Thursday, October 27, 2011

Success - A Start

You can say a lot of things about the Occupy Wall Street movement (#OWS), but they have already moved the discussion in a very positive way.  Look at the graphic from NBC Nightly News last night.  Ed and I were talking, and this seems a big deal to me.  #OWS has changed the discussion.

Brian Williams in Wednesday Night's News Cast.
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Let me say one thing that people should understand - particularly those from @NOT America..
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The success of the very few does NOT offend Americans.  As a matter of fact, Americans LOVE rich people.  We really do, I say that not sarcastically.  And we do because one of the pillars of the American system is the thought of economic mobility.  The idea our children will always be better off that us.
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What #OWS, and many of the rest of us, don't approve of is... cheaters.  The #OWS anger isn't anger at the Rich, it is anger at the Rich that have rigged the system.  The bankers who blew everyone's savings in a housing bubble - then got bailed out, while most people didn't.  The bankers and other rich that default and declare bankruptcy and just get more loans - while college kids can't get out from under tuition loan debt.
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Why do developers get to walk away from a $4 BILLION dollar mistake in Stuyvesant Town - but the kid who took out $30,000 of school loans, because Princeton was the entry cost of getting a job, why does he get stuck with the bill when there are no jobs there.
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And that is where the anger is, and the harping of Citibank and Bank of America's Senators doesn't change that.  You can call them stupid, or dirty or hippies.  But we all know the truth, the rich in this country are buying up the lawyers and the rules.  #OWS is just making sure that people look at it.
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Yay for them.