Is America the only country where people vote against their best interests?
Maybe, or like my friend James said, we're the only free country where that occurs, all the others are dictatorships where the people don't have a voice, thus laws are passed against their interest without their two cents ever being taken.
In the United States, we have a voice. We can vote. We can demonstrate our frustrations with the way government is being run by organizing and vocalizing. We can boycott. We can participate in our democracy, and that is exactly what we're doing.
I want to take a moment and clear up some misconceptions people seem to have about the #Occupy movement.
1) Our message is clear: we are sick and tired of not being represented by our government. We do not believe that corporations and wealthy special interest groups should be allowed to buy elections, nor should they be allowed to determine how our laws are made, yet this is what is going on in our country right now. The needs of the people are not being heard nor are they being met, as children, schools, the poor and other underrepresented communities do not have lobbyists working Congress, nor do they have the spending power that political action committees, or PACs, and other questionably-ethical bodies have.
2) We are not against corporations, but we don't believe that they are people and we don't believe that they should be granted the same rights as a person. Many of us have worked for corporations and would accept the next opportunity to work for one. What we don't like seeing is corporations sending their jobs off to foreign countries (where they can save a buck by not paying their workers as much) and leaving thousands jobless here at home. We also don't like seeing corporations funnel money into politicians so that they can exploit their workers and the environment.
3) We don't think the "rich" should be taxed exclusively. We, the 99 percent, don't mind paying taxes because we like having amenities such as pothole-less roads and bridges that aren't about to collapse. We like contributing to the hiring of police officers and fire fighters who keep our communities safe. We believe that everyone deserves a great education and therefore don't mind paying taxes so that our public schools can afford enough teachers. We don't want the rich to be taxed exclusively, we just think they should pay their fair share.
4) We are not trying to ruin Wall Street or ruin American businesses. We believe in American business and we understand that Wall Street plays a crucial role in our economy. We believe, however, that companies who make very poor business decisions and engage in predatory lending should be punished accordingly. We believe in accountability. The people, the 99 percent have been left holding the bag after Wall Street fat cats recklessly gambled with the economy. We, the people who have the least, are still feeling the hurt from that event.
5) We are not disorganized, and we're also not funded by a pair of billionaire brothers *cough* Koch *cough* Maybe if we did have a bunch of super-wealthy benefactors funding us we would be able to rent port-a-potties and have the neatly printed signage like the Tea Party does, but this is an actual grass-roots organization, not a fabrication. We grew this movement by standing up for what is right and passing that enthusiasm along through our blogs and word of mouth, without the support of the mainstream media. That is just one of many things that distinguishes #Occupy from the Tea Party. We are not the liberal version of the Tea Party.
6) We don't hate capitalism, in fact we (for the most part) like capitalism. What we don't like is seeing corporations who make billions of dollars in annual revenue get away without contributing a dime to our government (sometimes even taking handouts *cough* GE *cough*). We want to end the tax loopholes for the incredibly wealthy. No one should be able to get out of paying their fair share.
7) We can vote, and we do, but the power structure in this country needs to be changed, and not just by voting people out. We need to reevaluate just how elections are held in this country. The ability to get elected should not be based upon how many rich donors one can scrape up, it should be about the issues. Elections should be publicly funded.
Did I miss anything? Please, if you have anything to add to this manifesto, leave a comment and let me know! And stay tuned
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