I just do not understand.
If protesters are mad at the government, they are called ‘patriots’ – yet if protesters are mad at Wall Street they are called ‘whiners.’
If people express their fears and doubt and anger over their debt, and lack of employment, and inability to survive in this economy they are mocked by conservatives and made fun of by pundits and bloggers and citizens acting as though they are so much better off.
As it turns out, they aren’t better off, they just feel no need to express their frustration with their situation. Good for them. Way to keep it in. Way to suck it up and take your economic beating in silence. I’m so very glad our country allows us all to voice our opinions in our own way.
But what I can’t take, as I watch protester after protester spill their hearts and lives onto the internet, or a written page, or a video, or to a member of the media…is the snickering and laughter and childish behavior from some conservatives who, apparently, find people’s hard times funny.
Aren’t these the same people who mocked liberals for being educated? Calling us ‘elitists’ and ‘latte sipping snobs?’ And here they are, pointing and laughing again like schoolyard bullies.
Grown men and women on blogs, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, NBC, ABC and local news actually giggling and rolling their eyes at homeless veterans, college students strapped with debt, homeowners underwater, cancer patients without health care, and senior citizens working well into their 80’s in order to afford food.
You do not have to agree with Occupy Wall Street. You do not have to support unions, or Democrats, or raising the tax rates on the wealthiest Americans to the rates of President Reagan…but you should, at the very least, respect your fellow Americans as they suffer.
I have never been more ashamed of my fellow countrymen and women than I am right now. I have never been more disgusted with the state of politics in our great nation than I am right now. And that’s saying something.
Just keep in mind the more you laugh, the harder I will fight to re-elect President Obama. The more you mock, the harder I will work to make sure programs like Welfare and Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid will remain and thrive. And the more you name call (‘whiners’ ‘losers’ ‘hippies’ ‘bums’ ‘lazy’) the more I will make sure the 99% is louder, stronger, better educated, and given a bigger platform to make their point and to make a difference.
Contrary to what you might think, no one is looking for a hand out, or to take your hard earned money. We want to work hard all on our own, but we also want to make sure those who can’t work are taken care of too. Those who need help, GET IT and those who are suffering receive some relief.
I have had enough of your snark and your laughter, be a real American and pitch in. Your country needs you and it’s time to either stand up and help, or sit on the sidelines and mock those less fortunate. So far all I have seen is your ability to mock…but the last I checked, snark didn’t solve an economic crisis. Pointing and laughing at the poor kid didn’t feed him or his sister. And your frat-boy behavior certainly didn’t change the old boy’s club where the rich got richer and the poor got poorer.
Unfortunately this isn’t a John Hughes film where the douchebag rich kid got punched in the nose and the nerd rides off into the sunset with the girl. It’s real life where most of us are one medical disaster, one big accident, one layoff, or one paycheck away from disaster.
So what’s it going to be? Are you going to attempt to listen to the 99% with compassion and offer solutions and ideas and open arms…or are you going to pop the collar on your iZod, punch your buddy in the arm while you snidely laugh at those ‘bums’ who should just ‘get a job’ while you ride off in your red convertible?
I could tell you how the story usually ends, but I get the feeling you already know. Let’s just hope that just this once, Hollywood and real life actually turn out that happy ending.
Isn’t it funny that the people who hate and want to destroy our government call themselves patriots? And the people who love it and ask it to protect us from big business are unpatriotic whiners? They must be the same people to try to push doors clearly marked pull and keep trying even after the door won’t open. Sigh.
Bravo!
PS, nice to see your have energy to share your razor-sharp POV on behalf of us all. Noone would fault you if you didn’t.
I appreciate your ability to clearly share this perspective. I’ve been trying to put it together in my head and just can’t get there.
Our family has more than enough but I feel like we are getting ready to drown. Our financial life just gets more and more difficult. You know how sometimes you have to hit the bottom before finding your way back up? I feel like I should let go of the rope to hit bottom faster and get on with the trek back up. Sick to my stomach just trying to figure it out.
