped and enlisted with the US Marines. Spent thirteen years of his Life as an Engineer with the Seventh. But, after thirteen years of dedicated service. The Gov't shafted him after the Cluster Fuck the was Somalia.

This is were it gets interesting.

After the Gov't shafted him, leaving him nearly no Pension, no notice and him, my mother and my three year old self and six month old sister, with zero source of income. He was in the same situation that these kids were complaining about today. But did my father up and say 'fuck it?', raise his kids on welfare and be lazy in his remaining days?

Fuck no.

He went out to the unemployment office and filed for every available job he could get his hands on, with only a '75 High School Education, several years mechanical experience and six months spent in the shit hole of Somalia. He landed a job at a Glass plant near Phoenix, wherein which he had two days off a month, and he was required to service an are, from the Arizona/New Mexico/Mexico boarder all the way up to Las Vegas. Sure, his hours were shit, he made only 2/3 his E-3 pay and hardly ever seeing his family. And he still busted his ass working. And after a year with only 24 days spent with his family, he gave his boss the notice, went to the Arizona Dept. of Corrections went through training with an almost militant attitude and securing a decent job in Florence at a Max-Sec Prison. After nearly two years of living near the Poverty line, my Father made enough to get him and his family on his feet. He bought a two story house in the suburb of Phoenix. Where he sat comfortably for eight years as a team member on the Special Reaction and Execution Team.

He moved down to Yuma after eight years after my mother got a job teaching there. Where in the Warden of the Florence Prison refused to cooperate with the Yuma Warden. My father was out of the house for three months, leaving me, my mother and my sister basically fatherless. This was the Glass Plant all over again. Again, he kept his resolve and finished out his three month term in Florence where as soon as he was released made a B-Line to Yuma, with only two tickets, topping his speed at 102mph. And now, we sit comfortably in Yuma, enjoying our days together.


I don't expect you to believe any of this, it being the Internet and all. But I felt as if I had to post it as proof that you can indeed be shafted by the System, and still recover you, your finances and your family enough for them to live comfortable. Sure you have to bust your ass day in and day out, but it's obviously worth it for your kids to enjoy the strongest Internet connecting for a 3 block radius.

This is why I think that the Occupy Everything movement is bullshit. These kids have a college education that their parents fronted for them so they can get a degree, where most of them blew it on parties and a dead Major, and now their whining about it. When my own father is a testament to the fact that no matter how terrible the financial situation you can always recover so long as you put your back into it and never question your orders. This is why I'm so strongly against this movement, and this is why I'm being so aggressive in my opinions. Now, kind sir, explain to me why we should give them what they want, when they have so obviously not worked hard enough for it?

Now, I'm going to the local Gun Show with my family, I hope to come back and see you rebuttal. Cheers! :)
 

ranyilliams

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Dec 26, 2008
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the end game for this movement? There is NEVER an "endgame" the world will always keep changing and evolving. But the purpose of this movement is to raise awareness, to a corrupt system of banks, corporations, and politicians. Even if this movement fades away, the fact that it happened at all has already showed that there are people who care about whats happening. More people then ever now are aware of whats going on, and they will not go away.

Again your second question implies that we will reach a finishing point and everything will be solved, its never that easy. The occupy movement is trying (some would say failing) to raise awareness, thats all it is. We do not plan on storming parliament, we do not plan on hurting anyone, just simply inform. I can tell that you are against the movement from the way you are asking the questions. But please, research the issues yourself, don't listen to the news about the movement, they are part of the problem.

I don't want to get into politics, i want to make movies. This is simply a problem that is happening in the world, and i am just trying to let people know that researching yourself if ALWAYS the best way to find the truth.

If you honestly want to get informed about the movement i can send you a couple of links to a few good news sits online. But if you don't care and you were only trying to bother me just ignore me :p

Question everything anyone tells you, Even me. Research everything on your own and then you will begin to understand what is wrong with the system.

http://www.realnews24.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG8_5HWqan4
This one applies to canadian's but the basic system of money creation for most countries is almost exactly the same:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8Zl1Wax8MI
 

Dango

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Redlin5 said:
Dango said:
Well I do live in the suburbs of New York City, so yes, although no one outside of the city really cares.
Have you heard about how they're behaving?
Aside from seeing some of it on the news, nope, most people outside of the city just really couldn't care less.
 

orangeban

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Nov 27, 2009
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Smagmuck_ said:
ranyilliams said:
LE SOCIAL ALL CAPS SNIP
Snip
I realise this wasn't a question directed at me, but here is something to chew on.

