Occupy Wall Street? No, Occupy Humanity

My opinions on Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and any other derivative form won't earn me any new friends. The demonstrations represent the ideals of free speech and protest in a democratic society and I for one hope these values stand the test of time, but the Occupy Wall Street movement, which apparently stands for nothing or everything, is a hypocrisy, and I'm starting to question if protestors are eating their cake and having it too.

Let's get this straight. I am not a right-wing nut job like Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck claiming that they are lazy, unemployed, angry hippies trying to ruin American capitalism. I believe they are angry at a system they perceive to favour the rich at the expense of the poor. I believe they view themselves as the victim of a government system that can be bought. I believe they want an end to corruption at the top. But we are being manipulated by the "fair" media that tend to shift from facts to finger pointing because it is the ideal thing to do. And don't anybody dare say the media is not to blame here, when in every situation, the media is always to blame. I also believe that many have never been in a position of power and that the participants of the demonstrations asking for the end of "moral greys" are morally no better than the people in positions of power. It just happens the latter are; the ending results would very likely be identical.

The democratic system that so many perceive as no longer representing the 99 per cent is being questioned through the voices of the rally. The general problem is that these rallies are against a large entity, known as the corporation. In reality, a corporation is run by thousands of workers making conscious decisions to benefit their company, their family, or themselves. A corporation exists because it is run by the 99 per cent but a corporation itself is not corrupt; it is that humans are corrupt - easily persuaded by money and power. This is the underlying issue that has created a broken democracy.

For us 99 per cent, it is unfair to criticize and slander those in positions of power for making greedy decisions. I have seen many instances where the common man has taken bribes, stolen from family to make a few extra bucks, and compromised their own values for supposedly justified reasons. Money can motivate men to do both good and evil. People know the laws of their countries, the commandments of their religions, the policies of their company, but people break them for selfish gains. I just find it ironic, perhaps hypocritical, that occupiers can whine about the rich and then go back to work and try to earn that promotion.

Here's something to think about. It is believed that up to 15 per cent of Americans are defrauding unemployment benefits from their government at a time when so many Americans are against wasteful government spending. Other taxpayers are bailing out these lazy bums for up to 99 weeks while they sit on their couches (or occupy Wall Street) criticizing banks for accepting money they don't necessarily deserve. To clarify to some, the bail out packages were loans and have largely been paid back. Another thing, thousands of Americans have purposely claimed bankruptcy just so they don't have to repay their mortgages because they want to protect themselves first. As we see, greed exists in humans at all levels of wealth.

I read on a MarketWatch forum from a poster that the 99 per cent do not have a say in capitalism anymore, and elections are too few and far away for our voices to be heard, but this is just not true. As consumers, we have the most powerful voices in a capitalistic economy with our wallets. We as individuals choose what companies we support by purchasing their brands, but we never put money where our mouth is. I have a friend that is against the child-labour practices of Apple, but justified purchasing an iPhone for its look. I know many people who are against outsourcing jobs, but they choose to buy the cheaper product made in China. Americans want to secure health care, but there is a battle against raising taxes half a per cent to help millions. People will fight for their environment, their democracy, their norm, but people do not change habits or take action where it really counts. This rally against corporate America is meaningless and hypocritical.

Upon Steve Jobs's death, occupiers set up a temporary memorial in his honour, which I deemed to be undermining. Protestors grieved and lamented at the former Apple boss, with one person saying that he made the world a better place. That biased opinion just wouldn't sit with me. He didn't change the world for the better, he changed lives for the wealthy Westerners living in North America and Europe, at the cost of the poor, at the cost of children in China working in their factories, and at the cost of the environment. This individual appeared in front of the camera and did not support the antics of Wall Street, but, for the decisions of Jobs; a greedy and egotistical boss that did not promote charitable donations; whose company is valued as the largest in the world by market capitalization; and has the most cash ever in the history of the world, more than the US Treasury; never once giving a dime back to shareholders, he approved because he probably owned an iPhone, iPad, or iPod somewhere and did not want to seem like a hypocrite. Occupiers can not unite against the destruction of their world by corporations while revering them too.

The super wealthy are wealthy because of our decisions. They have not stolen from the poor; they have earned a large piece of the pie. They created great companies offering great products and services that we all loved and admired a few weeks ago, but demonize today. It is strange that the protestors are shamelessly receiving free Starbucks coffee, free wifi, and free fancy tents. That's a thousand times more than a child in Ethiopia would ever see in their life time if he even made it to adulthood. This child has more of a reason to protest wealth inequality than we do, that's for sure. I for one would like to know that if I worked my butt off, I could one day be wealthy without the evil eye from the common man staring with envy.

But how rich would I have to be before I am considered the evil 1 per cent playing the role of "backwards Robin Hood?" In Canada, to be classified as a top 1 per cent earner, an individual would have a salary above $200,000. These include doctors, lawyers, engineers, small business owners, and professional athletes, hardly an enemy by any definition.

The protestors are rallying against something unclear, but it represents anger at the economy, at government, at everything that has not gone right in their lives. My Canadian government provides free education and subsidized post-secondary education so that its citizens can achieve great heights, universal health care because they want its citizens to be healthy and help run a democracy, multiple political parties to represent a wide array of opinions and beliefs with checks and balances, the ability to walk safely anywhere I choose. My Canadian democracy is not perfect. It might be guided by corporate hands. It might be somewhat corrupt at all levels. So what? It is run by humans who are not perfect. Honestly, the people of Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Toronto, Occupy Edmonton have never seen real poverty, real government corruption, real oppression. These people are 83 per cent luckier than the entire world and will always be.

The resolution of our problems do not involve changing the rules of democracy or destroying government or redistributing wealth. The resolution exists only when people realize we all act corruptly, have a thirst for money and power, and every action has a reaction, and decide to change our collective behaviours, but that will never happen. The rally lacks clarity and objectives. I have not heard one demonstrator make a suggestion on how to make this free world better. I have only heard criticisms and attacks at corporations and governments. The rally has not conceived a solution, just garnered attention at the belief this is the start of change. I don't think it's remotely similar enough to even compare Occupy protests to spring time Middle East revolts; it is unfair and blind. I think these demonstrations are a farce and this is why I do not support Occupy Wall Street and its derivatives forms. Instead, we should be occupying humanity.