Occupy & Other Random Ranting!

Welcome back me. I took a while off to tend to real life personal stuff and I'm back to spread the love. Or Not.

I'll just jump right in to some thoughts on the Occupy Movement.

I get it. Occupy is very easily summed up in a single sentence, as complicated as it may seem it comes down to this. Many people are pissed off at many issues but more than anything they're enraged that all of their concerns are being dismissed.

Of course that's the short answer for the simplistic people who claim not to understand. The bigger picture is so much bigger it is difficult for any individual to take it all in.

My biggest difficulty with a lot of the occupy websites/discussions is their almost rigid unwillingness to accept any form of criticism, especially constructive criticism. I can't begin to count the number of times I've had posts removed from their Facebook pages or been chased out of some of the chatrooms and labelled as a troll who didn't understand what they were all about. This is not the greatest way to garner support, but support I do, and I will continue, in spite of the fact there are some bad ideas and some downright goofy ideas spreading around.

Most of all it is heartening to see that the straw seems to have finally broken the proverbial camel's back. All over the world, people are participating in occupy protests. This is the most visible face of the movement, but behind the scenes there are a lot more of us, who, for whatever reason, may not to be able to take to the streets or camp out. Rest assured we are doing other things on your behalf.

I'd like people to keep in mind we'll never all agree on everything. The one thing we do agree on is the financial system globally is skewed to enrich a certain group of people. I'm not looking for a handout from anyone. I am looking to live in a society that realizes poverty is cancer. Its tumors are disease, despair, crime, and ugly things too numerous to mention.

Many years ago I made a conscious decision to disavow credit. I don't have credit cards, I don't have a mortgage, I don't own extravagant things (in fact, everything I own will fit in a 10 x 10 storage facility) and I'm fine with that. I live cash only and only purchase things I can pay for. If I want something badly enough, I'll save to buy it or I just won't. I don't worry much, that's the payoff.

I feel deeply for people who can't find a job, or through circumstances are unable to care for themselves. It doesn't matter what country they're from or where they live, there is more than enough money to commit to a better future, however a small group of so-called human beings feel they need to have more money than they or their descendants could possibly spend in 100 years. It's morally wrong, and I'm saying that as a man who is not big on the morals thing.

It's horrific we are constantly subjected to cuts in health care, education, and many of our basic services when the only cuts highly profitable giant corporations suffer are further tax cuts. Worse, morons are sold on this big lie that these tax cuts create jobs. US companies put (according to estimates) $1.93 trillion dollars into their accounts, Canadian business has salted away about 83 billion. They aren't using the money to invest in new jobs, they're feeding their greed. Excess wealth and excess profits, one way or another, are going to be redistributed. We have passed the tipping point. Politicians, and word leaders of all sorts, would be wise to refer to all of the historical instances when so called "great civilizations", consumed by greed, provided unreal lifestyles to the upper class while others were left cold, hungry, and homeless. In all instances the majority took all the shit they could handle, and the privileged few and ruling class ended up dead in an ugly way. No one wants that.

Personally, I have no desire to destroy the entire system. I don't think there is any shame in being rich, the shame is gluttony. There is nothing wrong with an honest business earning an honest profit any more than an honest worker earning a living wage or better. I think we could determine a reasonable level of profit to sustain growth and allow shareholders a fair benefit and ensure grossly bloated profits are returned to the global village to ensure we do what is right. It's time to take our world back from the forces of evil. If the rulers of countries and captains of industry will not act responsibly then we must be prepared to force the change.

I'm not going to believe myself so important that I have all the answers. I may not even have some of the answers. I do have ideas, and opinions, and a fair amount of experience and knowledge I am more than willing to share and discuss. I'm not going in to all of them in my first blog back from self-exile, after all, I will need to have other things to write about. Let's have more reasoned discussions about concrete actions we need to take. Let's move the movement forward. My comments are always open, I'm available on twitter and Facebook. I'm ready to back whatever I say in a reasonable discussion. A future post will outline a few critical things I believe we need to work toward. For now I'm hoping to hear back from some of you on your positive or negative thoughts on occupy, and what you believe the most important issues are.

Until next time, keep on fighting the good fight. Stay peaceful. Open your mind to new ideas, open your heart to those who suffer needlessly. In the end, we must do this, so the world can be better for all of us, we cannot allow all to be lost to total corporate domination of the planet.

100% with the 99%.