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“Occupy Wall Street” continues in SLO

October 6, 2011

The increasingly popular “Occupy Wall Street” movement hit San Luis Obispo on Wednesday as about 50 protesters gathered near the intersections of Santa Rosa and Monterey streets to protest against income inequality and corporate greed.

Many of the protesters plan to meet today at 5 p.m. in front of the county courthouse with a march planned through San Luis Obispo’s Farmers’ Market at 6 p.m.

Over the past few weeks, “Occupy Wall Street” protestors have captured the nation’s attention as they continue to protest despite hundreds of arrests including eight in Santa Barbara.

 


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The following is a small part of a really good Esquire article on Ron Paul and the young people who are being drawn to him in increasing numbers. This article is what made me think that Ron Paul’s young supporters are a driving part of the “Occupy” movement.


The article is a fascinating read, and I was very gratified to see how organized and dedicated these young supporters are, and how much they loathe Dick Cheney, George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and the rest of the neocons.


Ron Paul–he’s an original, and he doesn’t compromise on ethics, that’s for sure. I don’t agree with a part of his ideas and goals, but I do agree with others. I don’t think he would make a good president, and I don’t think he would be elected.


However, if enough Republicans voted for him (not enough to elect him, but enough to send a strong message to the GOP and Democrats about their vulnerability), we might actually see some change in the future.


IMO, that is what this 2012 election should be about: sending both parties a message, and to scare/shock them into realizing they are at risk if they continue their current course. The 2012 election should be about forcing the two parties to starting keeping their promises, and to inspire them to actually provide presidential candidates in 2016 who will not only put the best interests of the 99% front and center, but who will keep their promises if they are elected.


———————-


Part 1: http://www.esquire.com/features/ron-paul-profile-0511#ixzz1a8LI7su9

Part 2: http://www.esquire.com/features/ron-paul-profile-0511-2#ixzz1a8LmiYmd


[[BACKGROUND DESCRIPTION OF RISE IN NUMBERS OF RON PAUL’s YOUNG SUPPORTERS]]

“…And young people started showing up to his speeches by the thousands. At the University of Michigan, they broke into their first chant. END THE FED! END THE FED! END THE FED! They lit dollar bills and held them up like lighters at a Rush concert….”


[[BACKGROUND TO THE CPAC CONFERENCE RON PAUL APPEARANCE]]

“…Something strange is happening. It’s February in Washington, and for days, these ardent young Ron Paul fans have been zooming around town in packs, skinny boys in dark suits, like church groups or squads of young Scientologists, full of purpose and excitement, all very amiable but also laser-focused and given to chanting Ron Paul! or End the Fed! at any given moment. Most of them paid their own way to come here, couch-surfing and doubling up in cheap motels They did this because the whole point of this event — the annual gathering of hardcore conservative activists known as the Conservative Political Action Conference — is to gauge the enthusiasm of the base. But the Republican leaders who run the event are doing everything they can to ignore the enthusiasm of the base…..”


[[AT THE CPAC CONFERENCE, WHILE RON PAUL IS WAITING TO SPEAK]]

….On the other side of the cinder-block wall and high blue curtain, voices cry out one and two and then a sudden chorus, Ron Paul, Ron Paul, End the Fed, Ron Paul! Ron Paul! End the Fed! RON PAUL! RON PAUL! In another twenty minutes, he’ll walk out into the wall of lights and the crowd at this Woodstock for conservatives will explode in cheers and applause and shouts of Ron Paul! and End the Fed!, another step in his amazing journey from eccentric regional oddball to the red-hot center of the American debate — after a lifetime of ridicule and obscurity, sweet vindication indeed….

…”The next generation is on the other side of the blue curtain. RON PAUL! RON PAUL! RON PAUL!…”

“….On the other side of the curtain, prompted by some remark from the moderator, a thousand voices call his name. RON PAUL! RON PAUL! RON PAUL!….”


[[AFTER RON PAUL ENDED HIS SPEECH, WHEN DICK CHENEY AND DONALD RUMSFELD TOOK THE STAGE]]

…”You could measure the shifting consensus in the size of the cheer, which built to a standing ovation. Then things really started to get uncomfortable. As Senator Paul waved goodbye, the Paul kids got up and began to walk out in an orderly file, hundreds of them crossing to the doors like a line of ants. Then, suddenly, boos and chants of RON PAUL! started breaking out along the line, as up onstage, a skinny old man in a dark suit began moving gingerly toward the podium.

