To the 99%: Stand up!

First they will ignore us, then they will discredit us and finally, they will fight us, that is when we win. Continue the Occupation! Don’t give up, don’t give in. We have always had more power than the System. It's time we used it for the good of the people.

So what is it that we want? What do we stand for? I cannot speak for others, but to me, this is why we stand against Wall Street, Corporate Greed, and Heavy handed capitalist influence in our political processes.

First off, the Government needs to reign in the banks and exert authority of the financial system, increase regulation on the market, reform the tax code, and take money out of politics (taxpayer funded, set amounts, no special interest or big bank/corp donations). END THE FED.

 This culture of class warfare, of sticking it to the middle class every single time has to end. When do we ask the Fabulously Wealthy to make a sacrifice or two? Why does the blood always come from the poor? When do we penalize American companies that transfer their workforce overseas? Why not charge them the same tariffs of any other foreign company.  When do we bar lobbyists and corp execs from taking federal jobs influencing their industry (BigPharma execs on the board of the FDA for example)

And if they can pay the banks off with taxpayer money for those bad mortgages, then they should bail out the people by considering those mortgages paid. Exonerate the debt of the people and tell the banks “you’re on your own” instead of the other way around. End Corporate welfare and oil subsidies, period.

What is the boom industry right now? Luxury goods. Why do the people on the ground, those people this nation is built on, continue to be marginalized and left to dwindle, while the few that have it all shouldn't be bothered to help out? That is class warfare. Especially when times are so rough, we cant ask those who are best positioned to help to lend a hand? When wealth is only increasing for the top 1% and decreasing for the rest of us? It’s hard to think that it’s not being done in some deliberate fashion.

Why is it so hard to do what is right for the people? What is the unintended consequence we’re not seeing of giving the American people their opportunities back? Perhaps then we would get better educated and make better political choices and become aware of how we have been robbed and fooled for more than thirty years.

Unfortunately, companies and corporations don’t have to respect your rights under the Constitution. and they clearly do not have an interest to do so either. And that 1%, how did they get so rich? On the backs of the American Worker, gaining exploitive profits from our labor, and when our labor got to be too expensive to make MASSIVE, record setting profits year after year, they move their employment opportunities elsewhere, where foreign laws don’t limit how far they can exploit their labor force. Sure some of the 1% earned it from nothing, but how many are trust fund babies, inheritors of their parents or grandparents hard work and innovation, old money with no concept of what is it like to skip a meal, or rely on public transport or have to find a job to pay those most basic of bills. Those are the leeches of the nation; the few who would spend millions of dollars on luxury and extravagance, while so many suffer and live day to day, hand to mouth.

We should no longer tolerate remarks that discredit this movement or those who have been disenfranchised by the Great Recession, we are not dirty hippies, burnout losers, job dodgers, or violent. We are tired of getting the same end of the stick we always get, and being told to be thankful for that.

It is our Government that guarntees our rights, and passes laws to protect them. But our government is a tool of the people for mediation. A tool that we left to it’s own devices, like a car with no driver, we let the machine roll on without our guidance. Assuming it worked well enough on it’s own. We were wrong, and it’s time to take the power back. To take up the tools of government again and use them responsibly and for the protection of every citizen, and show the world how freedom is done. We cannot allow the corporations and the capitalist market to guide ourpolitical system. The sole purpose of a company is to gain profit for it’s owners. Any involvement of  a capitalist form in our law and rights is a direct threat to our freedom. (how many corporations are democracies?) Corporations have no obligation to treat human beings as anything more than tools, pawns for their own profit.

Govt is the only thing that protects your rights. All Wal-mart wants to do is take out a life insurance policy on you, without your knowledge, so they can cash in when you die. Who do you think is going to protect your rights? GM? Dupont? Motorola? Apple? Do you think they care? All they want is you to buy their shit. Perhaps anarchy is the answer? No govt at all like Somalia, where a warlord decides your rights. Your rights are a privilege extended to you by the constitution and protected by the government which is filled with officials elected by the People. Why would want to limit govts ability to protect you and therefore enable corporations to exploit you? That is what is happening. I don't trust govt, and I agree we should always keep a close eye on it and those we choose to run it, but it’s the tool of the people, not an enemy. It's up to us to take the needed steps to make sure govt works for us. 30+ years of not paying attention is what got us here. And we have allowed our govt to become weak and corrupt. If someone attacks the US. We don't call on Boeing to respond. We call on the govt and our military. Why should we want that to be weak or corrupt? How is being a corporate lobbyist representing BP's right to pollute in the United States more admirable than the Senator that wants to levy fines and regulations against polluters? Cause it's bad for profits? What about bad for the health of the people? Which is more important? Money or health then? The choice, ultimately falls in our hands.

