Occupy Wall Street

What are they doing on Wall Street? Why are they Occupying Wall Street? It's a mystery...not only to me, but to many other American's and even to some degree to those that are doing the "occupying". And what's amazing to me is how long it took for this "movement" to receive any media attention. Why? you might ask...well, 6 major corporations own 90% of the media so they can decide what they want the American people to know. Anything that hurts their profit margins might not be such a good "issue" to report on. I don't fault the Corporations. This is America, last time I checked we are a Capitalist society. Work hard, do well, end up on top, RIGHT? I do however agree that corporate/political corruptions is a major concern. What's up with their ridiculous salaries and bonuses??? Come on, now. The top earners in this country have seen major increases in income over the course of the last few decades while American Middle-Class wages have stagnated. I thought there was something called "cost of living" increases...Oh wait, not for the middle or lower class.

One of the biggest downfalls of the Occupy Wall Street movement is that they are not "organized" so to speak. They disagree with American Income Inequality, to quote them "We are the 99%" Okay, Great...but what do they want done about it. You can't just join up in numbers, stand on a piece of ground in public and yell that you want change. What kind of change do they want? You have to come to the table with an agenda. If I tell my husband that I am unhappy with something in our relationship (totally hypothetical), he will say "what do you want to do about it?" If I say "I don't know"...all I have done is made us both unhappy and worried about the nature of our relationship. What's the plan??? You have to come to the table with goals in mind. Easier said than done, I know.

I'm a little apprehensive of the whole situation, and I wonder how many people actually know what they are standing up for. Or is it one of these instances where people are jumping on the bandwagon uninformed. "bad corporation, bad, bad!" When really, they are just Americans living the American Dream. It's as if the 99% want us to move in a socialist direction. Tax the rich to feed the poor...but what did the rich do wrong. A majority just worked hard to get where they are financially/economically. Shame on them. I don't think that equal distribution of wealth is the answer. However its clear that something needs to be done.

How about we start with more campaign finance reform. How about our politicians in DC "ACTUALLY" make decisions based on the best interest of their constituents and not based on how much money they need from the corporations for their next ridiculously expensive campaign. Better yet, Lets get some solid term limits for both the House and the Senate. Maybe if they knew that they could only be in office for a pre-determined amount of time they would be more willing to create and pass policy that benefits society as a whole. But why one Earth would they vote yes on term limits....talk about the ultimate job security and padding your pockets all the while. I'm just saying!!!

As for the Young American's Occupying Wall Street...good for you! It's great that you are standing up for your cause. It's great that your are passionate about something, FINALLY. Just prepare a mission statement, outline your goals. Right now it just has the appearance of a bunch of radicals with no real common interest. And LASTLY...GO VOTE! For Christ's sake, America is historically rich with attempts to increase the vote. IN 1870, we gave African American Males the right to vote. In 1920 we gave American Women the right to vote. In the late 60's or 70's they lowered the voting age. So what's your excuse. Exercise your democratic freedom...or don't come crying to me when things don't go "your" way.