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Oppression by egoscueportland
Those who show their disdain and disgust for the Occupy Movement now spreading across America, calling its members a bunch of misguided, foolish misfits and losers, need to think more deeply and consider what is really happening. This is a movement that is long overdue, one that erupted after many millions of Americans found a vehicle by which to put a spotlight on the gross inequalities present in today's America.
We might call this protest movement the second coming of the Revolutionary War; Not a war in which colonist/patriots rose up against a foreign oppressor, as was the case when King George III ruled over America, but a war in which the people of this nation are rising up in opposition against a domestic oppressor -- that 1% off Americans who control the wealth and power of the nation.
This movement has the potential to become one of the greatest, most meaningful protest movements in the history of America. But as it gains momentum what do we hear from the mainstream media, in particular, Fox News and CNN, together with the Republican Party and its members who worship Wall Street? They ask, "What is this all about, what do these people want, why are they demonstrating, what are they protesting against, what exactly are their objectives?"
What are they protesting against? Why are they so angry? Well, the answers to those questions should be evident to anyone who has been paying close attention; this is specifically what they are protesting against:
*Corporations, especially transnational corporations, who have outsourced their jobs.
*Wall Street, that created, promoted and sold them various forms of fraudulent mortgage agreements, including the infamous subprime mortgages.
*Wall Street that then foreclosed on millions of their homes and refused to offer any kind of workable settlements.
*Corporations that have used massive amounts of money, power and influence to corrupt Congress and take control of America's political system.
*The Corporatist Congress that refuses to make job creation its #1 priority and refuses to enact effective legislation to prevent further abuses by greedy Wall Street manipulators.
*The richest 1% of Americans who use corporations, the financial sector and the Corporatist Congress as their tools to accumulate more and more wealth and to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.
Is that enough explanation of this movement's objectives? Are these Americans who live at the top of the income scale completely oblivious of how difficult it has become for millions of their fellow citizens and their families to live in this country, given the many obstacles that they face? Or is it, more likely, that they know what these people are going through but they just don't give a damn!
I wonder what might happen as this Occupy movement continues to spread across the nation and to certain parts of this country; let's say, Madison, Wisconsin and Columbus, Ohio, two states in which Republican governors and legislatures have addressed budget problems by laying off teachers, police and firefighters and have initiated legislation designed to restrict or remove the bargaining rights of public workers.
What if thousands of Occupy Madison and Occupy Columbus demonstrators descended upon the cities' business districts or at the Capitol buildings, ala the Wall Street movement, and refused to budge from their positions? Would these police that have had their rights to bargain threatened by Republican governors then align themselves with these same governors against their fellow citizens, including teachers and firefighters? Would they use pepper spray on demonstrators, would they wield their batons?
Those richest Americans, who lead the "good life" and have no financial concerns, should get their minds off themselves for a time and think about:
The 45 million Americans that are dependent on food stamps to survive.
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