The skinny old man was Donald Rumsfeld. From the center of the room, a commanding voice broke through the din: ‘QUIETTTTTT!’

A startled hush followed, and then Dick Cheney walked out from behind the curtain. He was the surprise guest, there to give his old friend CPAC’S “Defender of the Constitution” award. The authoritarian wing of the room exploded with glee as the Paul cadre continued to file out, an act of rebellion that threw everything slightly off. As the former vice-president told his old story about meeting Rumsfeld more than forty years ago during the Nixon administration, someone yelled, ‘Draft dodger!’

After a stunned hush, a single voice rang out across the room:

‘Where’s bin Laden?’

Necks craned as people looked for the source. There, over by the exit doors! That white kid with dreadlocks. In seconds, men in suits descended upon him and led him away.

Rumsfeld smiled, but he looked shaken. Not only should you buy a dog if you need a friend in Washington, he said, you should buy a small one, ‘because he might turn on you.’

In the hall, one of the Paul kids muttered in disgust, ‘I was hoping someone would get up and throw the Constitution at him.’ “


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I just read the entire article. I really enjoyed it .

Thanks


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This is what Occupy Wall Street is all about


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WibmcsEGLKo&feature=player_embedded#!


If you are so cynical that all you have in response to this is skepticism, criticism, and hate, then I fear there is no hope.


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0 to 3.. well, i didn’t have much hope anyway. so in the absence of that, I prefer my freedom. Ron Paul 2012!


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If they were 99%, there would be no protest. If you really want to make a change, your next chance is in November 2012.


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LOL. By voting for a) a Republican candidate, yet to be named, or, b) a Republican candidate, Barack Obama, running as a Democrat?


Don’t you realize that if there was a real choice, and people believed that voting made any difference anymore, there wouldn’t be these protests?


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But it matters who that “yet to be named” is. Here is Herman Cain’s view on Occupy Wall Street.


October 7, 2011


“Don’t blame Wall Street, don’t blame the big banks, if you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself. It is not someone’s fault if they succeeded, it is someone’s fault if they failed.”


—Herman Cain, ex-Godfather’s Pizza CEO and a GOP presidential candidate, on the Occupy Wall Street protesters, who he says have only themselves to blame for being jobless


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The next time you get your sample ballet in the mail, take a close look and you will see that there are options. If 99% are unhappy (?) there will be no problem for a new party to take control. Let’s stop the B.S. and blame and assume responsibility of our country.


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I think that the “Occupy” movement here in California will start to fade just as soon as the feds start cracking down on medical marijuana dispensaries.


Most of these people look as if they could be easily persuaded to forget all about greedy corporations and wall street, if we were to simply take away their prescription dope. Then they too can focus all their anger at the federal government and the Obama administration, just like the rest of us have.


If Obama and the feds announced a nationwide crackdown on marijuana in a televised speech this evening, I think the entire “Occupy” movement would pretty much be gone by morning.


I think these people would easily unite in the hatred for Obama and his big government that the rest of us share. Obama just needs to take something away from these people (like pot), that means more to them than a job or stable economy means to us.


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So that’s how you respond–by trashing the people in the movement?


And here’s a clue: you can’t tell who smokes mj by their “looks.” There are grannies with silver-blue hair using mj for control of the side effects of radiation therapy.


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Its been said here before but got buried. I think its important to note that 99%er or Tea Party, both of these movements show just how angry regular citizens are getting. Its important no matter which side you fall on, or if you’re just interested and apathetic like me.


Its the news media and the political noise machines that are tearing us apart and pitting sides. Don’t fall for it. Bottom line is the populace has had enough of corruption and people are getting the courage to go out and protest about it. Tea Party, 99%er whatever…the story is as old as civilization itself. Money and power corrupts and it is up to the citizens to keep it in check.


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That is exactly what the 99% group is doing, why not join us?


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We have a system in place to control corporations, it is called government. We the people elect the government and in many cases work within it. My anger is at the government for selling out to the highest bidder. Stop voting for republicans and democrats if you want change.


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Remember when we were going to stop apartheid by refusing to invest in the companies that did business in South Africa? That was finding finding a hammer well-suited to hitting that nail. Elegant and effective.


In this case, our “corporate overlords” are, in fact, elected by us, the shareholders who own the corporations.


So, to find the right tool for the job, we would be better off rebalancing our portfolios to exclude those corporations who are maligning us so. And maybe some are doing that.


But I will wager that the bulk of us are not.


