# Classist Wall Street occupiers refuse to share food, bridge gaps with marginalized homeless **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 27, 2011, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956 "2011-10-27T12:22:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/101 "2011-10-28T18:27:59Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Do you honestly believe politicians can make bankers do anything they don’t want to do? The bankers have refused to start lending to small businesses. There has been lots of pressure on the banks to generate loans. They don’t do it. sure they can. The key is to keep going at it. They wouldn’t necessarily capitulate immediately, but eventually they will. Evil can be slowed down, but it cannot be stopped. The same logic applies to other places and institutions. You couldn’t have gotten the likes of Obama elected during election of 1972, but the key is to keep going at it. What failed in 1972 will eventually succeed in 2008. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/102 "2011-10-28T18:55:29Z")
> [@code\_grey](#): > > sure they can. The key is to keep going at it. They wouldn’t necessarily capitulate immediately, but eventually they will. Evil can be slowed down, but it cannot be stopped. > > The same logic applies to other places and institutions. You couldn’t have gotten the likes of Obama elected during election of 1972, but the key is to keep going at it. What failed in 1972 will eventually succeed in 2008. It requires the judicial department. They have no respect for politicians. Madoff had plenty of warning before they came after him. It took the law to stop him. He did not care what people thought. He was making piles of money. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/103 "2011-10-29T00:14:16Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > All peaceful protest in this country is legitimate. I don’t care how crazy it is, everyone has the right to protest for whatever he wants. You don’t have to agree with them to acknowledge that. There has been some violence, but most have been peaceful. No, it’s not a peaceful protest. These people are illegally taking up residence on public property. At the very best they’re costing cities money in extra police time babysitting them. At the worst they cost cities lost business revenue/taxes and disrupt the lives of local citizens. And no, everybody does not have the right to demand that other people listen to their stupid bullshit. They have a right to discourse with people who wish to listen to their stupid bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/104 "2011-10-29T00:27:49Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > No, it’s not a peaceful protest. These people are illegally taking up residence on public property. It’s true - they are sitting there in an exceptionally aggressive manner. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/105 "2011-10-29T00:53:31Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > It’s true - they are sitting there in an exceptionally aggressive manner. that’s what I would call disturbing the peace. They’re usurping public space for personal use. Most people would find it pretty annoying to have a group of people camped out near them playing drums and using powered audio equipment. Personally, I find 10 minutes of barking dogs pretty obnoxious. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/106 "2011-10-29T00:58:33Z")
IAN **John Mace** but I’m assuming that he says “peaceful protest” to differentiate it from “violent protest” rather than “annoying protest”. Protests of any sort are annoying - that’s kind of the point of them. A protest that doesn’t bother anyone is an ineffectual one. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/107 "2011-10-29T01:02:19Z")
> [@loshan](#): > > Exactly the point. If Congress had done its job there would have been (wanna guess?) MORE regulation. BUT…If the bankers (and/or the corporations i.e. people) had a fucking conscience they wouldn’t have needed the regulation in the first place. > > I am not nearly as eloquent as **George Kaplin** , he has expressed the truth as I see it better than any pundit or commentator I have seen to date. I stand by my BRAVO. Well here’s the problem. Derivatives were designed to bundle risk in a way that spread it out. That was used by mortgage companies as a hedge against higher risk loans encouraged by Congress. If the derivatives didn’t have the appropriate funds to back it up then it was a house of cards waiting for the natural housing bubble to burst and then the whole thing came down. Everything affects everything in this scenario. It didn’t help that this occurred during a recession. It was the perfect storm. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/108 "2011-10-29T01:04:27Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > IAN **John Mace** but I’m assuming that he says “peaceful protest” to differentiate it from “violent protest” rather than “annoying protest”. Protests of any sort are annoying - that’s kind of the point of them. A protest that doesn’t bother anyone is an ineffectual one. OK, point taken but my idea of a peaceful protest is a bunch of signs and speachafyin in the middle of the day that doesn’t interfere with other people’s lives and then everybody goes home. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/109 "2011-10-29T01:19:01Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > IAN **John Mace** but I’m assuming that he says “peaceful protest” to differentiate it from “violent protest” rather than “annoying protest”. Protests of any sort are annoying - that’s kind of the point of them. A protest that doesn’t bother anyone is an ineffectual one. A protest that annoys/bothers the people that live around the site of the protest and does not in any way affect the people that are being protested against is also an ineffectual one. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/110 "2011-10-29T01:42:42Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > A protest that annoys/bothers the people that live around the site of the protest and does not in any way affect the people that are being protested against is also an ineffectual one. Rightys talking to rightys. So soul, no understanding. What’s new. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/111 "2011-10-29T01:53:07Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > No, it’s not a peaceful protest. These people are illegally taking up residence on public property. At the very best they’re costing cities money in extra police time babysitting them. At the worst they cost cities lost business revenue/taxes and disrupt the lives of local citizens. > > And no, everybody does not have the right to demand that other people listen to their stupid bullshit. They have a right to discourse with people who wish to listen to their stupid bullshit. You said: > [@](#): > > This was never a legitimate protest. That was obvious from day one with a complete lack of direction in any of the activities besides a general complaint about the state of the economy. Your complaint is that it lacked direction, not that they were taking up space on public property. But now that you bring it up, the park being occupied is private property. Until and unless the owner kicks them off, they’re not doing anything wrong. No one is making anyone listen to anything. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/112 "2011-10-29T01:56:47Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > No, it’s not a peaceful protest. These people are illegally taking up residence on public property. At the very best they’re costing cities money in extra police time babysitting them. At the worst they cost cities lost business revenue/taxes and disrupt the lives of local citizens. Note that in the case of the Occupy Wall Street protest, they are _not_ taking up residence on public property. Instead, they are occupying the privately-owned [Zuccotti Park](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuccotti_Park). ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/113 "2011-10-29T02:43:13Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > You said: > Your complaint is that it lacked direction, not that they were taking up space on public property. But now that you bring it up, the park being occupied is private property. Until and unless the owner kicks them off, they’re not doing anything wrong. No one is making anyone listen to anything. They are disturbing the public surrounding the area so I disagree with your assessment that they are not making anyone listen to anything. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/114 "2011-10-29T02:53:19Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > They are disturbing the public surrounding the area so I disagree with your assessment that they are not making anyone listen to anything. The lady doth protest too much. Someone who happens to be passing by will have to listen to FREE SPEECH for a few seconds. That’s the way it works. But no one is forced to sit there and listen. Free speech is just what it says-- speech. We can’t have free speech if we require that no one be bothered by sound. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/115 "2011-10-29T03:18:34Z")
Actually the businesses around the protests are getting more action. In the Detroit occupation there are a couple bars that are doing big business during football games. Some protesters eating there. As usual MAGIVER is 100 percent wrong. The occupations are not young poor people. There are plenty of older people and established people who figure the economic system is going awry. But I can only talk about the protests I have been about or know people at. The conservatives can somehow speak about them all, with absolutely no knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/116 "2011-10-29T03:19:15Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > The lady doth protest too much. Someone who happens to be passing by will have to listen to FREE SPEECH for a few seconds. That’s the way it works. But no one is forced to sit there and listen. Free speech is just what it says-- speech. We can’t have free speech if we require that no one be bothered by sound. If there was anyway the [residence of NYC](http://www.theblaze.com/stories/manhattan-residents-voice-outrage-over-protests-neighbors-do-not-beat-on-drums-while-children-are-sleeping/) could transfer the protest to your street I’m sure they would appreciate your feedback on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/117 "2011-10-29T03:22:00Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Actually the businesses around the protests are getting more action. In the Detroit occupation there are a couple bars that are doing big business during football games. Some protesters eating there. As usual MAGIVER is 100 percent wrong. > The occupations are not young poor people. There are plenty of older people and established people who figure the economic system is going awry. Gosh they must be the only people on the planet who think we have economic problems. Or, the real 99% understands the problem but doesn’t spend time pissing in the wind. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/118 "2011-10-29T03:30:08Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > If there was anyway the [residence of NYC](http://www.theblaze.com/stories/manhattan-residents-voice-outrage-over-protests-neighbors-do-not-beat-on-drums-while-children-are-sleeping/) could transfer the protest to your street I’m sure they would appreciate your feedback on the subject. That’s just one reason I don’t live in Manhattan. But if they are violating the noise ordinances, then the cops should deal with that. Otherwise, I’m not automatically sympathetic to people living in Manhattan who think it’s too noisy. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/119 "2011-10-29T03:40:05Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > That’s just one reason I don’t live in Manhattan. But if they are violating the noise ordinances, then the cops should deal with that. Otherwise, I’m not automatically sympathetic to people living in Manhattan who think it’s too noisy. Why yes, they should deal with it, along with all the other nonsense they bring. They are a cesspool of inhumanity who do not care about the city they occupy or the resources they drain. This is an exercise in futility at taxpayer expense. They have no addressable goals beyond chasing windmills. At some point they will push the local residence into confrontation. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956/120 "2011-10-29T04:31:05Z")
Absolutely. New York is such a quiet town . You can not have people making noise there. Well ,are they? Or is this just you making more shit up that you have no knowledge of? I know the Detroit occupation is not noisy, except for one homeless guy who keeps beating on his drumsticks against the concrete all day. But I am sure he did that before the occupation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classist-wall-street-occupiers-refuse-to-share-food-bridge-gaps-with-marginalized-homeless/600956.md?page=7)