Because of how our economy works, there is a finite amount of money in the country (well, techinically there is an infinite amount, but only if the government goes nuts and starts printing off tons of cash), only a finite amount of people can be rich.

Western countries, but America in particular, are very big on money. Money matters. Money is a status symbol, and we have this awful idea that your value as a human being is directly connected to the weight of your wallet. Basically, rich = winner and poor = loser. But this is ridiculous, there is only so much money in the world, only some people can be winners and the rest must be losers, no matter how hard they work. That is how our system works.

And people like you help feed this idea. Stories like your father's (and don't get me wrong, it's fantastic that it worked out well for him) basically say to people, "You are poor, you are a loser, and it's because you aren't trying hard enough!" but for most people, no matter how hard they try they aren't going to win, they are going to stay in the shit hole for life! This is what is so fucked up about our system, and what is even more messed up, is that governments help the rich people, rather than help poor people who actually need help.

And if you're interested, on that political compass thing it ranked me as a more extreme version of you, at -6.62, -6.41 though I think it made a mistake since I'm a communist, which means I'm on the wrong side of the Authoritarian/Libertarian divide surely? Oh well :p
 

ranyilliams

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Dec 26, 2008
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Smagmuck_ said:
ranyilliams said:
LE SOCIAL ALL CAPS SNIP
Okay, first off, I guess I will have to post my political stance.


So I'm (-1.62,-.97) from the center of the Political "Galaxy". But, I tend to lean to the right on some key issues. I'm against Gun Control, I believe a major part of the Military should be on the boarder, mostly around Texas. But, I support the legalization of Marijuana and think the Immigration should be more readily available.

The one thing I find wrong with these Protesters is that they're wanting to destroy what their fore-fathers/mothers have built. Sure, we're in an economic depression now, it happens in cycles, and people are obviously effected. But, in time it will right itself so long as there are no dangerously different changes to the system. I acknowledge that the current System is corrupt, but not to the point that my fellow generation is complaining about.

To put a personal spin on this, if I may. My father grew up in rural Kansas, he grew up in a tad abusive household, with a paddle and the like. And by the time he was my age (I'm seventeen) he had secured a decent job working on an Oil Rig in Texas, staying with a High School friend and returning home on the weekends. He made a decent living, equivalent to someone with their Assoc. Degree today. This went on until he was 19 where when he was moving some piping, a securing latch snapped causing his hands to be crushed where upon he upped and just walked off the Oil Rig, collecting his pay and leaving back for Kansas as soon as he healed. During this time he had a deep sense of Capitalism embedded in him, but during this time, you earned by how hard you worked.

A few years down the line, he upped and enlisted with the US Marines. Spent thirteen years of his Life as an Engineer with the Seventh. But, after thirteen years of dedicated service. The Gov't shafted him after the Cluster Fuck the was Somalia.

This is were it gets interesting.

After the Gov't shafted him, leaving him nearly no Pension, no notice and him, my mother and my three year old self and six month old sister, with zero source of income. He was in the same situation that these kids were complaining about today. But did my father up and say 'fuck it?', raise his kids on welfare and be lazy in his remaining days?

Fuck no.

He went out to the unemployment office and filed for every available job he could get his hands on, with only a '75 High School Education, several years mechanical experience and six months spent in the shit hole of Somalia. He landed a job at a Glass plant near Phoenix, wherein which he had two days off a month, and he was required to service an are, from the Arizona/New Mexico/Mexico boarder all the way up to Las Vegas. Sure, his hours were shit, he made only 2/3 his E-3 pay and hardly ever seeing his family. And he still busted his ass working. And after a year with only 24 days spent with his family, he gave his boss the notice, went to the Arizona Dept. of Corrections went through training with an almost militant attitude and securing a decent job in Florence at a Max-Sec Prison. After nearly two years of living near the Poverty line, my Father made enough to get him and his family on his feet. He bought a two story house in the suburb of Phoenix. Where he sat comfortably for eight years as a team member on the Special Reaction and Execution Team.