This rantlet begs the question, how many of us 99%ers have a stock portfolio? Or, perhaps a more germane question, is “how much of GE is owned by “1%ers” versus how much is owned by the rest?” My wild stab in the dark is that AT LEAST 75% of the company is owned by moms and pops like you and me, just looking for a stable Dow component to offer us a better return than a passbook savings acct?


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LOL ‘portfolio’, many of us haven’t had a portfolio in 3 or 4 years. Savings,,most of us have lost that as well. Seeing that almost 50% of the country is either unemployed or living below the poverty level I would argue that your 75% figure is way off.


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So let’s argue. ;)


I am no good at mining the internet, but I will accept as credible any number you are able to develop showing of percentage ownership of publicly-traded companies broken up by whatever income group is readily available.


Where I think this end up is that the “99%ers” are not, in fact, representative of all but the top 1%. Where I think this will end up is that those calling themselves 99%ers are actually the bottom 20%ers as well as a smattering of do-gooders and standers-by. Which leaves 79% in the middle (you and me) that are being spoken for by either the bottom or the top.


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I’m not sure about that. I have been reading whatever I can about this and since there’s been so much talk about the demographics of the people in this movement I’ve paying close attention to that. MSN, AOL CBS online, and others have had articles where they interview 99ers in NY. They were all over the board and as been said repeatedly they didn’t all have the exact same reasons for being angry but basicly they were mad about the same principals. They seemed diverse to me, school teachers, students that were worried about their student loans, old hippies, I read about a contractor and an airline pilot and now union workers, a very mixed crowd, that’s why there’s so many different complaints IMO. But of course this is just me reading articles. It will be interesting to really see who the majority of these demonstrators are. BTW, when I went to the Occupy rally Wed., there seemed to be a diverse mixture of people of there as well.


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homerun racket…


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I went down to the Occupy SLO and chatted around with the folks. I saw a couple of folks standing alone on street corners (autonomous from the group), they had the coolest signs. One said “I can’t afford a politician but at least I can afford this sign.” The best sign said “THIS IS WHAT A DEMOCRAT LOOKS LIKE”. Later, they joined the group so I guess they were all in agreement of something, but what that is just depends on who you talk to.


The bottom line is that “some of these people are right on”( in my opinion), but there is no set agenda and no one seems to agree on what they are protesting apart from the fact that they are sick of the BIG corporations buying politicians while controlling too many aspects of our “gummint”. They all agree that the wealthy aren’t paying their fair share of taxes (I think I’m the only one that was in favor of a flat tax) and the banks are getting rich while screwing everybody. Apart from those objections, It really isn’t clear where it begins and ends. I heard at least 20 different rants and there was no clear, collective consensus regarding the solution. Lot’s of cars were honking and giving a thumbs up. I had the impression that we are all angry and frustrated with our “gummint” for various reasons and this is non-partisan so if you’re pissed off, join the gang! It’s actually very interesting and I’m obviously one of the 99%!!


I’ve never seen anything quite this disorganized. In a sense, it’s actually kind of cool! Yeah it is. It’s about Standing Up and saying you’re pissed off because no doubt, you’ll find others that are pissed off about some of the same things.


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Good for you Cindy for at least going into it with an open mind and checking it out. I agree that a lot of us are angry/worried about different issues but we all seem to realize that something needs to be done to keep this country from going down the tubes. I do believe that most of us are feeling that the corps/big money are/is running the govt. and we all know that makes for a very bad govt.. Personally, I would rather that we don’t all agree in lock step, IMO that is a robotic mentality that causes people to follow blindly. We just need to find some common ground and work to together to compromise and bring our ideas together and make it so we all have a level playing field so we can all have the opportunity to be successful.


{typing really fast today, no proof read, no spell check, I’m sure there’s a lot of typos.}


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That’s okay. I’m sure most of us read postereze.


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They are purposely trying to keep it that way, according to an interview I heard last night. One of their biggest concerns is that a politician will try to coopt the group, as Republican politicians did with the baggers.


When I see the “99%” meme, I actually consider it more than just the 99% who aren’t the uber-rich.


I think of it more in the terms of the 99% of us who are being sacrificed by our government, including the people we elect to represent us, to serve the 1% uber-rich.


The problem with many groups is that they get increasingly more limited as to what they will accept from its participants. Then it becomes just another group that’s warring with other groups.


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statement of the occupiers: LINK


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Okay, that statement was like crack cocaine to me.


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