I distrust the ability of government to remain uncorrupt on it's own. It Requires the regulatory body known as "We the People" to make sure that is an institution of integrity and credibility. We have not done that for so long that wemay have forgotten how, and are staring at the results of that right in the face. But it is the Government, and only the Govt that protects, enforces and ensures the rights of individuals, minorities, religion, and our land. It cannot do that anymore because Corporations don’t want it to, and the people have become apathetic towards their own condition.

Heaven forbid the govt from protecting it's people. It does this by making sure it's people are healthy, educated, secure in issues of personal and national safety, protection of intellectual property, protection of a fair, free market economy, fair and objective mediation of issues between parties within that country, and the rights and privileges provided and established by it's constitution, as writ by the people. IF this is not the function of Government, then what is?

We are of the Land of the Free, of inclusion, where we welcome those in the world who seek a better life for their families, and through history we have benefited from this in ways that have kept us great and strong. We are able to adapt and bring incredible progress to the entire world because of our system and how we allow each other to live. Free to choose our own individual destinies so long as we don not infringe on the rights and protections of other citizens. The Heart of our Founding was in  compromise, we work to find the middle ground of a nation that is home to citizens that come from every country in the world, religions that also span the globe, a market that is now global, cultures that clash because only here does every culture have to interact and mingle with respect and tolerance. It is not tolerated to marginalize a group of people no matter how small or how big in this country. Clearly such mediation is not easy to do or maintain in such a dynamically changing world and country. And we limit the govt’s ability to do this, and rightly so. The govt cannot tell me what job I get, when I work, how I work, who I work for or don’t, what , where, how or when I spend my time or money. Govt has no power and really little interest in these things. Govt shouldn’t care or recognize my religion, nor my color or sexual preference. And Govt should maintain the power to prevent other individuals and organizations from being able to decide any of those things for me. Private or public.

BUT Govt SHOULD enforce the recognition of our rights in relation to others and organizations. I cannot tell someone else how to live their life, for better or worse any more than they can tell me. And that should be protected and enforced as the highest priority of this nation. After all, the govt exists solely for the benefit of it's people, not business, religious, or military interest.

The Government system cannot be allowed to choose sides, or decide that one group or organization is more or less important than another. That is true equality, a govt blind to the idiosyncratic and cultural, social, racial, sexual differences of its citizenry. Govt must establish, encourage and maintain an atmosphere through general day to day life of this responsibility throughout the nation. Educating it's citizenry about is rights, responsibilities and power to regulate and operate the tool that is our government. (I have always felt a year of mandatory military service training would do a lot of good in the US, at the very least, to provide a unifying consistent culture to every citizen)

And it is the Govt's/OUR job to ensure that free market economy is not only free on one side, but both ends of the deal making table. That the consumer has enforceable rights to safe materials, and exploitation free products no matter where they come from, just as corporations are free to make as money as they can, and give their shareholders offensive bonus’s if it chooses to.

I am all about bringing the industrial world to third world countries and impoverished nations. But then let us move past the industrial age and embrace the information age and educate our people to lead in information technology industries and bring further progress and innovation to the world. Our freedom and a regulated market along with a small safety net to protect the least of us is what made this the country the incredible force that changed the world. It brought the telephone, cars, planes, trains, modern democracy, the rule of law by the people, credible representation in govt. mass manufacturing, television, internet, the best ideas come from America, No other country has changed the world in the past 250 years than the USA

However we have fallen into traps of our own designs. We are far too worried about protecting narrow interpretations of social behavior or ”normalness” that the govt should have no power to decide over, to really be bothered with what we really face: a new dark age ruled by fear, suspicion and ignorance. That is, If we don’t change course soon.

I could go on and on here. And I actually deleted quite a bit from this essay, I figured more than this and people would stop reading anyway.