What's Your Opinion of Occupy?

EBHughsThe1st

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If this thread has ben done a billion times (or one and it was moderately popular), I apologize. Just let it die if so.

Anyways, I was just wondering what the members of the escapist's stance on Occupy was, that big movement that was started on the internet is and still ongoing.

In my opinion, after glancing over the Facebook page and comments on the pictures of my town's occupy, I think I'm starting to see why some people don't take it seriously. I'm all for the idea. Corporate corruption and lobbying need to be stopped, and anyone who's not on top has been suffering from it. But the people are where I get put off. Honestly, some of these people are just...pricks. I tend to use the overly generalized term "individualist hipsters" a lot, but It's looking like a perfect definition of some of these people.

They wear the guy fawkes mask and claim "We are anon! We are the storm! WE ARE COMING!" Like, this is enough Libyan or Egyptian revolution. And then they're overly quick and quite happy to call anyone who dares speak against the movement sheep. Like they're all free-thinkers and we're all pre-programmed robots who literally do not contain the capacity to even begin to comprehend free will.

Love the movement, hate the people, not sure if I like the way they're handling it...

I don't want to start an argument here, though, even though it will probably happen, I just want to hear your thoughts, maybe get a new opinion in my head, learn something, and hear a new perspective since I'm pretty indifferent and above was just an observational rant.
 

Todd Ralph

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Nov 27, 2011
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The people and movement are ridiculous. The majority sound like spoiled rich kids and idiots who either never read the fine print line or insisted on living out of their means. Both of which I have absolutely no pity for.
 

RipRoaringWaterfowl

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Voonhartking said:
good idea, poorly executed.
I would defiently agree. The system is rather broken, and even if you work hard, there's still a chance it won't work out. (FLAMESHIELD!) Most corporate executives have way more power than you would think, what with giving out campaign contributions to canditates, and then getting kudos for it, and if things continue like this, even if it improves no regulations = another crisis. After the first deregulation in the '80's onward, we had three crisises: The Savings and Loan Crisis, The Bursting of The Dot-Com Bubble, and now the recession.

It's just that Occupy rough and unfocused and full of some stupid people. Could be better. Needs some more fixed messages, and some better formats. They have the opportunity, now to seize it!
 

LiberalSquirrel

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Jan 3, 2010
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I like the concept, even if I am not the biggest fan of its execution. And as for...

EBHughsThe1st said:
Honestly, some of these people are just...pricks. I tend to use the overly generalized term "individualist hipsters" a lot, but It's looking like a perfect definition of some of these people.

They wear the guy fawkes mask and claim "We are anon! We are the storm! WE ARE COMING!" Like, this is enough Libyan or Egyptian revolution. And then they're overly quick and quite happy to call anyone who dares speak against the movement sheep. Like they're all free-thinkers and we're all pre-programmed robots who literally do not contain the capacity to even begin to comprehend free will.
...these people, I defer to Teddy Roosevelt. "There are the foolish fanatics always to be found in such a movement and always discrediting it - the men who form the lunatic fringe in all reform movements."
 

TheYellowCellPhone

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At first I said that it was a dumb idea, that you couldn't stop corporate greed and a class sect by sitting in front of business buildings.

Then I saw all the violence on the streets, and the people who have stuck to it despite all the hardships. I realized that yes, it's a good cause and the people really believe in what they're doing, they're sending a worldwide message -- but they don't seem to have a goal, and who knows when they're going to throw in the towel and let everyone call the entire operation a failure?

Winter, of course.
 

hannan4mitch

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Jan 19, 2010
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Voonhartking said:
good idea, poorly executed.
This. The OWS movement got dragged down because so many other things got tacked onto it, and the, erm, quality of these auxiliary things made OWS an easy target for IRL flaming.
As LiberalSquirrel said, by way of Roosevelt, the lunatic fringe of the OWS movement is killing it.
 

smearyllama

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There's some good ideas there, but I heard some people throwing around the word "oppressors", and I decided I really didn't want to get involved in either side.
 

LongAndShort

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May 11, 2009
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I think their biggest weakness, that they are made of so many different groups with different goals, could also be one of their biggest strengths since it gives them a huge deal of support and sympathy.

But they really do need something central to aim for. Most of the most successful protest movements had very specific targets to reach to achieve an overall objective. It's one thing to say "sever the link between big business and government" and an entirely other thing to say "this is how you should do it."
 

lord.jeff

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My main problem with them is the lack of a clear goal, if members of the group starting petitioning for specific bills to pass or against certain laws then I could get behind them but right now it's just a lot of people yelling "we want things to be better, make it so for us."
 

