Kicking off in NYC

[beorhthelm]

The movement is about the disparity between the richest people in the world and the rest of us.

im glad you can distill it down to that, but the fact of the matter is this message isnt getting across, lost in a sea of individual issues.

 

[BadFish]

im glad you can distill it down to that, but the fact of the matter is this message isnt getting across, lost in a sea of individual issues.

Well it is coming across loud and clear to me. But then maybe I haven't relied on the media to inform me i have read their websites, read and joined in discussion on their facebook page and been down to talk to the Occupy Melbourne people. If the message isn't getting across then maybe it is down to those who are delivering the message. The same media that play their part in that which is being protested against.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

Of course it is my choice and I love my job, but if they earn 40 times more money than me. Does that mean their job is 40 times as important as mine? Do they work 40 times as hard as me?

As a teacher though you have one of the most if not the most secure jobs in the nation. A job for life is something a hell of a lot of people don't have. Should people protest against the education system because of this inequality?

The point is while I understand that people will earn more than me and accept that, surely this is taking things too far and the gap is too wide.

There's no way this can be changed unless the world becomes one big horrible socialist nanny state. And I for one am already tired of the nanny state mentality amongst so many people. Anything that some people see as wrong they want a law to be brought in or a new tax to appease their wishes.

It's getting beyond a joke.

Michael Jordan et al don't use their money to influence government policy but i am sure all would agree that they earn a disproportionate amount of money.

They had a talent, their talent made them rich. I just accept that as part of life that's been present since ancient trading/bartering began.

It's not something new, it's a common human condition to want to be as prosperous and successful as one can be.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

These are band aid solutions to the problems the occupy people are attempting to change core problems causing these localised issues. I agree that it has little chance of making any real difference but I would rather stand up and state my case than succumb to apathy as the world around me falls to shit. Not doing something because it is hard or not very likely to succeed is not a reason i can accept, i respect you as a poster on here but that is just piss weak.

"And if it don't work at least we say we tried" - Paul Weller

Is the world turning to shit though?

Looking back through history I'd say the world has always been kind of shit for some, and good for others.

At this stage in history there's more people in the world with a decent enough quality of life as compared to any other time in history.

If you can point me to how the world is so much worse off than in past history i'm most willing to listen to how.

Yes the rich people might be richer than ever before, but there's also a far, far bigger middle class than ever before in the history of the planet.

 

[Acker79]

If you can point me to how the world is so much worse off than in past history i'm most willing to listen to how.

Justin Beiber.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

Justin Beiber.

haha!

I can't say I've even heard one of his songs. I must be a troglodyte.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Justin Beiber.

 

[Acker79]

That makes it look like you've gone all fan girly at the mention of his name.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I guess what I'm getting at is that, unless you have some kind of great big idealistic society where everybody gets the same (didn't the Soviets/Chinese/Cubans/half of Eastern Europe try that once?), then there will always be richer people and always be poorer people. Plus a great mass of people somewhere inbetween.

There is zero chance of getting our society to the point where everyone earns the same, so from where I'm sitting, aiming shots at the rich comes across more as jealousy than anything else. No, before you ask, I'm not rich, and yes, of course I'd like to be, but we live in a capitalist society, therefore everyone has the right to go out there and try and earn as much money as they want to. It might be easier for some than others, of course- unfortunately we're all aware how the old boys network functions when it comes to certain schools and universities. But as long as there's nothing illegal going on, such as the MPs claiming moody expenses, or someone illegally avoiding tax, then what do we do? We can't say to someone "you have no right to be loaded". How do we judge what someone's efforts are worth in an employment sense?

Banks can be total bastards, we all know that, but I'm not sure telling the head of RBS he needs to take a pay cut is going to change anything.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

That makes it look like you've gone all fan girly at the mention of his name.

Oooh, no. He is a pox on the face of the music industry. Don't ever criticise him on Twitter: before you know it, you'll be bombarded with screaming, badly spelt tweets from irate teenage girls wishing you a drawn out, painful death.

 

[Acker79]

Oooh, no. He is a pox on the face of the music industry. Don't ever criticise him on Twitter: before you know it, you'll be bombarded with screaming, badly spelt tweets from irate teenage girls wishing you a drawn out, painful death.

