Who begins too much accomplishes little.

Time to discuss how I feel about the Occupy "whichever location you choose here" movements.  I admit, I'm not fully educated on the subject, which is what led me to do a little research.  

First, I'm not even going to talk about the police brutality.  I can see police hitting people with batons, or using pepper spray, on youtube.  I cannot see what led to the altercations, so I can't find a way to have an unbiased opinion without looking at the whole scenario.  There are very likely situations that warranted that sort of reaction, and conversely, very likely situations that did not.  

I'm also not going to really discuss the fact that the majority of the media seems to be ignoring this movement.  The media really should have learned that there was no way this was going to be kept under wraps.  I mean, look at how Obama won the presidency.  Social media played a huge, huge part in that.  That's just idiocy on their parts.  I have, however, been able to find snippets of news here and there, like on huffingtonpost and NPR.  So, not ALL of the media is trying to keep us in the dark.  It kind of makes you wonder what things were kept hidden from the public back before the internet, though.

I was trying to explain the whole purpose of the Occupy movement to someone today, but I couldn't come up with any demands that I was sure these people are asking for.  I had a lot of hearsay to go by, but that was it.  So, I decided to find out.  I researched and have found no official list of demands.  WHAT?  Seriously?  What have people been trying to get done on Wall Street?  I feel like people are just occupying the street, saying they're pissed about current conditions, but not telling people what conditions need to be changed for this to end.  How the hell is anything going to get better if we just stand around being pissed without actually telling these people what they need to do to get you back to your daily lives?  This is like a bad marriage in dire need of counseling.  Both sides just not willing to communicate with one another until...what?  What the fuck?

There has GOT to be a piece of the puzzle I am missing.  But, so far, I can't find it, so I'm going to continue to be really confused by the order of which this has all come about.

Now, I've read a few lists, and I have to tell you, some of these demands seem quite ludicrous.  Some of them are really good ideas as well.  Some of them are decent ideas, but I really don't think it's possible to put them into effect.  So, I'm going to quote from different lists I've found.  By the way, the one that seems best put together can be seen here, if you're interested:  http://coupmedia.org/occupywallstreet/occupy-wall-street-official-demands-2009

If I don't mention a particular demand, it's probably because I agree with it and have nothing more to say on the subject.

These are all from the second list of proposed demands on the aforementioned site:

#4 on this particular list of demands is to restructure campaign finance legislation.  Limiting individual campaign donations to $100 to get rid of corporate backing of particular candidates, which, in turn should get rid of special treatment towards these corporations.   In theory, this sounds good, but there are some things I'm unclear on.  Can a person running for office use as much of their own personal money as they want for their campaign?  If so, then won't the candidates just change from corporate puppets to wealthy people with corporate agendas anyways?  If that's the case, it's just going to be the same shit, different way of doing it.  If not, then I'm for it.

#5 is real health care reform.  "Nearly all other countries on this planet have a system that works.  Access to adequate health care is a human right not a privelage.  "  If you talk to people from other countries that have this kind of health care, many aren't as thrilled with it as you may think.  A lot of times, I've heard they would prefer our system.  Among the complaints I've heard is that it takes quite a long time to get in to see a doctor.  The healthcare is of low quality.  So on, and so forth.  I'm not sure I'm ready for that.  I've had the same job since I was 18, and I've had healthcare all along with that job, so maybe I'm just lucky, but I like my healthcare.  Now, if I decided to quit that job, I may have another opinion.  So I can't say I am completely unbiased, but I can say I'd be nervous to see the outcome of this change.  I just know what the Canadians tell me.

#7 education reform.  I am ALL for lowering education costs.  Which is one suggestion on this particular demand.  I'm even for restructuring the student loan system.  But, completely forgiving all student loan debt?  I don't know about that one.  I think forgiving a LOT of the student debt would be good for a lot of people, but all of it, I'm not so sure.  It is also suggested that higher education should be free.  I think if it were free, a LOT of resources would be wasted.  Many people would just go to school forever, and never worry about getting a job.  I'm sure we've all known quite a few people who have wealthy families who paid for their schooling, and they just went to school with no real purpose, without taking it seriously.   That's fine, I mean, I'm incredibly jealous, because if I had that kind of help, I would NEVER take it for granted.  But the simple fact is, there is a LOT of people who will take it for granted.  Will we be able to afford it?  