Gustof26

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I know why there doing it. I understand why there doing it. In fact I believe what there doing is the morally right action. I don't support them though.
 

Atmos Duality

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"Disorganized protesters with no definitive goal or plan."
I can understand their rage and frustration. I can't understand what they hope to achieve by doing this though.
 

Fiz_The_Toaster

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As of late I keep forgetting they're around.

Anyways, I'm not impressed by them. I understand where they're coming from, and honestly, I would be all for them if it wasn't for the fact that they are all a bunch of dicks. Their "damn the man and fuck the police" attitude is rather old, and I have no idea how they expect people to take them seriously if they come off as such.

I'm genuinely in agreement with some of their outrages, but not their actions.
 

Harley Duke

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I feel it's a movement that's misunderstood mostly because it refuses to explain what it's all about to the (loud) people demanding answers. "Why not band together and put forth meaningful legislation if you want reform," I am asked, by people seriously why one wouldn't use the system already in place. "If the system has already been purchased, and the interests of the people are no longer truly at its heart, why would you think any kind of legislation it generates could be considered 'meaningful,'" I reply, confused that I was even asked the question.

The reason you see people sitting around in tents, discussing things but not necessarily taking actions yet, is because it is difficult to tack down what sort of action to needs to be taken when almost every road looks like it leads to ruin. Can we pass laws to increase corporate oversight? No, the legislation option is hopeless if we can't afford our own representatives to work against the ones corporate interests have purchased already. Will balancing the national budget help fix economic disparity? No, it won't do anything but quiet the woes of an ailing international economy; once the economy is alive and kicking again, the haves and have-nots will be largely the same people. Is it really to late to do anything about all of this? It can't be too late--and even if it is, we've got to try something. How can we change anything? Who knows, but we aren't going to get anywhere without a lot of people helping us. I feel like the reason we sit around like this is because acting without a plan would be pointless in this day and age. We already don't stand much of a chance; lashing out at random or pulling some wild stunt here and there is only going to hurt is, which a few of the more violent Occupy protests have already done.

But something we're doing is working, because you see police deployed to "keep the public safe" from us. You can look on YouTube for videos of peaceful protesters being approached and subsequently maced by police for the serious crime of "just sitting there." Why does just sitting in public to protest economic disparity and frustration with a corporate government present a significant danger to anyone, significant enough to warrant such a heavy police presence and such violent reactions? Clearly we're disturbing someone deeply; someone who controls the police perhaps, who isn't so interested in our cause. Napoleon wouldn't have sent in his dogs if he didn't think Snowball was a menace somehow, right?

We may look as though our idea is being poorly executed and that's because it is. But you don't improve any if you don't lose a little first. We need to figure out what we CAN do before we go about trying to accomplish what we SHOULD do. What's important is that hope can't die here or, to bring up Animal Farm again, "Life will go on as it has always gone on -- that is, badly."

Sorry for the wall of text. I'll give you the tl;dr -- I feel strongly that this is the right way to go, and while we don't have the specifics planned out, "not having a complete plan yet" is a pathetic reason to completely dismiss something as important as this has the potential to be.
 

Craorach

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What annoys me about it is not just that they don't have a real plan for the changes they are demanding.. it is that they honestly don't seem united as to what those changes are.

If you want to change the way the world works.. and many of the things that they are complaining about do need changing, you don't do it by sitting around getting in everyones way. You do it by working with and within the systems already in place.

When you start obstructing and majorily inconvenicencing the peolpe you are trying to change the minds of, they just get annoyed at you, not sympathetic. What they should be doing going back to their communities and creating insightful documentation as to the affects these things are having on people. Documentaries, petitions, and presentations clearly showing the emotional and physical affects these problems are causing, along with the financial ones. Dress nice, go to goverment and private organisaitons, and present it professionally and reasonably.

Sitting around doing nothing.. does nothing.
 

SuperMarshmallow

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I have to agree with the OP, I can agree with the ideas but there are people in the movement that are... ugh. That said I don't have high hopes for it, I don't have high hopes for "change" in general. As long as politicians can divide the country with partisan rhetoric, the people will never be strong enough to fight back.

I could see something possibly happening if, say, the OWS and Tea Party were to begin working together in some fashion. There is some major common ground to work from, and the fact that they don't agree on every issue would in fact solidify their stance on the ones they do concur on--a corrupt as hell government ruled by special interests and backroom deals. We must show a united front, and demonstrate to those in Washington that they can use Republican/Democrat divisions to keep us down.