image missing
HOME SN-BRIEFS SYSTEM
OVERVIEW
EFFECTIVE
MANAGEMENT
PROGRESS
PERFORMANCE
PROBLEMS
POSSIBILITIES
STATE
CAPITALS
FLOW
ACTIVITIES
FLOW
ACTORS
PETER
BURGESS
SiteNav SitNav (0) SitNav (1) SitNav (2) SitNav (3) SitNav (4) SitNav (5) SitNav (6) SitNav (7) SitNav (8)
Date: 2024-11-01 Page is: DBtxt001.php txt00002490

Activism
The Occupy Movement

The Futility of Occupy X

COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

The Futility of Occupy X One can hardly go long without hearing about the Occupy X (x being whatever city the protestors are occupying at any given time) protests breaking out nationwide. It is a new phenomena to me as I was not around in the 70’s to witness similar movements in those days. One thing I do know from history though, is that they never work toward the intended purpose, and things only get worse when and if they dissipate. First of all – Occupy Wall St, or any other Occupy protest is doomed to fail on principle alone. Anytime you get a mass protest, it invokes group thought which requires people to surrender their individual knowledge and ideals to that of the rest for a time on the grounds that some change is better than no change. This of course leads to a multitude of mixed signals that only serve to undermine the protest as it becomes unclear what exactly the protests are being held for. All those protested against know is that you have a large group of upset and confused people. Within these groups you have a remarkable range of individuals that in time, start forming into individual groups within the main body. You have some protesting to end the fed, you have some seeking government to tax the rich and give them more goodies, and you have some who are protesting just because they want to be part of something. Yes there are far more groups then that, but it serves to give an example of the scope of people involved. The libertarians are blaming the leftists for co-opting their movement. The liberals are blaming the conservative ‘tea-baggers’ for messing up their streets and twisting their message. The anarchists being the minority are trying in vain to show all of the above why they think they are wrong. Then an interesting thing happened, and the 99% joined the fray. I find the 99% to be a funny group, and they provide me with quite a bit of laughter. First of all, they are not even close to representing 99% of anything. Then they have a nice list of demands that in order to meet, would require more of the same policies that they blame for making them broke to begin with. However the part of the 99% that is the most genius is how so many people are convinced that they are indeed ruled by 1%. To start out with – hundreds of millions of people voted to put the 3% or more in power over them. This means that they cannot even understand the reason such a small group can control so many to begin with. The reason is simple: We are a governed people. Those who govern are put in power by people who want something they cannot obtain themselves. This means that those who govern have to find a means that those who elected them could not, and to do this, a lot cheating and lying is involved. After all, how can one give money and favors to those who elected them when they do not use their own? Because the taxes required to meet these demands would be so high it would start a revolution within months, debt is used. Who buys and manages the debt? The top 3 percent of course (i.e. – government, power brokers etc). Yet people join the 99% because they have the herd mentality of safety in numbers. If they truly understood what it would take to get what they want, they would be the most cunning of criminals in methods of stealing. But legal plunder (as Bastiat put it so well) seems to be perfectly acceptable as an alternative on ‘moral’ grounds. Yet because they don’t even have an inkling on what the real problems are, they do what all other animals do – gang up and attack what they don’t understand; which is why they always lose. The psychological aspect is interesting to. Convince people that the majority is finally rising against the unfair minority, and people will join whether they understand what’s going on or not. I am not surprised at this however – after all, economics can be boring, and requires some knowledge of history. Most people care little for either, so misleading them is by far the easiest thing in the world. So now what? You have a group so helplessly split on ideals, marching toward many of the same institutions that their government draws its power from – asking the government for more favors that would require even more favors from the institutions that the people are marching on. It would almost be funny if it wasn’t true. During the tea party movements, it was very rare to find any kind of issues with the local law enforcement at all. During Occupy X, you have police stunning people, beating them, arresting them, people getting raped, poop and garbage in many places. Oddly enough, the tea partiers are being blamed for this. But I digress. If this continues, martial law will be enacted in some if not all of these cities. This will of course further anger the people who are already mad enough at the altercations between some of the protestors and the police. However if it does not continue, and the protests just burn out then the public will assume that the government is not doing anything about it, and will then use the elections to accomplish what the protests could not. Now here is the bad news. The chances of the protests fixing anything is 0. They are protesting for the wrong reasons, and they are asking for an even more evil system to be enacted whether they know it or not. Regardless of what outcome these protests bring from law enforcement (the media will be pitting the conservatives vs. the liberals as they always do), the political one will remain – more nationalization, and less freedom. For those of you who seek to go out and ‘educate’ the 99% – or any other socialistic/fascist leaning groups – be aware that you will be adding to the number of protestors granting them more perceived numbers, while having your voice lost in the hurricane of nonsense. Nothing sensible can ever come of such large movements in focused places, and to think otherwise is a pipedream. Some people left their jobs to protest. Some people had nothing better to do. Some people did it because they are convinced that this is their shot to change something. Sorry to tell all of the above, but the road to hell they say is paved with good intentions; and we just build ourselves a freeway with this mess. Thank you all for taking a problem and making it worse. Think about it this way – you have a very serious problem with a multitude of complexities, and people think that chanting slogans in mass with a poorly thought out list of demands will fix it. Really? So the only thing to do now is take a look down the street and say ‘now what’. Well to be frank, things will not get better. The government cannot comply with the so called 99%, and if the protests die down, they will resort to even worse measures. If however the government surpasses all previous levels of gross stupidity (which is a possibility given its nature) and grants the 99% even half of their demands, we will have an equal uprising by the opposite side of the fence that cannot take it anymore. In short, regardless of what happens now there will be mass chaos, a major economic collapse, and probably martial law shortly following. Of course future generations will turn and blame anarchy, but that’s another story. So be prepared for a lot on nonsense in the upcoming year. There will be riots on an unprecedented scale, a major collapse of the economy, and the government trying to stay in power. The only thing I can recommend is to make sure wherever you live is a defendable location, you have plenty of defensive measures, a reserve of some kind of hard currency like silver or something for when you need something you cannot trade for, and food. A lot of people reading this will be laughing and calling me a nut – but I am okay with that because I won’t be the one up the creek without a paddle. By the way, let history record that democracy is once again largely the cause – and that the anarchists we not the ones rioting, crapping on the sidewalks, chanting mindless slogans, making demands from the government etc. Remember this. Also – it is all to often ignored how dumb it is to be barking up the wrong tree: http://peacefreedomprosperity.com/5671/the-wall-street-vs-main-street-runaround/


