Re: I don't want to live on this planet anymore
While I'd agree, I think the important point to make is that it needs to be a *peaceful* protest.
While most of the protestors are peaceful, a great deal of them aren't even really there for any specific reason other than some sort of nebulous "Man, **** Wall Street!" sentiment. There's a huge difference between peacefully protesting in the name of something and just showing up to be an asshole. It's not like the police can stop every single person and be like "Hey, wait, before I let you through, are you going to go block traffic? No? Alright, you're free to go!" After a certain point, the crowd can't be trusted because a few douchebags ruin it for everyone else, so the police have to start blocking things off.
Of course, batshit protestors look at this as an invitation to become armchair lawyers: "Hey! Hey man, this is public property man! I have a right to be here! I have a right to be here! You can't block me from going through! Everyone ****ing listen to me! Hey! Hey! Hey! **** you! **** you man! ****ing Wall Street, man! You're protecting the enemy, man! I'm not touching you! I'm not touching you! I'm not touching you! Hey! Hey! Whoa! WHOA! WHOAAAA! POLICE BRUTALITY OMG! *SCREAM* AHHHH POLICE BRUTALITY! YOU GET THAT ON TAPE MAN?! **** THE SYSTEM!"
I mean seriously, this sort of shit is to be expected. When you're dealing with people like this for *hours*, emotions are going to fly. Yes, I agree it's a policeman's job to keep cool, but it's also his job to keep the peace and make sure shit doesn't spiral out of control, which can be really hard to do when you've got some really persistent, angry assholes in your face who are causing a massive glut in areas that are normally insanely busy during the day to begin with.
Like, people are pissed over the bailouts, but they don't realize that much of it has already been paid back. Bailout money doesn't go to the execs -- it goes into the company to keep it from going bankrupt. Had the banks gone under, we'd all be ****ed. Something like $580 billion was disbursed in the bailout (including bailout money for FM/FM), and over half of it was paid back by the hundreds banks that received money not long after the bailouts were disbursed to begin with. The top 30 banks received 90% of the total bailout money, and most of it has been returned with interest -- the only nasty one is FM/FM (20% of the bailout to the top 30 alone, which we're not likely to see again). Even so, the outstanding $200-something billion is nothing compared to our multi-trillion dollar deficit.
I think people have a right to be angry, but a protest is not how you solve the nation's problems. If we want a better government that has better regulations for big business, we need to stop voting idiots into power.
America, while not too big to fail, is not likely to fail unless we do something really stupid, like refuse to raise the debt ceiling. Very few politicians are rational and forward-thinking, which worries me as a rational forward-thinking person. Problem is, it's the irrational short-sighted majority that keeps electing them into office.
While I'd agree, I think the important point to make is that it needs to be a *peaceful* protest.
While most of the protestors are peaceful, a great deal of them aren't even really there for any specific reason other than some sort of nebulous "Man, **** Wall Street!" sentiment. There's a huge difference between peacefully protesting in the name of something and just showing up to be an asshole. It's not like the police can stop every single person and be like "Hey, wait, before I let you through, are you going to go block traffic? No? Alright, you're free to go!" After a certain point, the crowd can't be trusted because a few douchebags ruin it for everyone else, so the police have to start blocking things off.
Of course, batshit protestors look at this as an invitation to become armchair lawyers: "Hey! Hey man, this is public property man! I have a right to be here! I have a right to be here! You can't block me from going through! Everyone ****ing listen to me! Hey! Hey! Hey! **** you! **** you man! ****ing Wall Street, man! You're protecting the enemy, man! I'm not touching you! I'm not touching you! I'm not touching you! Hey! Hey! Whoa! WHOA! WHOAAAA! POLICE BRUTALITY OMG! *SCREAM* AHHHH POLICE BRUTALITY! YOU GET THAT ON TAPE MAN?! **** THE SYSTEM!"
I mean seriously, this sort of shit is to be expected. When you're dealing with people like this for *hours*, emotions are going to fly. Yes, I agree it's a policeman's job to keep cool, but it's also his job to keep the peace and make sure shit doesn't spiral out of control, which can be really hard to do when you've got some really persistent, angry assholes in your face who are causing a massive glut in areas that are normally insanely busy during the day to begin with.
Like, people are pissed over the bailouts, but they don't realize that much of it has already been paid back. Bailout money doesn't go to the execs -- it goes into the company to keep it from going bankrupt. Had the banks gone under, we'd all be ****ed. Something like $580 billion was disbursed in the bailout (including bailout money for FM/FM), and over half of it was paid back by the hundreds banks that received money not long after the bailouts were disbursed to begin with. The top 30 banks received 90% of the total bailout money, and most of it has been returned with interest -- the only nasty one is FM/FM (20% of the bailout to the top 30 alone, which we're not likely to see again). Even so, the outstanding $200-something billion is nothing compared to our multi-trillion dollar deficit.
I think people have a right to be angry, but a protest is not how you solve the nation's problems. If we want a better government that has better regulations for big business, we need to stop voting idiots into power.
America, while not too big to fail, is not likely to fail unless we do something really stupid, like refuse to raise the debt ceiling. Very few politicians are rational and forward-thinking, which worries me as a rational forward-thinking person. Problem is, it's the irrational short-sighted majority that keeps electing them into office.
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