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Occupy Wall St - Occupy Everywhere, Occupy Together!

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DarkKyo

Member
Enron said:
OWS has been blowing everything out of proportion from day 1. "Police arrest protester forcing to ground and cuffing" has become "Thrown head-first into a car" or "Brutally beaten". Folks, "brutally beaten" is a cop taking out his baton and beating the shit out of you with it in the face or getting hit with rubber bullets, or getting decked. Not having an officer take your feet out from under you and cuffing your ass because you won't obey police orders to clear a park or keep out of traffic.

Do I doubt someone has been beaten by cops somewhere? There's been so many arrests, I find it entirely plausible. Widespread brutality? Uh, no.
Why do you care about these things so much? Some people probably have been brutalized. Can't really generalize that from vague news reports...
 
Enron said:
OWS has been blowing everything out of proportion from day 1. "Police arrest protester forcing to ground and cuffing" has become "Thrown head-first into a car" or "Brutally beaten". Folks, "brutally beaten" is a cop taking out his baton and beating the shit out of you with it in the face or getting hit with rubber bullets, or getting decked. Not having an officer take your feet out from under you and cuffing your ass because you won't obey police orders to clear a park or keep out of traffic.

Do I doubt someone has been beaten by cops somewhere? There's been so many arrests, I find it entirely plausible. Widespread brutality? Uh, no.

I wasn't even aware of any coverage of the protests on day 1, let alone arrests. Do you have a source for this?
 

Enron

Banned
Karma Kramer said:
I wasn't even aware of any coverage of the protests on day 1, let alone arrests. Do you have a source for this?

There's articles and reports and blog postings and nearly everything else about arrests in this thread.
 
Enron said:
There's articles and reports and blog postings and nearly everything else about arrests in this thread.

I know that, I am just confused. By day 1 do you mean day 1 of OWS or day 1 as in first conflict with the police? The first conflict I remember was the pepper spray incident, which seemed to be an example of overly aggressive use of force by the police?
 

eznark

Banned
FlightOfHeaven said:
Yes, you could almost say that these protesters are all commie fascists.

I couldn't say what they "all" are as I have no idea. They do seem to want to eliminate capitalism though? I don't know. The media has decided to cling to the "Occupy movement is aimless" story line as much as the "tea party is racist" nonsense which means very little actual information is reported on.

This specific march, however, has a very GLF-lite feel to me. Obviously I don't think it will end up in murder and torture of the evil Capitalists, but I expect a broken window or two.
 
I, too, think that a popular movement complaining about the relationships between and corruption in the public and private sectors is analogous to a massive effort by a government to brute force its way to economic development causing millions of deaths by starvation.

When I saw these protests, that's the first thing that came to mind, The Great Leap forward.

Edit:

In all seriousness, the general complaint is about the relationship between the public and private sector. Our version of capitalism, as it is, is not helping the common man as much as it should. We know that there are variants of capitalism that DO serve a common good; just look to the Nordic countries.
 

teiresias

Member
Geez, did anyone hear Tony Blankley make a moron of himself within the first five minutes of "Left, Right, and Center" this weekend? Luckily he was literally laughed at.
 

gcubed

Member
i'd love to see a concerted and focused effort by people to push for public funding of elections, some kind of lobby reform, etc. I know that this stuff is in the mish mash of occupy protests, but it'd be nice to focus on something that can actually get reformed
 

alstein

Member
eznark said:
This "march on billionaires" has a very Great Leap Forward feel to it.

I'm thinking more that's what could happen if these protests fizzle out. This anger won't go away. If things don't happen peacefully, we're going to see violence sooner or later.
 

Dude Abides

Banned
Pretty sure Eznark actually means the Cultural Revolution, not the Great Leap Forward. Either is a silly comparison, but the Cultural Revolution a bit less so.
 

Timedog

good credit (by proxy)
Okay, so the system we have right now dangerously undermines and at times wholly subverts the foundations that our democracy is based on.

And we have some people in this thread, many of whom apparently don't even disagree with the premise that my first sentence is based on, knocking people that are actually making some attempt to do something about it. And they are knocking them for mostly superficial reasons, completely ignoring my first sentence and that people might just be just a teensy weensy little tiny bit upset about that.

All while sitting in their computer chairs. Doing. Jack. Squat.

Good shit.
 

sangreal

Member
Timedog said:
Okay, so the system we have right now dangerously undermines and at times wholly subverts the foundations that our democracy is based on.

And we have some people in this thread, many of whom apparently don't even disagree with the premise that my first sentence is based on, knocking people that are actually making some attempt to do something about it. And they are knocking them for mostly superficial reasons, completely ignoring my first sentence and that people might just be just a teensy weensy little tiny bit upset about that.

All while sitting in their computer chairs. Doing. Jack. Squat.

Good shit.

