Disclaimer: I do not speak for every Occupy, nor do I proclaim this as an absolute truth. This is my opinion and as a human being I am bound to get some of it wrong. The thoughts and views expressed are my own, and are a representation of my experiences at Occupy STL. With that said, please enjoy.
For the people who don't get it:
America is in a crisis that the old "work harder and stop complaining" adage trumpeted by the defenders of oligarchy capitalism cannot nor is willing to solve. Approximately 312 million people inhabit a country with a 10% unemployment rate (which is higher considering there are many more unreported cases of unemployment, in addition to the levels of underemployment). That mean at least 31.2 million people are looking for a job in a market with no jobs to be had. The industrial, manufacturing, technology, pharmaceutical, and various other sectors have been uprooted and taken into other countries by American or foreign owners. The education, service, and retail sectors are either rapidly shrinking or grossly underpaying, and job applicants with college-level education are forced to take these positions to make ends meet while looking for a better job. The lack of actual production in this country coupled with the rise in importing means there are little employment opportunities, even for Bachelor's and Master's degree level college graduates.
"But competition spurs industry," you may think. "One should build a business from the ground up and claw your way from poverty to prosperity..."
Incorrect. This would work in a country that is prosperous, however, we are currently in a recession. Banks will be even more selective than before about giving out loans. It is also terrifyingly easy to be disqualified from loans if you have no credit, bad credit, or not good enough credit, in addition to not enough income and other factors that will halt your loan process.
Of course, there are always some who will blame the victims in the sub-prime mortgage crisis on the victims. "The banks will no longer give out loans because all the poor people messed up the banking system getting loans they couldn't afford," you think.
The banks fleeced people for their life's savings so they could afford the "American Dream" of fulfilling a comfortable life in a home with their family. There are SOME who took advantage of credit lines and loans, but that story is not true for most. Meanwhile these banks are bailed out and neglected to do anything for homeowners. The homeowners get no bailout or forgiveness and either live in debt for the rest of their life or commit suicide from the mounting pressure.
Our national debt keeps rising because we're overspending on defense and war while imports increase due to the lack of localized industrial and commercial ventures coupled with the lack of gainful employment. This is the fault of many entities, including Bankers, politicians, and business owners. In addition, the affluent members of society are holding vast amounts of wealth in a time of rising poverty and wish not to re-invest that money into our financial system to stimulate economic growth (which is the exact opposite for what Reagan said would happen when touting 'trickle down economics'). What we have is an impasse between those who have wealth and those who have none. When the wealth is in the hands of the few, and those few are unwilling to help their fellow citizens in the time of need, then those citizens can and often will rise up against those few to snatch prosperity back from those who would stand by and watch the world burn.
The Occupy movement is not a Democratic or Republican sponsored or motivated movement. It does not discriminate based on conservative or liberal viewpoints. It is not funded by George Soros or Moveon.Org. It is not seeking to create a new political party. It does not want to re-elect president Obama or any other political figure. It does not have leaders. It does not promote hatred and violence. It does not oppose, slander, or want to dismantle the Tea Party. It does not want to install communism or socialism in place of democracy. There are no leaders. There is no set of guidelines or demands by which we want to shape the world.
The occupy movement is you, your thoughts, your outrage on the one percent controlling this country's free fall, and the solidarity of your fellow occupiers. You make the movement, you can add as much or as little as you want, and you can say what you wish within the confines of the first amendment. There are a spectrum of people in the occupy movement from students to teachers, young and old, conservative and liberal, and everything in between. Our responsibility is for the rights to the freedoms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to be upheld for all, not just the 1%. We will not be bought, sold, ignored, silenced, intimidated, marginalized, or defeated. We are a human movement, in the purest sense of the word, and we are not going anywhere anytime soon.
-A Seeker of Truth.
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