6 Responses to The Futility of Occupy X Kiska Zilla November 4, 2011 at 11:06 pm # Outstandingly bold, and very accurate! Great job!!
Elizabeth December 6, 2011 at 4:25 pm # So what’s your great idea? Also, there is a difference between the words “to” and “too”; if you’re going to be a writer, you should familiarize yourself with them. Also, the correct word to use is “than” for comparison, not “then”. Again, if you’re going to be remarking about people being dumb, you should probably do your best to not give evidence for your own lack of intelligence.
Kiska Zilla December 7, 2011 at 3:43 pm # And the point of your comment was? I’m pretty sure he realizes the differences. If you’d like to donate your time to edit the grammar in these posts like he donated his time to write this, then that solves your whole issue with it.
David Shirk December 6, 2011 at 5:54 pm # @Elizabeth “he prattles punctuation while France is in agony” – Scaramouche …. If the only thing you get from this is a grammatical error, then why bother commenting? I am a network engineer, not an English professor – and through my work people like you can use this wonderful thing called the internet. You pointed out a grammatical error – good for you. Try running thousands of lines of code across various platforms while running algorithms in your head and get back to me.. Now try commenting on the article itself and prove that you can actually get a point instead of using minor errors in an attempt to call the author (me) and imbecile. HAND
Peter Burgess December 6, 2011 at 8:51 pm # I am glad that I have read the David Shirk post about the Occupy Movement. i am in disagreement with almost everything he is writing here. I am old enough to remember well the protests of the 1960s and would argue that the underlying issue that the Vietnam War was problematic for the USA was absolutely right. Eventually this became pretty obvious to most everyone around the planet. The basic premise of the modern Occupy Movement … not to mention the Arab Awakening … it that an educated modern youth does not have the socio-economic opportunity that it might reasonably expect. This is a problem the youth want to see addressed in a meaningful way … and in this they are supported by all sorts of ordinary people who have worked hard and have not achieved socio-economic security in spite decades of national prosperity. As a network engineer, David Shirk will appreciate that technology is maybe a million times more powerful than when I started my career. Sadly the management of global resources has progressed very little in the same time except where the outcome is going to be more and more profit for investors. Nothing wrong with return to investors, but not at the expense of unaccounted for cost to society and all the stakeholders. In a modest way I have been engaged in understanding economic performance in many parts of the world … and understand that the role of evil in making profit for a few at the expense of everyone else is ubiquitous. I find it disgusting that thievery is big business in high places and that it is easier to get a gun than a good meal in many parts of the world. The young core of the present Occupy Movement may not have clearly articulated the solution, but I think they are 100% right in identifying that a catastrophic failing of the modern US monetary economy is in progress and needs to be fixed. To their credit they are not looking for simplistic superficial statements from leadership figures … but something that has depth. Among many things Occupiers consider to be wrong is the inability of the media to articulate what the Occupy Movement is all about … the mainstream media has become accustomed to delivering all their news in 30 second soundbytes in a manner that is not going to upset either advertisers or corporate owners who monitor content and message. I know what I know about Occupy by spending time at some of the camps and by using international media … a very different set of information than anything visible on mainstream media Peter Burgess @ truevaluemetric
David Shirk December 6, 2011 at 9:39 pm # “I am glad that I have read the David Shirk post about the Occupy Movement. i am in disagreement with almost everything he is writing here. I am old enough to remember well the protests of the 1960s and would argue that the underlying issue that the Vietnam War was problematic for the USA was absolutely right.” – But the protests then didn’t end the foreign wars did it? Yes the war was wrong and I never argued that did I? “Eventually this became pretty obvious to most everyone around the planet.” Like I said – the foreign wars that impoverish us and strip our freedoms still continue – so how much did the people really learn? “The basic premise of the modern Occupy Movement … not to mention the Arab Awakening … it that an educated modern youth does not have the socio-economic opportunity that it might reasonably expect.” Thank you ‘public schools’ in their fine performance. I learned more on my own then I ever did in school not because my school was bad, but because I cared enough to read and study on my own. If the kids in this generation cared so much, then they would study more and care less for video games. If the teachers cared so much, they would throw the curriculum in the trash where it belongs, and actually teach (for the few teachers who actually know of which they speak). If the parents cared about their childs education, they would ensure that the childs focus was on learning both hands on and acedemic – that is if most parents weren’t news educated themselves. Also – there is something called