Well, part of the problem, is that it isn't entirely clear that that is what they are trying to do something about. While I have problems with the corporate culture of greed and corporate influence on politics, I'm not sure what that has to do with animal testing or student loan debt (both from the official declaration).
 
sangreal said:
Well, part of the problem, is that it isn't entirely clear that that is what they are trying to do something about. While I have problems with the corporate culture of greed and corporate influence on politics, I'm not sure what that has to do with animal testing or student loan debt (both from the official declaration).


student loan debt = corporate culture of greed.

animal testing = corporate influence on politics.
 
sangreal said:
Well, part of the problem, is that it isn't entirely clear that that is what they are trying to do something about. While I have problems with the corporate culture of greed and corporate influence on politics, I'm not sure what that has to do with animal testing or student loan debt (both from the official declaration).
The list of demands, that many tout as evidence of the lack of focus these protestors have, read more to me like a list of symptoms of one underlying ailment: corporations have too much power.
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
FlightOfHeaven said:
In all seriousness, the general complaint is about the relationship between the public and private sector. Our version of capitalism, as it is, is not helping the common man as much as it should. We know that there are variants of capitalism that DO serve a common good; just look to the Nordic countries.

Okay, so after reading a little bit about the counter protests, I'm starting to see that the center of the whole argument is the question of "Just how much does the government owe to each person in a capitalist society?" Which is kind of a valid question to ask.

Has the "I am the 53 percent" thing been linked in this thread yet? A lot of it and the protests are people saying that the world/government owe you nothing and if you're in financial trouble it's your own damn fault. Are people just confused as to what defines capitalism/socialism?
 

Pollux

Member
magicstop said:
Boston Police Brutally Assault Occupy Boston




In the meantime, if you've considered donating money to the Occupy movement, now may be a good time. Occupy Boston is trying to raise money for bail and legal defense for over 100 people here. They are estimating the need for around $4000.

Occupy Boston can go to hell after I went down to see what was going on wearing a sweatshirt that said * law school, and then when I confirmed that I did indeed go to *, they started throwing shit at me telling me I was perpetuating their disadvantage, and I was helping the man.

Every single one of those fuckers should be arrested and I hope they don't make bail.
 
zmoney said:
Occupy Boston can go to hell after I went down to see what was going on wearing a sweatshirt that said * law school, and then when I confirmed that I did indeed go to *, they started throwing shit at me telling me I was perpetuating their disadvantage, and I was helping the man.

Every single one of those fuckers should be arrested and I hope they don't make bail.

What a bunch of assholes. I wonder if they'll do that to their own lawyers. lol
 
richiek said:
In NYC, the OWS folks are going to be moving from Zucotti Park to the Upper East Side to visit homes of the millionaires and billionaires who live there.

http://gothamist.com/2011/10/11/occupy_wall_street_will_march_to_ap.php

That's near my workplace. Should be interesting.

What's the point of harassing some guy that made millions in any industry other than finance? I get being mad at finance people, but unless they're being specific in who they're targeting this seems off.
 

Timedog

good credit (by proxy)
zmoney said:
Occupy Boston can go to hell after I went down to see what was going on wearing a sweatshirt that said * law school, and then when I confirmed that I did indeed go to *, they started throwing shit at me telling me I was perpetuating their disadvantage, and I was helping the man.

Every single one of those fuckers should be arrested and I hope they don't make bail.

Did you immediately file a police report?
 

Enron

Banned
brucewaynegretzky said:
What's the point of harassing some guy that made millions in any industry other than finance? I get being mad at finance people, but unless they're being specific in who they're targeting this seems off.

It really is about class warfare for some of these people....they simply dislike anyone that has more than what they have. That anyone who is rich "doesn't deserve it" and whatnot.

This can only hurt the Occupy folks.
 

sangreal

Member
FlightOfHeaven said:
If this movement were to bring back Glass-Steagall and force public funding for political campaigns, it'd be a smashing success.

Forcing public funding for political campaigns would be a repeal of the first amendment.
 

Pollux

Member
Timedog said:
Did you immediately file a police report?
Everything they threw either missed (in the case of some drinks or sandwiches) or hit and were paper towels and napkins and crap. So no, i said fuck all y'all and went back to class.

I'm not going to file a police report for people being idiots and throwing crap at me, as long as it doesn't mess up what I'm wearing or have the potential to injure me.

They were being idiots. but I didn't want to be the one behind them being arrested, but now that they have been arrested it doesn't mean that I can't take a small amount of satisfaction from it.
 
zmoney said:
Occupy Boston can go to hell after I went down to see what was going on wearing a sweatshirt that said * law school, and then when I confirmed that I did indeed go to *, they started throwing shit at me telling me I was perpetuating their disadvantage, and I was helping the man.

Every single one of those fuckers should be arrested and I hope they don't make bail.


What are they to be arrested for? hurting your feelings?
 

Dude Abides

Banned
zmoney said:
Occupy Boston can go to hell after I went down to see what was going on wearing a sweatshirt that said * law school, and then when I confirmed that I did indeed go to *, they started throwing shit at me telling me I was perpetuating their disadvantage, and I was helping the man.

Every single one of those fuckers should be arrested and I hope they don't make bail.

Maybe they were just mocking your choice of law school. HYS only for the Occupy movement!
 
sangreal said:
Forcing public funding for political campaigns would be a repeal of the first amendment.

