Wall Street Protests

[CoolBee]

I just became aware of these protests going on in Wall Street for the last 4 days or so which are apparently not being reported by the mainstream US media.
Those of you in the US - how widespread is the knowledge? What are your views?

[SnerpGoodWord]

Originally Posted by CoolBee

I just became aware of these protests going on in Wall Street for the last 4 days or so which are apparently not being reported by the mainstream US media.
Those of you in the US - how widespread is the knowledge? What are your views?

It's been reported, it's just not that interesting. What did you expect, the WSJ to run the headline "Unemployed People Standing on Our Street" in 80 point type?

My view on the situation is that such protests are hopelessly overreaching. There are some real problems with Wall Street. There are many more things right about Wall Street, at least if you like the idea of prosperity in the US. I would describe the protesters as a mix of those who are legitimately upset but too ignorant to understand the distinction and those protesting just for the sake of protesting.

[CoolBee]

Well the photos I'm seeing on facebook show something rather more substantial than people standing on a street corner so I'm just asking!

I literally only found out about them a couple of hours ago and not being an American and living in Africa, interested to find out why I'm seeing photographs from the US involving police and protestors which bear more than a passing resemblance to scenes from the Egyptian revolution.

What we are hearing is that the protests are major and serious and that mainstream US media are blocking reporting, hence my question to the folk who live there!

I have no expectations of the WSJ as it's not normally a paper in my orbit.

[SnerpGoodWord]

Originally Posted by CoolBee

Well the photos I'm seeing on facebook show something rather more substantial than people standing on a street corner so I'm just asking!

There were some people arrested for blocking the street, erecting structures without a permit, public nudity etc. Doesn't really add up to much in my book.

[Andrew Brunelle]

Protesting is only legal because it rarely ever changes anything. Just remember that. You can protest all you want, but at the end of the day, the criminal elite that own this country are going to do what they want anyway. 95% of them don't even see us as anywhere near equal to them. We are the peon masses, and they are our masters.

I don't see protest as an effective form of governmental change, unless of course enough people do it, like in the tens of millions or more.

[cacheborn]

Yes, the blackout is surprising. Even if the protests were total fiasco, normally one would expect media to latch on to such things.

Keith Olbermann Covers Occupy Wall Street Protests Media Blackout - YouTube

Guardian has better coverage, which as the guy in the clip said, is because it's a British newspaper.

Police crack down as Wall Street protests spread | World news | guardian.co.uk

[rawxstasy]

Yes, there is a news blackout going on. And there are people who are upset about it. Unfortunately, this is something that will become more common. There was also recently a protest at the San franciso subway and cell phone service was cut off in the area. So much for free speech in this country.

[Cado]

Originally Posted by SnerpGoodWord

It's been reported, it's just not that interesting. What did you expect, the WSJ to run the headline "Unemployed People Standing on Our Street" in 80 point type?

My view on the situation is that such protests are hopelessly overreaching. There are some real problems with Wall Street. There are many more things right about Wall Street, at least if you like the idea of prosperity in the US. I would describe the protesters as a mix of those who are legitimately upset but too ignorant to understand the distinction and those protesting just for the sake of protesting.

And those who see wallstreet for the scumsucking low-lifes they are. They're only ensuring prosperity for themselves, the rest of us can go suck it. If there's a worthy cause to protest this is it.

But then I'm convinced you're a robot so I don't know why I'd say this to you.

[rawxstasy]

Here's some actual news about it - I think this an overseas news channel. The only news I've seen about it was a small link at the bottom of the msn main page that stated not many people showed up for the protest...( I'd have to disagree from the looks of the video )

Occupy Wall Street Protests - YouTube

I think if this were covered in the mainstream news more unemployed and angry people would show up to the protest.

[KaleidoskopicVision]

I'd pay Snerp's posts no attention here. There were over a thousand people in Wall Street before the police arrested 80 of them for disturbing the peace or some other ******** charge and then the rest dispersed. This was despite all 1,500+ protesters remaining in the designated free speech zones, not breaking a single window/throwing a single rock. They didn't block streets either. They camped in a privately owned park with permission, stayed on the sidewalks to protest and basically had a hell of a time trying to not step on anyone's toes.

And they still got arrested, got no U.S. media coverage and have people like Snerp making snide comments about them.

Now that Occupy Wall St has ended there is another occupation, this one is in front of the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago. Occupy Chicago | Join The Movement

[KaleidoskopicVision]

Originally Posted by rawxstasy

I think if this were covered in the mainstream news more unemployed and angry people would show up to the protest.

This is exactly why they didn't cover the protest. The mainstream news knows who holds their leash.

[NoJobRob]

Originally Posted by KaleidoskopicVision

This is exactly why they didn't cover the protest. The mainstream news knows who holds their leash.

I saw a short clip of it on Fox (CNN was on commercial break LOL).

