For those of you who don't know me I am an Activist. I lobby, I protest, I talk to people about the troubles that are plaguing my nation and the world (contact
me if you want to talk/debate about things). Right now I am missing one of the biggest grassroots, nation wide protests in my life time and it's killing me! So I'm going to pull away from Korea for just this one blog post and vent a bit. Hope you don't mind!
So what am I talking about? The
Occupy Wall St protests. They are currently on day 11 and it's brutal. Main stream media is dropping the ball, not covering this protest or the unprovoked police brutality that is happening. Now let me just state that both David and I worked for the police as campus security and we can both vouch for the fact that not all police are bad. Many of them at the protests were doing their jobs perfectly, keeping protesters back in a civil manner. But the footage of those few tough guys who think it's okay to arrest people on no grounds or beat, pepper spray what have you with no justification is horrible. WHERE ARE YOU MEDIA?! Isn't that media's job to shed light on police brutality such as this?! Aside from social networking sites (I get alot of my news from
Tumblr) MSNBC is the one of the few news channels who has talked about this (from my limited resources in Korea) and here is a well done
piece by them. (video)
We, the citizens of the western/first world are too complacent, the system is corrupt with the top 1% of Americans controlling more money then the rest of the 99% combined. Goldman Sachs has control of the federal reserve who is messing with the economy (
video on Quantitative Easing, the policy the federal reserve is currently using to try and fix the economy). Money buys votes, professional lobbyists don't have the people's interests in mind but the politicians in their pockets. I would laugh if it didn't want to make me cry.
So get MAD. Don't riot or destroy (because that just makes things worse) but go out and DO something! Send canned food to Wall Street, write letters, spread information, VOTE informed, do background research. ACT.
They are few and We are many, together we can create
Change.
The Demands of Occupy Wall Street:
1.Campaign Finance Reform
All votes are no longer equal in our Democracy. Money must be put outside of politics, or politicians will continue to pander to those who contribute the most to their campaigns, rather than their own constituencies. Specifically, we abhor the decision by the Supreme Court in Citizens United v. FEC. Corporations are NOT people.
2.True Shared Sacrifice
While corporate profits have been skyrocketing and the wealthy have been getting wealthier, the average worker’s income has dramatically dropped. While the cost of living has exponentially increased, wages have not followed. It has been shown time and time again that tax cuts for the wealthy are NOT effective. Taxes on those who practice greed should be raised.
3.Equality in Justice
This great nation was founded on liberty, but also, on equality. When the balance of justice is swayed in favor of those with wealth, the very fabric of this nation is torn apart. The decision of a judge should not be based upon the race, creed, or wealth of an individual, but rather, the content of the case.
4.The End of the Revolving Door
The Obama administration was supposed to bring change and hope to our country, but instead, brought us into despair and insecurity. Those working in his administration are the very people whom we are fighting against. Those who enter Washington should not be representatives of the elites, but representatives of the people. One cannot simply enter an administration, reap its benefits, and simply exit.
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