Because we couldn't make monetary contributions to politicians? Nothing stopping anyone from volunteering and spreading the good word.

If you can't tell, I strongly disagree with Citizens United and the implication that money = speech.
 

Pollux

Member
travisbickle said:
What are they to be arrested for? hurting your feelings?
In case you didn't actually read the previous page they were arrested for resisting arrest. And I'm thrilled. And I just said I don't think they should be arrested for what they did to me, but that doesn't mean I can't be satisfied that those morons are finally gone. these are the same idiots who staged mass "fuck you's" to their profs and walked out from suffolk and northeastern and umass. So yea, they're idiots who are just like the people running around when OBL was killed and want to be "part of something maaaan". Not everyone participating in this OWS thing is doing it for the purest of intentions. a lot of them just wanna cut class and blame someone else for crap they didn't do.


Dude Abides said:
Maybe they were just mocking your choice of law school. HYS only for the Occupy movement!
Interestingly enough one of them was a 3L at my school. Not one of the ones throwing shit but he was out there holding a sign. Never met him before but I've seen him around.
 
travisbickle said:
What are they to be arrested for? hurting your feelings?

There's quite a few things actually. I mean its technically assault, probably some sort of nuisance law violation, probably a violation of their permit, etc. Don't act like everything they're doing is just permissible because they're a mob.

I have to say these people are growing on me. I still think overall there's a huge group of idiots overshadowing the people who have a clue, but they've managed to get some sort of message out there. If they could just stop being such fucking dicks in a lot of ways it would be way better. The property destruction, police antagonism, etc. really should stop.
 

Pollux

Member
brucewaynegretzky said:
There's quite a few things actually. I mean its technically assault, probably some sort of nuisance law violation, probably a violation of their permit, etc. Don't act like everything they're doing is just permissible because they're a mob.

I have to say these people are growing on me. I still think overall there's a huge group of idiots overshadowing the people who have a clue, but they've managed to get some sort of message out there. If they could just stop being such fucking dicks in a lot of ways it would be way better. The property destruction, police antagonism, etc. really should stop.

Agreed. Overall I'm all for this whole thing but they need to find a way to weed out the morons who are only there to skip class and have a good time.
 
zmoney said:
In case you didn't actually read the previous page they were arrested for resisting arrest. And I'm thrilled. And I just said I don't think they should be arrested for what they did to me, but that doesn't mean I can't be satisfied that those morons are finally gone. these are the same idiots who staged mass "fuck you's" to their profs and walked out from suffolk and northeastern and umass. So yea, they're idiots who are just like the people running around when OBL was killed and want to be "part of something maaaan". Not everyone participating in this OWS thing is doing it for the purest of intentions. a lot of them just wanna cut class and blame someone else for crap they didn't do.



Interestingly enough one of them was a 3L at my school. Not one of the ones throwing shit but he was out there holding a sign. Never met him before but I've seen him around.
That's a shame, people like that are bringing this movement down, and giving the opponents plenty of ammunition. Thankfully, they didn't do anything too stupid that resulted in your injury or anything.
 

A Human Becoming

More than a Member
zmoney said:
In case you didn't actually read the previous page they were arrested for resisting arrest. And I'm thrilled. And I just said I don't think they should be arrested for what they did to me, but that doesn't mean I can't be satisfied that those morons are finally gone. these are the same idiots who staged mass "fuck you's" to their profs and walked out from suffolk and northeastern and umass. So yea, they're idiots who are just like the people running around when OBL was killed and want to be "part of something maaaan". Not everyone participating in this OWS thing is doing it for the purest of intentions. a lot of them just wanna cut class and blame someone else for crap they didn't do.

I can't say for certain, but I think "a lot of them" would be an exaggeration. How they treated you was unfair, but don't label most involved an asshole.

Meadows said:
Occupy protesters creep me the fuck out with that "people's megaphone" business. That is my only opinion on the movement.

Yeah people in my group are trying to do without it. It's used in situations when there is no megaphone or the megaphone doesn't project loud enough.
 

Timedog

good credit (by proxy)
zmoney said:
Everything they threw either missed (in the case of some drinks or sandwiches) or hit and were paper towels and napkins and crap. So no, i said fuck all y'all and went back to class.

I'm not going to file a police report for people being idiots and throwing crap at me, as long as it doesn't mess up what I'm wearing or have the potential to injure me.

They were being idiots. but I didn't want to be the one behind them being arrested, but now that they have been arrested it doesn't mean that I can't take a small amount of satisfaction from it.

Oh, so you did not file a police report on what appears in text to be such an aggregious affront to your person. So bad, in fact, that you want all of the protesters to be thrown in jail and you hope that none of them make bail. I'm going to make the assumption that there are two sides to this story, if only based on your backpedaling(and I mean backpedaling in the fact that you at first left out important information in your first post, presumably in order to help your attention grabbing statement that the entire group should be thrown in jail).

Or maybe anyone that's ever thrown a napkin in the direction of someone else, or even been associated with a person who has thrown a napkin the the direction of another person, deserves jail-time.
 
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