Occupiers: Go Home {On a Soapbox}

Honestly, when I read the accounts of what's happening at various Occupy {Take your pick of cities} all I see if a bunch of unruly kids acting poorly. Let me stress that I am nowhere near being included in the 1% of the wealthy Americans. I join the protesters in their frustrations of Wall Street and all it has come to represent. We work hard and never seem to get anywhere; gas, groceries, clothes, healthcare and everything else just keep rising in cost, even when income does not.

That being said, I don't think this protest is the way to accomplish anything. I see people trashing public streets, parks and plazas; I see police being called away from other areas of the various cities where police presence is essential to protect people from crime; I see criminal activity, such as drug use and even a drug overdose at the "campsites"; I see rudeness and crudeness to employees who are simply trying to get inside a building to their offices and do their jobs so that they can make a living; I see people injuring police officers who are just following their orders so that they may keep their jobs; I see people who may have started with good intentions looking a lot like the bad guys now.

The destruction of public property and need for extra police detail is only using up precious taxpayer money; money that could have gone to help those who go to bed hungry; those who can't afford heat in the winter; those who have no coats; those who have no shelter; those who are searching for jobs; those who are trying to make ends meet despite working countless hours day in and day out; those who are the furthest from the elite 1%.

When it's all said and done, when we move on and this is but a vague memory, will Occupy Wall Street and its offspring Occupies have accomplished anything positive? I think not.

I'm disappointed in the way these people, who I think mean well, have conducted themselves. While I agree with the idea with which they hatched this plan, I don't condone how they have gone about trying to make a statement. They are beginning to harm those whom they are technically representing; police, those "fighting for the cause", employees who are not part of the 1%, but happen to work in the financial districts and industries, etc.

So, Occupiers, I speak to you. Pick up your water bottles, coffee cups, sleeping bags, tarps, pillows, bullhorns and cardboard signs, repair any damage you have done to publicly owned statues, benches, roads or paths, replace any uprooted or smashed flowers, shrubs or trees, leave things as they were when you arrived and go home. There are other ways. You're creative and inventive; you can think of something more peaceful and less destructive. Over and out...

Anna

 

 

Comments

[Veronica]

Do you have any proof that these actions are widespread? Like, real proof? Yes, there have been 1 or two cases, but this is a huge assertion to make about protests that cover 200 plus cities.

[Liz Rice]

To the previous comment: 1 or 2 instances? Really? It speaks volumes that celebrities and politicians that were coming to their defense are dropping like flies! Mayors that were publicly condoning the so called "camping" have now come out against the occupying and behavior. It's about time! Freedom of speech is just that. It does not cover living on public streets and parks. Anna, the very sad part is the disrespect for these public places that taxpayer money is being used to clean up!

[Casey]

Once the protests are gone, the cause that initially rallied them into being—structural inequality in the American economy—will no longer "occupy" the public consciousness, and the issue will recede in favor of less substantive political discourse that moves this republic nowhere. I do NOT agree that drug use, criminal behavior, and a general lack of sanitation were common among every Occupy protest, and I'm startled to hear an outpouring of sympathy for local police, who have brutalized peaceful protesters time and time again. Don't take my word for it—look at the treatment of the protesters in Oakland. Watch the video of the clearing of Zucotti Park. Judge for yourself.

Now we learn that Congresspersons on both sides of the aisle have engaged for years in de facto insider trading, using knowledge of pending legislation that may impact the performance of a particular industry. The system is a CLOSED LOOP, and neither you nor I are in it. We no longer enjoy a democracy—this is plutocracy, plain and simple, and the Occupy protesters were trying to put that fact in sharp relief. Had I not had a family to feed, I would have been with them.

The establishment once more uses the police power and exaggerated claims that the protesters are dirty f-ing hippies to keep the entrenched, corrupt system safe from even the cursory attention of the American public. It's a national disgrace.

[Anne Marie]

I like your soapbox today and if you'd be so kind, I'm going to hop on mine on the subject.

As a young person, I am ashamed and gravely disappointed in most of the young people I've heard from in the occupy movement.

Here is why.

I am 24. I am from an upper middle class family. My parents are still working, very hard at that to provide themselves, my sister and I a wonderful life. They valued quality education, travel and cultural opportunities. You could perhaps say I was privileged, like the majority of the young people I've observed that are a part of this occupy movement.

That said, I was also taught the value of a dollar, what hard work really is and how to be an independent thinking, and a self-sufficient doer. I went to college. Worked while I was in school, found myself every internship I could find that would benefit my career goals. Graduated. Took a risk, moved across the country. Worked my rear off and got a job.

I'm still working my rear off, I pay my taxes. I'm involved in my community. I'm respectful and I don't expect anyone to hand me anything, at anytime, in any way, shape or form.

Sure, there are probably plenty of things I could complain about, but I don't. Because that's not the way the world works. When the going get's tough, the tough get going.

They don't camp out in cities across their wonderful country that has given them more opportunities than they can ever realize.

A lot of the videos I've seen or interviews I've read from occupiers are from kids that have lived lives far more lavish than I could ever dream. And the only reason they are out protesting is because they can afford it. How? Because their parents, many of which are part of the 1%, worked their rears off to provide them with trust funds they can fall back on with the occupy movement is a distant memory.

Now I am certainly not saying this country doesn't have it's problems. I live in Washington, DC and am in the thick of our nation's problems every day. While I agree college tuition is too high, jobs are scarce, Wall Street has screwed over middle America time and time again, partisan to the point nothing is getting done and the outlook for future generations is dismal....

However, I find many of those that are out there protesting, or at least making the papers to be fairly hypocritical. And taking to the streets because life isn't all wine and roses is a bunch of bologna.

Pick a problem. Peacefully protest that. Maybe you'll see some results. When your movement has no real direction, no defined goals, how can you expect to see change.

[Selin]

Believe me the cost of a few benches, broken windows and cleaning up trash is NOTHING compared to the damaged caused by WALL STREET and the BANKS !!!!

[Lori]

I agree with you, Anna. There are far more unsettling things in the world like people who don't have clean water, access to medicine and are dying of AIDS, people who are living under fear of being killed due to their beliefs (no matter what they are) and who can't afford shoes or food. Thousands, if not millions of people are dying every day.

In comparison, the Occupy movement is a bunch of whiny babies. I am all in favor of free speech and I respect their right to protest, but they are not accomplishing anything.

[Emilie]

I agree completely Anna and quite honestly am surprised at anyone that doesn't. It seems so logical to me.