But yeah, it is good that people are protesting, even on a small scale. I am a trader, but that doesn't mean that I think how most people think traders think. I actually know quite a few other traders who see things how they really are. It is sad that some people believe that anyone who is mad about the economy, unemployed, or has fallen on hard times must be a freeloader looking for a handout. It's actually downright maddening since there are millions who got screwed by what's happened, and more will follow. It's not someone's fault if they get laid off because the company they work for needs to tighten its belt, and I think it's pretty shameful that many people just lump everyone who's going through a rough time into the same group, and claim that they're lazy and just want a free ride. That's not how America used to be, not when it was still a great country... We used to have compassion for people, but that's obviously gone out the window in favor of shallow and selfish greediness. That whole "I only care about me and mine" attitude is EXACTLY what is wrong with the world. Remember that old saying "United we stand, divided we fall"? Well, that's not an old saying just for the God damn hell of it...

[cacheborn]

Using tasers and mace on peaceful protesters?

Videos show police brutality at Occupy Wall Street protests – Boing Boing

[danas]

I keep getting invited to go down there by friends etc...
But I stay away. I cant handle violence in any way. In the past Ive been to "peace"/violent protests had my cameras broken etc...
and its just not for me...

[SnerpGoodWord]

Originally Posted by Cado

And those who see wallstreet for the scumsucking low-lifes they are. They're only ensuring prosperity for themselves, the rest of us can go suck it. If there's a worthy cause to protest this is it.

I think what would be more amusing is for Wall Street to develop a comprehensive way of "protesting" the folks who claim they don't like banks and bankers. Keep a list - if you badmouth Wall Street without acknowledging the massive good they do, you go on the list. No banking for you. No working at a firm financed by a bank. No credit. No electronic transactions (which all pass through banks). No investments or pensions.

I bet people would quickly realize they like banks and the services they provide a lot more than they originally thought

[Cado]

Originally Posted by SnerpGoodWord

I think what would be more amusing is for Wall Street to develop a comprehensive way of "protesting" the folks who claim they don't like banks and bankers. Keep a list - if you badmouth Wall Street without acknowledging the massive good they do, you go on the list. No banking for you. No working at a firm financed by a bank. No credit. No electronic transactions (which all pass through banks). No investments or pensions.

I bet people would quickly realize they like banks and the services they provide a lot more than they originally thought

We rely on those services, yes, but I don't think anyone's rallying for the banks to be eliminated entirely-that reeks of being a strawman. Rather, what people are screaming for is reform. Our fate is essentially in their hands and they've proven themselves unworthy of that responsibility. Most of the people who were responsible for the 08' crash barely got a slap on the wrist, for Christ's sake! We were promised change, it hasn't happened, and if we don't stand up and do something they're gonna screw us even harder.

Maybe the system is serving you but it's not doing us flesh-and-blood humans any good. I hope you'll realize that the next time you stop to scrape us off your giant metal feet.

[KaleidoskopicVision]

Originally Posted by SnerpGoodWord

I think what would be more amusing is for Wall Street to develop a comprehensive way of "protesting" the folks who claim they don't like banks and bankers. Keep a list - if you badmouth Wall Street without acknowledging the massive good they do, you go on the list. No banking for you. No working at a firm financed by a bank. No credit. No electronic transactions (which all pass through banks). No investments or pensions.

I bet people would quickly realize they like banks and the services they provide a lot more than they originally thought

I really hope they do that, most people would pull their money out of the banks so fast they would collapse overnight. Megabanks know how fragile their game is. Blacklists and mass outcasting is a recipe for retaliation of the worst sort.

Most of the companies traded on Wall Street do far more harm than good. There are almost no small, community businesses traded on Wall Street, it's mostly massive corporate conglomerates hell bent on increasing their profit margin at the expense of massive resource depletion, pollution and destruction of stable communities.

[garentee]

Originally Posted by SnerpGoodWord

I think what would be more amusing is for Wall Street to develop a comprehensive way of "protesting" the folks who claim they don't like banks and bankers. Keep a list - if you badmouth Wall Street without acknowledging the massive good they do, you go on the list. No banking for you. No working at a firm financed by a bank. No credit. No electronic transactions (which all pass through banks). No investments or pensions.

I bet people would quickly realize they like banks and the services they provide a lot more than they originally thought

banks have their place, but it is NOT ok to perpetrate the large money grab that they pulled off within the past few years...

[SnerpGoodWord]

Originally Posted by garentee

banks have their place, but it is NOT ok to perpetrate the large money grab that they pulled off within the past few years...

Banks by and large LOST money in the financial crisis. The people who "grabbed" the money were people who were let off the hook on huge bad debts - mostly mortgages.

[SnerpGoodWord]

Originally Posted by KaleidoskopicVision

I really hope they do that, most people would pull their money out of the banks so fast they would collapse overnight. Megabanks know how fragile their game is. Blacklists and mass outcasting is a recipe for retaliation of the worst sort.

Way to totally fail to grasp the point. No one's making any lists, and you can withdraw your money any time you want - the banks don't give a ****. But while you're up on that high horse, you might want to consider:

- is your employment financed by a bank?
- is your pay (or other source of income) delivered by a bank?
- is you housing financed by a bank (either now, or at the time of its construction)?
- were you educated in a building built by bonds underwritten by a bank?
- are you posting over internet infrastructure financed by a bank?
- are the clothes you're wearing manufactured by a firm financed by a bank?
- is the food you're eating grown on land or by a firm financed by a bank?

