FirstLight (1000+ posts) Sun Nov-20-11 01:06 PM
Original message
Occupy and the 'poor folks just trying to get to work' meme
I have heard it from a few folks now and am really surprised. But this is how deep the sleep of the proletariat goes...
"All those protestors, blocking bridges, blocking freeways, etc...they are just making it worse for those poor folks just trying to get to work."
This is where the idea of "occupy the Holidays" is good for us, because we can have the conversations with those we love the most at the dinner table and help pass along the wisdom of how these movements work.
Honestly, I suggest each and every one of us who considers themselves 'aligned with the cause' to start reading up on our RIGHTS and the history of NON-Violent protest and how we CHANGE happens in large groups like this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonviolent_resistance ...a good start)
If the people who were protesting were poor themselves, you might have an argument. Instead, it's just one more case of arrogant middle and upper class liberals willing to sacrifice the poor "for their own good". Look at who's protesting. They occasionally trot out the odd homeless person, military veteran, or someone in financial straits, but the vast majority are college kids who've not yet even looked for a job, ex-60's hippies who've retired from their capitalism-created careers looking to recapture their lost youth, and trust fund babies who have no need for a job to begin with.
Heck, you have to have a certain amount of financial security to begin with to even participate in this crap. People who are really in trouble are too busy looking for work and trying to survive to participate indefinitely in a street carnival. They have to feed themselves and their families. But Leftists know what's best for everyone else more than the people themselves, so if they have to starve a few in order to save them, it's all good. Where would we be without liberals telling us what's in our best interests?
