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Protesting Isn't Easy, Nor Is It Cheap
by James Glaser October 11, 2011 
I really have to admire the people who are out there all across America protesting. No, I don't know exactly what they are protesting or what they want, but I believe it is a good thing that people are out there doing it. Most likely the protests have happened because with so many Americans out of work, they have had time to figure out that while things are not going all that well for most of us, things are just great for Wall Street and the Big Banks. That just doesn't sit well for most Americans. Our media is controlled by our large corporations and the government. Actually, the government is controlled by those corporations also, and who controls the corporations? Hmmm, let me think, I guess that would be the rich. You know them—that 1% who own most of America. You don't agree? How many of you have been asked to serve on the Board of Directors of your bank or General Electric, IBM, or 3M. The rich serve on those boards, and they run the foundations who give out money to those they deem worthy of their help. The rest of us are the masses—eeww. Admittedly some of us, here in the land of the masses are doing better than others, but for all intents and purposes, we live in a two class society. That would be the very, very rich top 1% of the population and the rest of us. From what I have been able to figure out, the top second percent isn't even close to that top one percent. I guess when I think of a family at the top, I think of the Kennedy's. Yep, old money and lots of it. Some of the family is into politics, and others work for foundations helping the masses exist. I am sure they feel good about themselves, but then most of the real big worries that the rest of us have, like mortgage or rent money, food and insurance money, and mundane things like keeping the car running, have never been part of their thought pattern. Now wait a minute, I am not picking on the Kennedys. They just happen to be perhaps the most visible rich family. When you think about it, those at the very top don't even have to think about our legal system. How many Kennedys can you remember getting out of trouble with the law (can you say Chappaquiddick?) where if it were you or me, we would still be in the slammer? Most rich people try to keep a low profile and live in their splendor away from the media spotlight. That is smart, but fame has made many of the young rich want to show off their wealth a bit too much. Ah, but let's get back to the "cake-eating" masses. The masses know that the game is fixed and the "haves" really do have most of the stuff, and the rest of us are not getting it. Why do you think they make so few Bugatties? Everyone would love to drive one, but only a couple thousand people worldwide can afford one. It isn't just cars. The rich, the "real" rich have their own restaurants, their own places to live, and when they travel, they have their own planes. Oh, all that is necessary for while they might want to show off to the masses, they surely don't want to mingle. So, we now have class protesters. The lower class is protesting the fact that the rich 1% class controls much of our lives. But let's get down to the foundational issues. The reason we are now experiencing these protests is that so many Americans are out of work. If they all had jobs, nobody would be able to hit the streets with signs, now would they? But what happened, you ask? Simple, the rich got a bit too greedy, and their housing scam backfired on them. They panicked and forced Barack Obama to bail them out, and there wasn't any money left to appease the masses. A real tactical error there. Now we have millions of Americans sitting around watching TV and seeing how the rich and famous live and how nothing has really changed for them. Being unemployed, those TV watchers have many free hours to do just that, think. They can do that, think very clearly, because they no longer have the money to buy booze or drugs, both of which have kept the masses happy or at least in a fog for, well like for ever. What do you do when you finally figure you are playing a fixed game, and not fixed in your favor. Well, in the old West you would have pulled out your six shooter and started firing away. Now, we don't do things like that, if we ever really did. Maybe that is just a Hollywood thing. However, we still get pissed. So, people who can have started taking to the streets, and Wall Street looked to many as the place to go. With our media in control of the corporations, we may never know how many people are actually protesting, but from the internet we know there are many and not just in New York. Most protesters are young, because it is physically hard to be on your feet chanting or yelling all day long. Also sleeping arrangements would disable many of us in no time. I can only imagine that the older people you see protesting are either very tough old coots or they have the money for a bed at night or they live within driving distance of the protest. Either way, I am glad to see anybody out there, young or old. Something is wrong in our system here in America. I don't know if these protesters have any truly workable ideas, or if they are trying to voice any, but the most important thing they are doing is just being out there. Maybe, just maybe, those at the top will get worried and start to think that they should maybe open the spigot so that the old Trickle Down Theory would not be just a theory. It might be too late for that, but I don't know what else the rich can do. Regardless of the answer to the situation, the reality is that the jig is up, and people are hitting the streets to protest. They are not protesting a war or one thing in particular. They are now protesting our whole way of doing things, and now that it has started, the "rich" had better figure out something, or their way of life will be over, and they had better be quick about it, or they might end up living like we do. Oh Horrors! |
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