a library, and unfortunately, I rarely see them with very many people in them. “This is a problem the youth want to see addressed in a meaningful way … ” So instead of using said library and online discussion groups – they protest…ummm…no disparity there. “and in this they are supported by all sorts of ordinary people who have worked hard and have not achieved socio-economic security in spite decades of national prosperity.” You mean people who produce by sit ins and protests? Great teachers…leading by example and all that. Or do you mean funded by? Once again – lets not pay the kids in internships etc – lets pay them to protest…Once again – great example. They will make fine lobbyists one day. “As a network engineer, David Shirk will appreciate that technology is maybe a million times more powerful than when I started my career.” It does – and I find it an abomimnation that people use it more for entertainment then investigating the root causes of problems. I find it sickening how as you mention later, 30 second news clips trumps hours of online in depth issues (most for free) and 1 page articles to the short half pages snippets that never even scratch the surface of an issue. “Sadly the management of global resources has progressed very little” Not it hasn’t. The global resources made available to the masses are under very heavy regulations and fees = and could do a much better job if goverment would allow it instead of filling the masses minds with one misleading and false statement after another. “in the same time except where the outcome is going to be more and more profit for investors.” Minus government regulations, subsidies, favoritsm in regulated markets, and bailouts, the only way the investors would make any profit at all would be to make their customers happy. Now all the government has to do is offer one excuse after another, list an portion of a study, and a skewed survery – and viola! The evil companies are the real bad guys. “Nothing wrong with return to investors, but not at the expense of unaccounted for cost to society and all the stakeholders.” – And what pray you would this be? “In a modest way I have been engaged in understanding economic performance in many parts of the world … and understand that the role of evil in making profit for a few at the expense of everyone else is ubiquitous.” Centralized government baby! All ‘civilized’ nations got em! Henry Ford paid his workers far above the average wage, and as a result, made a good profit for himself – higher paid workers, and more cars….try again. Just because the minority of people are willing to risk everything to take a shot, and a few make it, does not mean that they are evil. Minus their effort – there would be far less jobs. “I find it disgusting that thievery is big business in high places and that it is easier to get a gun than a good meal in many parts of the world.” So where are the protests against Fanni, Freddie, The Fed, The Treasury and AIG? “The young core of the present Occupy Movement may not have clearly articulated the solution, but I think they are 100% right in identifying that a catastrophic failing of the modern US monetary economy is in progress and needs to be fixed.” The catastophic failing is in progress thanks to an out of control monetary policy set forth by an overbearing government pouring money into lobbyist pockets, corperate welfare, etc etc. = So you are half right. “To their credit they are not looking for simplistic superficial statements from leadership figures … but something that has depth.” Really? What? “Among many things Occupiers consider to be wrong is the inability of the media to articulate what the Occupy Movement is all about” I have watched more videos from OWS sites and read much of their material – and I find little disparity as to what they put out, and what the media puts out on them. “… the mainstream media has become accustomed to delivering all their news in 30 second soundbytes” Not that I have seen. As stated, I have watched hours and hours of videos that OWS has put out – and read even more of their articles – they are at best misguided – in that the news has not accurately reported, so I can agree there. ” in a manner that is not going to upset either advertisers or corporate owners who monitor content and message.” Dont bite the hands that feed ya – and for the record – the MSM is owned by government backed coorperations – GE etc. “I know what I know about Occupy by spending time at some of the camps and by using international media” I work a full time job, study, have 2 kids and a fiancee…sorry if I don’t feel the need to wipe some youths butts and preach to them – if they really wanted to change things, they would study more – spend more time in a library, and stop with the strawmen. ” … a very different set of information than anything visible on mainstream media” – once again – what? HAND
by David Shirk in Opinion
on November 4, 2011
The text being discussed is available at
http://peacefreedomprosperity.com/5792/the-futility-of-occupy-x/
SITE COUNT<
Amazing and shiny stats
Blog Counters Reset to zero January 20, 2015
TrueValueMetrics (TVM) is an Open Source / Open Knowledge initiative. It has been funded by family and friends. TVM is a 'big idea' that has the potential to be a game changer. The goal is for it to remain an open access initiative.
WE WANT TO MAINTAIN AN OPEN KNOWLEDGE MODEL
A MODEST DONATION WILL HELP MAKE THAT HAPPEN
The information on this website may only be used for socio-enviro-economic performance analysis, education and limited low profit purposes
Copyright © 2005-2021 Peter Burgess. All rights reserved.