Occupy Wall Street

[GoingDown]

I'll admit, I have been pretty much ignoring these protests until they had one of them in Phoenix, and I got the chance to see some of their signs and some of their flags and clothes, etc., up close.

They seem to be mainly just a bunch of dumb college kids who don't seem to realize that they are being fed communist rhetoric by the organizers of these protests. Some of them had red t-shirts with a yellow hammer and sickle on the front.

So, I asked one of them if he was a communist, and he became very upset and said no. I asked him if he knew that the hammer and sickle was a communist symbol, and he said it was a symbol of protest.

These kids don't have a clue that they are being manipulated by the organizers of the protest, who probably have a very different agenda than these kids even realize.

Much of the things they are protesting about I happen to agree with-- such as the fact that our government should not have bailed out Wall Street with taxpayer money, and the Federal Reserve should be reformed. But I don't like where this protest is headed. Communism has failed in every country it was ever tried, and I think we should not be heading down this road.

There are many things which need to be reformed, but I'm afraid they may be taking this a bit too far.

[helpmeout]

They are not communists simply because you don't agree with their rhetoric. I think that they are as extreme as the "tea party" is, but that doesn't make them communists.

[GoingDown]

They are not communists simply because you don't agree with their rhetoric. I think that they are as extreme as the "tea party" is, but that doesn't make them communists.

No, not because I don't agree with their rhetoric, but rather because their clothes, signs, and even some of their flags scream out that they are communists.

Have you read any of their signs?

What does the hammer and sickle mean to you?

I graduated from college in the 1990s, but back then such things would have done more than just raise a few eyebrows. It's amazing how asleep we are at the switch with this thing. Or maybe it is just apathy?

[lrprn]

How can you label a person as a communist because they are wearing a hammer and sickle but then they don't even know what the hammer & sickle symbol means when you ask them?

Older people thought protests against Vietnam back in the 60s were "commie-inspired" too. They weren't. They were just a lot of people - mostly young at the start just like this movement - who didn't agree with something that was happening and demonstrated their disagreement with it in a peaceful manner. I know because I was there - were you?

OWS is just another group in a long line of Americans throughout our history who are publicly expressing their different opinions and hoping to bring about widespread awareness which they hope will eventually lead to change. How is that any different than the tea party? Does the tea party have the right to publicly protest and make their views known but the OWA group does not?

[catleg]

This piece by Dylan Ratigan explains the 99% movement with utter clarity:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44935992#44935992

[IamOld]

lrpn is right - these people are US - we are all the 99% - the fact is that we do NOT and have not benefited from the economic policies of the last 30 years. Goingdown, today, Eisenhower would be considered (domestically/economically) a "commie"!!!

I take my hat off to all of these kids - and yes, most of the time protest movements do start with the young...

[tobee43]

CAT...that is a MUST see for eveyone that has any question as to what the wall street movement is about.

secondly, protests were going on here locally, and actually we didn't see many college student aged people...we saw families, couples, many with their children in the streets carrying signs of NO MORE FRAUD on wall STREET. FEED the PEOPLE...etc. i don't know...did i miss something with their message, i think NOT...although, i believe the media has been missing it on purpose since the onset of the movement.

[IamOld]

Right Tobee - until that idiot cop pepper sprayed the young women at point blank range only the FOREIGN media covered this - it simply didn't EXIST even in NYC papers.

CAT...that is a MUST see for eveyone that has any question as to what the wall street movement is about.

secondly, protects were going on here locally, and actually we didn't see many college student aged people...we saw families, couples, many with their children in the streets carrying signs of NO MORE FRAUD on wall STREET. FEED the PEOPLE...etc. i don't know...did i miss something with their message, i think NOT...although, i believe the media has been missing it on purpose since the onset of the movement.

[tobee43]

Right Tobee - until that idiot cop pepper sprayed the young women at point blank range only the FOREIGN media covered this - it simply didn't EXIST even in NYC papers.

as a result it now has become even more evident that the big banks and greedy businesses have control of the media, our lives, the food we eat, the cars we drive, the fuel we need....i hope this entire country opens their eyes to this.

and again, i believe it's true, this is a non potitical party affiliated movement.

just how much are we all suppose to take?????

[GoingDown]

So, you don't see anything a bit communistic about this sign?



Or if someone was wearing this shirt?

[IamOld]

Goingdown, not any more than any other emblem that some choose to where w/out having any clue for what it stands. I also don't put it past certain forces to have inserted agent provocateurs among the ranks of the protesters.

[GoingDown]

The funny thing is that I am a liberal Democrat, but this is scaring me, and causing me to shift to the right. At least a bit.

So, the protests are backfiring, as far as I am concerned.

[IamOld]

The funny thing is that I am a liberal Democrat, but this is scaring me, and causing me to shift to the right. At least a bit.

So, the protests are backfiring, as far as I am concerned.

GoingDown there's nothing to fear - we as Americans have been brainwashed that protests are "bad" - but - look at the 60's, heck look at the late 1770's :-) The US was BORN out of protest of just this.

[GoingDown]

Maybe it's just being in Arizona too long. Where everything is tilted to the right, and I'm just not used to this kind of thing.

[IamOld]

Maybe it's just being in Arizona too long. Where everything is tilted to the right, and I just not used to this kind of thing.

You're quite right!!!! Seriously, where you are, the social mores of the locals, does rub off on you!