Almost 65 and retired. Raised by an East Coast liberal. I am also a child of the sixties.

My view on OWS

Posted Friday, December 2, 2011, at 7:32 PM

I have finally formulate on opinion on OWS. Like Mike, I'm not afraid of putting my opinion out there, so here it is.

Given that 20% of the taxpayers earn only 5% of all income and have seen only a 18% increase in wages over the last 28 years, and that the upper 1% has seen an increase of 273% in 28 years, and the next 19% grew 65% and the collective 20% collects upwards of 53% in income as opposed 43% in 1979, coupled with the fact that .5% of taxpayers collect 50% of the capital gains, something has to give. Let me make it clear, I do not support or approve of the violence that has been seen in many cities. Looking back in history, most of the major changes in American society as far as wealth distribution has been violent and for the most part been brought on by the determination of the few to hold onto their strangle hold on the wealth of the Republic. The one that comes to mind first was the birth of organized labor. Pure socialism do not work, that has been proven. Extreme concentration of wealth also doesn't work, this also has been proven. Somewhere in the middle lies the answer. I have no problem with those who have accumulated wealth, but I do have a problem with those who have accumulated their wealth at the expense of others by denying them any chance to advance in life economically. With the numbers that have been tracked for almost 3 decades, it does appear that this is exactly what is happening. The strangle hold will be broken, the question at hand is whether it will be peaceful or violent. That decision lies with those who have the strangle hold on the wealth.

I would like to offer an example of clear thinking and responsibility when it came to accumulating great wealth. Henry Ford realized early on that it made more sense to pay his workers a wage sufficient to afford his cars, and that automatically created a larger market. He was derided for this concept, but guess who laughed all the way to the bank? Will there be a resurgence in organized labor? Sadly I believe there will, but much violence will occur, big business has too much of a strangle hold on our government to allow any resurgence without violence. Organized labor has earned it's black eye without a doubt, given it's excesses and behavior starting with the days of Hoffa so I wouldn't expect to see a surge in traditional unions, but more company specific movements.

So, there you have it.

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I guess that I am of the opinion that if we were all living our lives right, there would be no poor among us. The attitude that we are being denied someone else's wealth is not right either.

There is a certain pride that has prevented us from meeting in the middle. The poor are just as guilty of that pride as the wealthy.

The attitude that we should all have from the top down in this country is that Our true wealth is in God. If we took an inventory of our just needs and wants on a regular basis, the outpouring of surplus would astound all of us.

But sadly, we will not see that happening as long as there is greed and selfishness. We should not tolerate those who tell us that the crumbs are what we deserve while they dine on gold plates. Nor should we tolerate those who pillage and destroy property in the name of some twisted sort of justice.

If we all woke up tomorrow morning and said I choose to live my life differently today and respect my fellow man. I choose to give even the last crust of bread that I have to a total stranger, we would see something miraculous.

Those who seem to be our elected officials need to take the first cut in pay and benefits. If we have those who want to pay down the debt, let them do so willingly. They could send in regular donations to that cause. But all giving needs to come from a generous heart, not a prideful one.

I think that we should call out all those who believe in the power of prayer, to occupy a church, synagogue or other places of worship. How about starting that trend?

And if that sound preachy, I don't care. It is far less damaging that sitting in a park or breaking the windows of a bank.

-- Posted by KH Gal on Fri, Dec 2, 2011, at 10:29 PM
You and I seem to be of a like mind in many ways. Thank you for the comment.

-- Posted by royincaldwell on Fri, Dec 2, 2011, at 10:50 PM
This is a comment from a news story I read this morning. I think it speaks volumes to the blog subject.

"This should not come as a surprise. I have a number of friends where one spouse has lost a job or even both and they are now feeding their kids through the subsidized lunch program. It's been hard for them to have to tell their kids they can't participate in club soccer or even school sports because they no longer have money to pay for them. They can barely feed the family. They've lost their homes and have found places to rent for less that their previous house payments. They did nothing wrong. And these are people with bachelors and master degrees, too. One parent hasn't been able to get a job since she finished her masters because she is "over" qualified and employers tell her they won't hire because "she'll just leave, because she is too smart" for the work. These are folks in their mid 30's. What a pathetic situation for them. They aren't lazy either.

-- Posted by royincaldwell on Sat, Dec 3, 2011, at 7:38 AM
Unfortunately, we will all have to make choices that were not in our realm of thinking 20 years ago. We simply can't have it all, but we can have a good life if we choose define what is really important.

My heart aches for those who are struggling. I know how hard it is. My husband and I both work very hard and don't have all that much to show for it. We don't live in a fancy house or drive cars that are less than 15 years old. We just work and pay our bills.

We help our adult children out as much as we can, not because they deserve it themselves, but because they have brought children into this world and they do deserve a future with hope.

The first step to this madness is to realize that God is in control and we cannot control the chaos that surrounds us. We just need to find a way to hang on to blueprint that He has given us to live simply and joyfully.

That may not be as exciting as living the high life, but in the long run, it is more satisfying than discovering that what actually belongs to you can be packed into a suitcase.

It isn't the people out on the streets that are making the difference in this world, but those who are quietly giving their all to those less fortunate and grateful for the opportunity to be able to do so. We don't have to do anything grand, just keep moving and helping as the need arises.

-- Posted by KH Gal on Sat, Dec 3, 2011, at 11:29 AM
My opinion is that the cause is just but the method used to convey the core message of the cause is sorely lacking. Considering that big business has basically bought our government, protesting against the government would do absolutely no good. The true offenders are on WALL STREET.

-- Posted by royincaldwell on Sat, Dec 3, 2011, at 2:09 PM
Who are our elected officials? Are they the CEO's in the BIG businesses on wall street that you blame for the mess we are in? No they are not, our elected officials are in Washington DC. If we don't like the laws they are passing and we don't like the ways things are being run then we have to take a stand and say enough is enough and vote them out and vote someone else in. This is what I like about the Tea Party. They are feed up with how government is being ran and they are out to change it. It does not matter how you feel about the Tea Party and what they stand for, the point is "They are sick and tired of how the government is being ran"! and they are doing something about it. This is what it is going to take to make a "Change".

I don't agree with how OPW is going about to help us make a change. All they are doing is cluttering up the streets and parks, making a mess for someone else to clean up and damaging public property. They should get out there and do what the Tea Party did. Hold small town hall meetings, education people, and getting people ready to hold public office so that they can help make the change we/they are looking for. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things.

-- Posted by CrazieKids on Mon, Dec 12, 2011, at 8:14 AM

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