And – I’m really sick of watching adults in the media and everyday life bullying one another and then out of the other side of their mouths wondering why kids do the same to one another. They only do what they see. I wish we could all be more civil, especially on television.
Amen, sister! An awful lot of people in this country have turned into heartless so-and-sos who don’t seem to care what happens to their neighbors. And the killer is, it’s an awful lot of people who *should* be in there with the 99% that are doing the name-calling. Why are people who are otherwise barely hanging on fighting so hard to keep the mega-rich from having to pay their fair share of taxes? Especially when you get mega-rich folks like Warren Buffett himself *asking* for the tax increase? Why are those who make minimum wage pushing so hard to keep the Wall Street corporate boards from having to cut back the ridiculously out-of-line pay and bonus compensation to their officers while the company is being bailed out by taxpayers? I just don’t get it…
What kills me is the thinking that individuals are lazy or stupid if they are hurting financially. As a member of the sandwich generation trying to support elderly parents and college kids with a bleak economic future, I can tell you it wasn’t poor planning or overspending that impoverished my parents, it was the multi-national corporation that stole their retirement fund and health benefits that my father EARNED over 35 years of service. We OWS supporters know exactly what we’re protesting for: the right to work and save for our family’s future without being legally robbed by our employers.
I don’t think anybody with any compassion is going to ridicule or mock ppl who are truly needy. I can see both sides of it. I see the conservatives side of wanting everyone to work for their own money and stop sitting around with their hand out teaching generations of welfare kids how to keep bilking the welfare system year after year while never attempting to become a tax-paying citizen.
I also see the need for programs like Medicare & Medicaid and food stamps.
Where I disagree is that there are a lot pf ppl out there that think wealthy ppl should be paying in 40 or even 50% of their income in Federal income tax. I DON’T CARE HOW MUCH SOMEONE MAKES, they should never have to give up H-A-L-F of what they E-A-R-N to the government. Everyone should pay the same tax percentage. If I pay 18% income tax on $30,000 then that is what I owe. If I make $4,500,000 per year then I pay 18% tax on that, which will be a considerably bigger amount seeing as the income is a lot greater. I don’t think the rich should be punished for being rich. Spreading the wealth looks good on paper but ppl who work hard and earn millions of dollars don’t have any obligation to fund the welfare rolls. Why should the rich have to share their wealth? They earned it. Most of them anyway. I am not one of the ppl earning over $250,000 a year. But I know a lot of ppl who do. And they work 70 and 80 hour weeks to earn their millions and who says the should have to give up HALF of it? That’s ridiculous. I use to call myself a Liberal but it is that whole mindset of entitlement that made me stop calling myself Liberal, because I am in the camp that unless you are VERY OLD or VERY DISABLED you need to be out working, period. You can’t stay on food stamps for 5 or 10 years and you can’t sit on unemployment for 2 or 3 years. Clinton had the right idea when he reformed welfare. The Welfare to Work program was genius. Now look what all happened to Clinton’s hard work. It’s as if it never happened. Career welfare recipients are back at it teaching their kids and grand kids how to bilk the system.
Anyway, enough of what I think. I don’t want to occupy Wall Street nor do I want to mock poor and needy ppl. I don’t really have a dog in the fight, just a strong opinion about what everybody thinks they DESERVE.
As someone who is disabled, I can tell you from first hand experience that people absolutely MOCK me and are evil. I’ve even received death threats. Against myself and my children, stemming from my illness. For real.
Thank you for putting into words so eloquently what I have been feeling about all this.
I agree with you. My husband and I do okay but there is no savings, there is no safety net and you can forget going to the doctor. I look all these protests and think “What is WRONG with these people?”. Empathy is a thing of the past. Hitting people while they’re down and never giving a hand UP is obviously the way to go. We’re supposed to be in this world together. Nice to see just how much we’re driving it apart.
Double Amen sister, thank you for putting our thoughts into bitch-slappin’ words. You may be my new favorite blogger.
Plus – how awesome are your kids in their fashionable hand-picked outfits?
Bravo all around.