Too late. Now in my mind you are his biggest fan.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

IMHO the global protests do nothing but good. They get in the faces of the Masters Of The Universe and make it clear that the Rest Of The Universe has marked their cards and is disgusted by their greed and self-interest. In time, maybe society as a whole will take steps to make things just a TAD fairer across the board.

Capitalism + Socialism = Good.

 

[brunswick]

so many in the UK as soo dumbed down by their stuff, jobs, and media input they cannot see what is going on in the world around them....and anyone that says anything different is "a loon." lol....here is a new doc that joins the dots from the ground up (note: i do not agree with all of this but the corp / banking stuff here is good, and it is made by middle class people - which will appeal to many on here.

 

[JamesAndTheGiantHead]

The set up camp there primarily because it was the nearest suitable open space to Paternoster Square (where the London Stock Exchange is based). They were banned from the square by in injunction on behalf of Mitsubishi Estates (who own the land the square is on). Many "public areas" in London are actually privately owned. For example, the entire Canary Wharf area is private land and merely open to public access under license.

Thank you for clearing that up for me.

 

[Buzzer]

Ah. Brunswick is here dispensing the real truth.

 

[beorhthelm]

lol....here is a new doc that joins the dots from the ground up

thanks. i saw this video being posted on various forums this weekend and i had a bet with myself that you or dingodan would post it on the next opportunity. talk about group think.

 

[BadFish]

I guess what I'm getting at is that, unless you have some kind of great big idealistic society where everybody gets the same (didn't the Soviets/Chinese/Cubans/half of Eastern Europe try that once?), then there will always be richer people and always be poorer people. Plus a great mass of people somewhere inbetween.

There is zero chance of getting our society to the point where everyone earns the same, so from where I'm sitting, aiming shots at the rich comes across more as jealousy than anything else. No, before you ask, I'm not rich, and yes, of course I'd like to be, but we live in a capitalist society, therefore everyone has the right to go out there and try and earn as much money as they want to. It might be easier for some than others, of course- unfortunately we're all aware how the old boys network functions when it comes to certain schools and universities. But as long as there's nothing illegal going on, such as the MPs claiming moody expenses, or someone illegally avoiding tax, then what do we do? We can't say to someone "you have no right to be loaded". How do we judge what someone's efforts are worth in an employment sense?

Banks can be total bastards, we all know that, but I'm not sure telling the head of RBS he needs to take a pay cut is going to change anything.

I appreciate yout argument but no-one is suggesting that everyone earns the same. What is being suggested is that the gap between the rich and the rest of us is too wide. And that those rich people are setting the rules of the game by influencing government to ensure that they maintain the status quo.

 

[BadFish]

Is the world turning to shit though?


If you can point me to how the world is so much worse off than in past history i'm most willing to listen to how.
.

If you cannot see that there is anything wrong with the world then i guess that it follows that you would not agree with people protesting about it.

http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats

Over half the world population live on less than 2.50 a day (a figure that would take our bankers about a second to earn)

According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.”

Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names

Number of children in the world
2.2 billion
Number in poverty
1 billion (every second child)

I admit I haven't compared theses statistics to our history as you asked but with the resources available to us can you really that this is okay?

 

[BadFish]

thanks. i saw this video being posted on various forums this weekend and i had a bet with myself that you or dingodan would post it on the next opportunity. talk about group think.

So what is it about? Can you paraphrase? Care to put the alternate view? Not sure when I will get to watch it, bloody report writing time.

 

[beorhthelm]

So what is it about? Can you paraphrase? Care to put the alternate view? Not sure when I will get to watch it, bloody report writing time.

i cant say ive watched it bar a couple snap shots. its been refered to, positivly, as a new Zeitgeist. i have watched that, i have no interest in watching 2 hours retreading that ground. if you havent watch Zeitgeist, thats a triolgy of loosly connected conspriacy theories with appaling research.

upon reading a few more comments on it, seems its got a positive angle on christianity. worse than i thought.

actually... what its about is beside the point, its being linked to on various conspiracy forums as flavour of the moment in conspiracy land.