#14 the environmental responsibility reform.  This is all about providing incentive for local farming, which, in theory is a good idea, but it is not really environmentally or financially responsible.  We ALL eat foods and love foods that are not locally grown.  So, in turn, we will have to farm foods that are not indigenous to our area in ways that require a huge amount of energy to be used, which actually causes a larger footprint than just getting the foods transported.  This is not an environmentally friendly solution.  If this demand is met, then we need to make a decision:  mangoes, or a healthier environment?  On top of that, not all crops that are distributed are benefitting corporations.  There are whole third world countries who rely on our purchases of their crops.  Do we want to be responsible for their collapse because we wanted to grow our own melons in a way that fucked up our environment even more?  There's better options for strengthening our own economy, really.

From the first list on the site, they mention on #4, passing the Buffett rule, closing all corporate tax loopholes.  Unfortunately, there are just some companies that this will NEVER happen with.  Specifically, internet based companies.  Google, for instance.  They pay NOTHING to America in taxes.  They built their headquarters in Ireland knowing their taxes were lower, and there's nothing we can do about it.  The internet is worldwide, you can't change that.  So wherever such and such company decides to set up shop and keep their earnings is their prerogative.  What we need to do is give companies incentive to come back to America.  There is no way to completely get rid of all loopholes, and with the internet, it's gotten even harder.  It's just plain never going to happen, we have to give companies a reason to build here.  We have the second highest corporate tax rate in the world at almost 40 percent.   Would you start your business here, when you could start it in Ireland which charges only 10 percent?  Until that changes, nothing else will.  Once we start to bring back corporations to America, the jobs will follow, as would more of our economic stability.  We're barking up the wrong tree with this demand.  Companies wouldn't even be trying to FIND the loopholes if our corporate tax rate was reasonable.

Now, I'm going to take from another list, which can be seen here:  http://occupywallst.org/forum/proposed-list-of-demands-for-occupy-wall-st-moveme/  This list was by far, the most ridiculous of them all.  So, I chose to quote from the best and the worst that I could find.

Demand #1, restoration of the living wage.  I am ALL for this.  I think the minimum wage is a joke, it is just not a wage you can reasonably live off of without government assistance.  However, if you scroll down to demand #3, guaranteed living wage regardless of employment, that's where you lost me.  What the hell?  I watch people come in on the first of the month in droves looking for applications so they can turn them in and say they were job hunting, when they were most definitely not at all interested in getting a job, just so they can continue to receive government checks.  Are you kidding me?  You want to give people money for NOTHING?  No way.  I do not agree in any way, shape, or form with this.  The only exceptions I would consider would be students who were actively enrolled in school, stay at home mothers or fathers who were providing a safe and nurturing environment for their children, the elderly, and people with disabilities.  Someone PLEASE explain why this is a good idea, because it is just pissing me off.

Demand #11 is just..ridiculous.  ALL debt forgiven across the ENTIRE planet?  How the fuck is Wall Street going to take away the debts of people in China?  WTF is this?

Demand #12.  Outlaw credit reporting agencies?  Why?  You don't think it's within a bank's rights to be able to see a credit history and determine whether someone is an at-risk client?  Now, don't get me wrong, I think there's a million things wrong with banks, but this really just isn't one of them.  It doesn't make any sense to just hand people loans without finding out if they have the ability to pay them.  That doesn't help anyone out.  Now, could there be a better way for credit agencies to run?  Sure.  But asking for them to be outlawed just seems like you want loans to be offered with a cross my heart promise that we will pay them back.  Sure, I have a job, now let me buy this Hummer?  Oh, but this is coming from the list that wants all debt across the world to be forgiven.  Whoever wrote this list is out of their mind.  

In any case, my point is, shouldn't a group have their shit together enough to come forward with a list of demands BEFORE they protest?  This thing has gotten huge, and now we have whack jobs like the guy who wrote the second list I quoted putting their 2 cents in.  This is demeaning the whole thing, in my opinion.  I fully agree that things need to change, and although I don't agree with every demand, I do agree demands need to be made, and that corporations need to have less pull on the decisions our country's leaders make, and even that they should pay more taxes.  But I think the way this began was pretty sloppy and potentially ineffective.  I sincerely hope this isn't the case, and that changes really will be made, but I can't see large corporations being swayed to make any changes just because a bunch of people are standing angrily on their front lawn.

I guess we'll see.