I can’t believe that this hasn’t got more attention. From the 99percentDeclaration:
There is more, including 21 specific grievances which I assume are still debatable at the convention. If their grievances aren’t heard, then:
It is just that simple!
That’s a really important and valuable change!
I can’t tell if you’re joking or not. Can you clarify that before I comment?
I’m not joking, I am simply quoting what others are writing/saying on the radio. AFAIK that really is how OWS is supposed to work.
OK, then it will be a spectacular failure, devolving into a hodge-podge of leftish causes that few Congresscritters can get behind. Then, according to their plan, they form their own political party, and if they do that, they will hand the government over to the GOP on a silver platter. Just like the TPers would have done for the Dems if they had formed their own political party.
There’s some wisdom there in (1) threatening a third-party bid (2) but not before 2014.
Oh, you’ll find the TPers can accomplish exactly the same thing from within the GOP.
Often, they do. Especially at the federal level (eg, Senators). They can make gains at the local level and among Federal Representatives where districts are tightly drawn, but they don’t have the broad appeal that more moderate candidates have. The GOP would have done much better in the Senate elections in 2010 w/o the TPers, who basically sabotaged the primaries with nut-job candidates who have to go on air to claim they are “not a witch”.
What is the OSW movement supposed to do?
That’s the beauty of it, it doesn’t do anything.
These leftist style protest tactics always leave me scratching my head. They seem to assume that everyone has the same emotional reaction to things that they do and all they have to do is channel that collective energy. It doesn’t work that way for most people that aren’t them. Most of us just see a group of people camping and hanging out out as somewhat annoying to amusing but conferring no special authority or knowledge for anything political.
The “profit” is a reference to an internet meme based on an episode of South Park. Actual profit was not implied
And we see that even in Mississippi, the fetus = person doesn’t fly statewide. I’m sure there are plenty of Congressional districts where it would easily pass. This is the sort of thing I was referencing above.
Maybe they should try to Incorporate fetuses and take it to the SCOTUS. 
If you were in their shoes, and trying to accomplish their goals or something in that general direction, what tactics would you use?
OK, here is what I would do. Contrary to what you may guess about me, I have had a problem with the financial world and its operations for a long time. I think a lot of what they do is just a scheme with little value to anyone but themselves. Contrary to assertions made earlier in the thread, many people have known about this basically forever but especially in the last decade. The Enron and Worldcom scandals shook the financial world, ruined many lives, and resulted in reforms especially in the Sarbane Oxley act. I work under those laws in my job as a consultant and they are harsh and effective at preventing corporate malfeasance at the individual company level.
I would propose something similar for the financial sector as a whole. A large and comprehensive federal act would be expensive to implement but it should not only reduce the overall problem of greed grabbing at the expense of others but also create a large number of quality white collar jobs. The details would be intricate but the overall idea is that individual leaders wouldn’t be able to make individual gain in public companies without a corresponding gain for shareholders and the company wealth itself. The total amount of gain wouldn’t be limited but corporate leaders would have to show that they didn’t make any gain themselves that was at the expense of other parties associated with the company. It would all have to be proportionate and tied to longer term results than quarter by quarter.
The OWS people must have a few people with brains among their ranks including some law school grads. They could start the bill themselves and market it to the masses and politicians through social networks not limited to but including Facebook and Twitter. That is actually getting something done instead of just sitting around being pissed at something vague and a tactic they should learn to adopt.
That format is a fairly common Internet joke / meme. I see it used on fark.com, for example, a lot, FWIW.
Funny how some smart people don’t understand how politicians are moved. They fear for losing their jobs. They get money from lobbyists and special interests. The pay little attention to the bitching of the masses, They are ,in political minds, counterbalanced by the other sides of the masses. The people really do not matter unless they can show they have the power to put their seats in jeopardy if the politicians vote badly. The elections Tuesday may be a wake up call.
The people are aware of what has gone on and they do not like it. The people may be showing they will not allow the powerful to loot us any longer. The reps and senators may actually have to consider their constituents in the future.
… and a few hundred hanging out in tents and “occupying” Zuccotti park (or about 6 thousand marching on a bank at its peak) in the most populous city in the United States is definitely going to convince those (Democrat, from NY) politicians that they’re about to lose their jobs. snickers
Yes, it’s such a non-event that all over the media and in every corner of the internet, people are going out of their way to loudly proclaim that it isn’t a big deal. That’s what I usually do about things that don’t matter.
OK, your approach is to come up with a package of specific proposals, technically-sound regulatory solutions to prevent more Wall Street craziness. At least that show you’re thinking. However, there are several points you have overlooked:
- That’s already covered. It has been tried and is being tried. As Betsy Reed writes in The Nation:
- You are offering solutions to the wrong problems. You really think this is about a few reckless CEOs in Manhattan making decisions that landed us in the shit? The problems the OWSers are protesting are systemic and go back decades, and the financial and security industries are only part of it.
It’s about the classes, stupid!*
*Indispensable cap to the phrase, no actual flaming intended.
Since I’m guessing you’re missing the cultural reference here, and thus misunderstanding the point being made, it’s a reference to an episode of South Park called Gnomes. Here’s a good link explaining it: Gnomes (South Park) - Wikipedia
Basically, the “Profit!” line is just part of the reference and the general point is that there’s a disconnect between the action being taken and the desired outcome. I think that that poster was more or less just agreeing with the OP that he doesn’t see how the actions being taken by the OWS people will have the desired effect. Of course, the irony is that the gnomes are most likely a reference to the sort of business practices that the OWS people are protesting.
It can also refer to anyone making less than $10 mil a year, which is 99% of Americans. Personally, I find that kind of income absurd. What would you have to do to make that kind of money nowadays? Invent cold fusion? Cure cancer? AIDS? Develop superluminous travel?