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AP reports:
Support for the New York-based Occupy Wall Street has gained momentum nationwide.
Protests with names like Occupy Los Angeles, Occupy Portland, Occupy Chicago, and Occupy Boston were staged in front of Federal Reserve buildings and city halls this week. More actions are anticipated.
“I cannot afford not to be here," Frank Mello, a retired teacher from Attleboro, Mass., told Reuters on Wednesday in Boston. "I’m here to demonstrate that we are stronger when we are united and Wall Street is as powerful as we allow them to be.”
David Mcnew / Getty Images
Protesters occupy the lobby of a Bank of America before being arrested by police on October 6, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. The demonstrators are marching to major bank offices to protest the role of Wall Street banks in the federal budget crisis and in solidarity with protesters in New York and other US cities.
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
About one thousand people gather and form a large "99%" in the middle of Freedom Plaza during an "occupation" of the plaza October 6 in Washington, DC. Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement that began last month in New York, large and small occupations have sprung up in cities across the country.
Eric Gay / AP
Fred Doores takes part in an "Occupy Austin" protest, Thursday, Oct. 6, in Austin, Texas. Concerns over Wall Street practices and economic inequality that have led to sit-ins and rallies in New York and elsewhere reverberated up to the White House on Thursday, with President Barack Obama saying the protesters are expressing the frustrations of the American public.
Lm Otero / AP
Protestors chant and holds signs outside the the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas building in downtown Dallas, Thursday, Oct. 6. Protestors across the state marched against the current state of the economy and corporate influence on the government.
Alex Brandon / AP
People march near City Hall Thursday, Oct. 6 in Philadelphia. Organizers of what is being called Occupy Philadelphia say Thursday's demonstration is meant to be a stand against corporate greed.
Rick Bowmer / AP
Demonstrators supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement against corporate power protest Thursday, Oct. 6, at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, in Portland, Ore. Police expect the Occupy Portland demonstrators will march downtown Thursday afternoon, disrupting traffic and businesses.
NBC's Mara Schiavocampo shares the latest on the demonstrations against corporate greed.
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The reason for Occupy Wall Street and the 99% er’s. Gaze upon it if you dare.
Maybe this will help make the danger of fiat money clear.
Imagine you and me are setting across from each other. We create enough money to represent all of the world's wealth. Each one of us has one SUPER Dollar in front of him.
You own half of everything and so do I.
I'm the government though. I get bribed into creating a Central Bank.
You're not doing what I want you to be doing so I print up myself eight more SUPER Dollars to manipulate you with.
All of a sudden your SUPER Dollar only represents one tenth of the wealth of the world!
That isn't the only thing though. You need to get busy and get to work because YOU'VE BEEN STIFFED with the bill for the money I PRINTED UP to get YOU TO DO what I WANTED.
That to me represents what has been happening to the economy, and us, and why so many of our occupations just can't keep up with the fake money presses.
"Some of the nation's biggest banks and mortgage companies have defrauded veterans and taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars by disguising illegal fees in veterans' home refinancing loans, according to a whistleblower suit unsealed in federal court in Atlanta."
Occupy Wall Street renews my hope. Wonderfully, OWS considers advocating enactment of measures, however radical, to ensure:
My vote counts and big money will no longer control who gets elected and what gets funded.
Economic upward mobility will be valued and encouraged and dynasties discouraged.
Wall Street's gross enrichment without contribution to the economy will be prevented and its miscreants punished.
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In many ways it's as if someone declared a "National Disenfranc
hisement Month" for all those poor souls out there who are frustrated with their lives for one reason or another and feel powerless to change their situation.
Unfortunately, feelings of powerlessness often coexist with laziness and the belief that speaking (i.e., complaining, criticizing, protesting) is sufficient to change one's situation in life, when in fact it almost never is. Why? Because it's so easy to ignore words - and, believe me, that's exactly what those "in power" are doing right now.
I don't doubt most of these occupiers feel frustrated and angry for fine personal and professional reasons. I'm sure most of them can relate a compelling narrative to explain how they got to where they are. But joining together in huge herds of frustrated complainers (that's the cynical take on it, sure) only makes them more powerless. The time they spend out there commiserating over their collective situation is time they could spend brainstorming new life plans, making professional connections, etc.
There's a real failure of imagination on their part. They're probably only making their situation worse by demonizing wealth (or worse, conflating wealth with greed). These people need to go "toward" money, not away from it. They need to learn to cooperate with the wealthy. They need to understand that even though Wall St. may be a zero-sum game, life in fact is not. They need to use their collective imagination RIGHT NOW.
Mr. Dick Turpin