Fact is, if you don't have banks people are un(der)employed, starving, homeless, uneducated, poorly clothed, and certainly not posting on the internet. Which, if you look at the parts of the world where there isn't a strong banking system, is pretty much how the median person lives. Everyone posting on this board, by virtue of being able to post here, owes a MASSIVE debt of gratitude to banking that I suspect many of you fail to grasp.

[SnerpGoodWord]

Originally Posted by Cado

Most of the people who were responsible for the 08' crash barely got a slap on the wrist, for Christ's sake!

The people "responsible" were first and foremost politicians, not bankers. The desire to create a huge number of mortgages in the US was a political desire, not an economic necessity.

[Haupi]

This is a big deal and it has spread to Chicago from what I'm hearing. It's not being covered by the corporate media which proves it is a big deal. It's like the movement to wear the color orange in support of the movement against the war - not too many people outside of the west coast heard about because of the lack of news coverage. Media coverage is another way the powers that be control the masses reporting and filming their slant on things - making us feel afraid, intimidated and helpless. I applaud those who take a stand.

[Cado]

Originally Posted by SnerpGoodWord

The people "responsible" were first and foremost politicians, not bankers. The desire to create a huge number of mortgages in the US was a political desire, not an economic necessity.

Yes, and it's the financial industry that decided to take a lot of risky bets with those mortgages as well as other assets.

They're not victims here. They have too much sway over the political system for that to even be possible.

[Cado]

Originally Posted by SnerpGoodWord

Fact is, if you don't have banks people are un(der)employed, starving, homeless, uneducated, poorly clothed, and certainly not posting on the internet. Which, if you look at the parts of the world where there isn't a strong banking system, is pretty much how the median person lives. Everyone posting on this board, by virtue of being able to post here, owes a MASSIVE debt of gratitude to banking that I suspect many of you fail to grasp.

I for one would not call banking evil in itself but things have gone too far, much too far, and there is a power grab. It doesn't matter what services they provide if, say, people's pensions dry up, and there's a lot of that happening right now. Though I loathe to say it, the baby boomers aren't entirely responsible for being unable to retire at this point.

[SnerpGoodWord]

Originally Posted by Cado

I for one would not call banking evil in itself but things have gone too far, much too far, and there is a power grab. It doesn't matter what services they provide if, say, people's pensions dry up, and there's a lot of that happening right now. Though I loathe to say it, the baby boomers aren't entirely responsible for being unable to retire at this point.

Consider, though, that the very concept of a pension is dependent on banking. Without banks to underwrite stock and bond issues, there is nothing for a pension to invest in. The whole idea doesn't make sense without investment banking.

Also consider that the government mandated demand by pensions for high yield bonds was one of 3-4 big factors that created the mortgage crisis. When pensions are required by law to hold high-grade bonds, and the supply of bonds is low grade (as mortgages always will be) it in effect become a government mandate to pretend that low grade debt is in fact investment grade. The banks were simply playing out a script written by the government.

[ZephyrusX]

Does anyone know why the police block protesters in like that? They just look like ordinary protesters... And why in the world did the police mace them? I can understand a police officer losing his/her temper or acting out of defence, but this looks calculated... It doesn't look like a person acting out of passion and they obviously didn't need to protect themselves.

Originally Posted by cacheborn

Using tasers and mace on peaceful protesters?

Videos show police brutality at Occupy Wall Street protests – Boing Boing

[James Fletcher]

I'm not sure what these people hope to accomplish, besides creating a disturbance in a busy urban area. Instead of taking personal responsibility for their own situations, they're directing their anger at entities that cannot be held accountable for their negative circumstances.

If life deals you lemons, what you don't do is pelt them at people who happened to be lucky enough to score a few oranges.

[Cado]

Originally Posted by ZephyrusX

Does anyone know why the police block protesters in like that? They just look like ordinary protesters... And why in the world did the police mace them? I can understand a police officer losing his/her temper or acting out of defence, but this looks calculated... It doesn't look like a person acting out of passion and they obviously didn't need to protect themselves.

It's fairly clear from the media reaction that someone wants to keep this quiet. If there were no threat, or if it were easily scandalized, it'd be everywhere. The corporate media, after all, is not in business to keep us informed.

[supertom]

Trader Alessio Rastani To BBC: 'Governments Don't Rule The World, Goldman Sachs Rules The World'

Trader Alessio Rastani To BBC: 'Governments Don't Rule The World, Goldman Sachs Rules The World'

I think hes pretty awesome for telling the truth

[James Fletcher]

I actually think that not shining too much light on what's going on on Wall St. is the first responsible thing the mass media has done in a long while. By taking into account the current global climate of out of control demonstrations, riots, overthrows etc. they are helping to prevent something similar happening in New York, which is a good thing. Riots and demonstrations hurt innocent people and destroy lives.