He moved down to Yuma after eight years after my mother got a job teaching there. Where in the Warden of the Florence Prison refused to cooperate with the Yuma Warden. My father was out of the house for three months, leaving me, my mother and my sister basically fatherless. This was the Glass Plant all over again. Again, he kept his resolve and finished out his three month term in Florence where as soon as he was released made a B-Line to Yuma, with only two tickets, topping his speed at 102mph. And now, we sit comfortably in Yuma, enjoying our days together.


I don't expect you to believe any of this, it being the Internet and all. But I felt as if I had to post it as proof that you can indeed be shafted by the System, and still recover you, your finances and your family enough for them to live comfortable. Sure you have to bust your ass day in and day out, but it's obviously worth it for your kids to enjoy the strongest Internet connecting for a 3 block radius.

This is why I think that the Occupy Everything movement is bullshit. These kids have a college education that their parents fronted for them so they can get a degree, where most of them blew it on parties and a dead Major, and now their whining about it. When my own father is a testament to the fact that no matter how terrible the financial situation you can always recover so long as you put your back into it and never question your orders. This is why I'm so strongly against this movement, and this is why I'm being so aggressive in my opinions. Now, kind sir, explain to me why we should give them what they want, when they have so obviously not worked hard enough for it?

Now, I'm going to the local Gun Show with my family, I hope to come back and see you rebuttal. Cheers! :)
Your father sounds like an amazing person, and a true american working man. I have a great respect for him (if he is real :p ) But that is simply not the problem. Today out of every 4 americans who are unemployed only 1 job is available to them.

People really don't seem to fully get a grasp on how bad things are in the economy, and the world right now...The EU is near collapse, americas unemployment rate is at one of the highest points since the great depression. And the united states has major problems with public sector debt along with governmental debt owed to the federal reserve bank.

And most people don't know about or even understand this system, even when most presidential candidates are asked directly about the federal reserve, they have nothing to say. It is one of the most corrupt institutions in the united states and it creates all the currency for the entire country...
http://www.forbes.com/sites/traceygreenstein/2011/09/20/the-feds-16-trillion-bailouts-under-reported/

I dont really know how i can respond more then this, i feel like i have not said enough...but most of what you said was just a story.

Please begin to understand this system you live in, because it effects us all :) here are some of the key issues you should begin to research if you want to understand what these "whiney kids" are talking about...

1. The Federal Reserve Bank in the United states
2. Corporate Interest groups and political involvement from Corporations
3. The Economic Hitmen (Its just as bad as it sounds trust me)

These three things are a very good point to start off at. But do not trust the main stream media (I understand that i quoted Forbes, but if you want to read the actual audit here is a link)

http://sanders.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/GAO%20Fed%20Investigation.pdf
 

Kenami

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Nov 3, 2010
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I'm here in New York and a short walk away from the big Wall Street protest. A lot of my friends have gone to take photographs and document some of the people who are there. Don't knot why but I haven't went to check it out.

My views on the whole protest are quite skewed so If/when I do visit it'd just be more of interests than support I think.
 

Kapri

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Jul 20, 2011
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Yup police made them take down the tents they put up but they're still going strong. I live in a small city btw.
 

ranyilliams

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ravensheart18 said:
ranyilliams said:
If ANYONE has ANY questions about the movement i will try my best to answer. BUT if you ask a question that is obviously trying to get a rise out of me i will ignore you. Please try and think openly and put past prejudices behind you, this movement is a GOOD thing, no matter what the media tells you.
Why not tell us what you think this movement represents then.
Read two posts up, i think i answered your question in that post aswell
 

Gmans uncle

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Oct 17, 2011
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I'm fairly certain there's one going on in Salt Lake, buuuuuuuuuut I haven't been up there recently and there's nothing going on anywhere else in Utah sooooooooooo yeah.
 

ranyilliams

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ravensheart18 said:
ranyilliams said:
ravensheart18 said:
ranyilliams said:
If ANYONE has ANY questions about the movement i will try my best to answer. BUT if you ask a question that is obviously trying to get a rise out of me i will ignore you. Please try and think openly and put past prejudices behind you, this movement is a GOOD thing, no matter what the media tells you.
Why not tell us what you think this movement represents then.
Read two posts up, i think i answered your question in that post aswell
Not really. You gave generalities. What are your SPECIFIC points that you think are uniform accross the movement? For example, "corrupt corporations" - define that concern with facts to back you up.
I don't want to tell you "facts" this is the internet. Everything people tell you should be taken with a grain of salt. I can point you in the direction of how you can research those topics yourself. But i refuse to say "Blank did this so i think we should Blank"

I myself am not even able to speak for everyone involved. What i tell you might be wildly different then what someone else tells you, but that is the point, people have different concerns about what is wrong with this world and why. It is important to inform yourself about what it is that you think is wrong and how YOU can fix it. Badmouthing the protesters because you think they don't have a demand is backwards, the protests are a way to get people thinking about the problems, to try and get them informed and involved with the world they live in. Criticizing people for exercising anything that is within their own rights is pointless and is a waste of time.

Research those institutions (The Federal Reserve bank of the unites states, The World bank, NATO) Understand that Corporations have a very heavy hand in politics and they donate THOUSAND to politicians that support the interests of the companies that fund their campaigns:

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cid=N00000286

I hope that you find this information helpful and informative, We are on the same side Raven. Think openly about what i have told you please.
 

Thaa'ir

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Feb 10, 2011
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I think people are trying to start an Occupy Freiburg movement, but I am not sure. There were some communists doing...something yesterday, but I didn't see if it was a protest or a gathering or whatever.

Of more annoyance are the near-weekly strikes by the public transportation workers. Having come from a metro area with no real form of mass transit, I've fallen in love with the S-bahn here.
:(
 

dietpeachsnapple

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Krion_Vark said:
spartan231490 said:
Miles000 said:
The one in my city got shut down and fined...
Then the whole movement disbanded in the area.
Then the trolls moved in on the facebook page.

Also they ruined the park.
How did they get shut-down? Really, i'm curious.
My guess they didn't get the proper permits. Yeah you actually need permits to have a protest. It may seem stupid but its also because they can really really disrupt the way things work.
For a protest to be viable, it has to be visible. To be visible in this age, you have to be conspicuous. To be conspicuous, you have to be inconvenient.

While I appreciate the utility of smooth functionality, it seems ridiculous to ask a government body permission to protest the flaws in that governing body, especially when your protest implies that the governing body is corrupted and deliberately unfair.

I would posit that if each individual member took responsibility for themselves WHILE protesting, city functions like medical care would be easily continue functioning. Simultaneously, the protestors would present a much more refined and organized front, likely garnering more support from small non-government institutions.

I can sympathize with the desire to remain decentralized though. Too much risk.
 

SovietSecrets

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Nov 16, 2008
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I live near Oakland. Gotten slightly violent here and there. I would go, but I am pretty sure I would get eaten alive.
 

dietpeachsnapple

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Capitano Segnaposto said:
orangeban said:
Capitano Segnaposto said:
Redlin5 said:
Are there any near you? There is one in the city close to the town I live in but its likely going to be disbanded due to snow/homeless people taking over the camp. It did move to a new location but I don't see it going that long. So far the police haven't really had to deal with them although recently fires were banned.

Any round your parts? Any violence or is it peaceful?
Can you please tell me what "Occupy" is about? From what I gathered it is just a bunch of old Hippies and "Hipsters" (God I hate them, more so than the hippies). While the Hippies apparently want to change something, at least from what I gathered, the Hipsters are just doing it for the Irony or something of that sort.

Was my evaluation correct or am I far off the mark?

Please explain :D
What it is people have finally got sick of a system that favours the rich, and evaluates worth on financial income. So they're making a stand.
Wait, hasn't the Government, or hell, time in general shown this to be the way how most things are run? The Rich get richer and the poor get poorer?

It is good that people are getting sick of it, wouldn't it turn to communism then? I mean having everyone be equal and what not, isn't that what Communism is about and what I am getting from your post?

I am still confused, though less than I was.
Capitalism and communism are not a binary range, where if we fail to embrace capitalism and all its economic tenets, we are suddenly pinko commies. Most countries in Europe function just fine with a democratic socialism. They also, coincidentally, protest when they are angry about something, and don't stop until the government listens.
 

dietpeachsnapple

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EcksTeaSea said:
I live near Oakland. Gotten slightly violent here and there. I would go, but I am pretty sure I would get eaten alive.
I have been reading some of the news articles about that. So long as you don't mind running away when the police show up on a bus wearing riot gear, you would be fine. They are very peaceful until things get... conflicted.