My thoughts on OWS

I haven't said anything on here regarding OWS.  It's mostly because I wasn't really sure how to say it.  I don't agree with OWS 100%, but I definitely see where they're coming from.  Even if I didn't agree with them, I freakin' love protests.  It's just the most beautiful way of showing that the America I want to be a part of still exists.  Our first amendment rights to free speech still exist!  Sort of...

Anyway, I wanted to touch on what exactly I do like about OWS.  I understand them.  I worked at least 2 jobs and went to school full time for four years (at least 15 credit hours every semester).  I worked hard.  And I still came out of college with over $23,000 in student loan debt.  And then the opportunities to get good jobs was just pitiful.  I'm making the same amount of money as a college grad as I did before I had a degree.

The people of my generation were always told to go to college so that we could get a good job and not be flipping burgers for the rest of our lives.  So, off we went to college.  And then the only jobs available are flipping burgers or something else menial.  And then the older generations complain that my generation doesn't want to do anything to get our hands dirty.  Perhaps that's because we were always told that we shouldn't accept that.  We were told to go to college and everything would be peachy.  We'd have great jobs and great futures.  Well, that was a crock.  

I'd be able to have the job I have now without a degree.  I would still be in the same place that I am now but with far less debt.  And I'm in a better position than most of my fellow graduates.  It's depressing.

I worked hard.  I did it for myself, on my own.  And I am no better off than if I hadn't gone to college.  

I read this story a week or so ago.  It's a letter to the OWS protesters from a supposed Marine.  The marine says:

I am a former Marine.
I work two jobs.
I don’t have health insurance.
I worked 60-70 hours a week for 8 years to pay my way through college.
I haven’t had 4 consecutive days off in over 4 years.
But I don’t blame Wall Street.
Suck it up you whiners.
I am the 53%.
God bless the USA!

The writer applauds the marine's hard work and then says: 

I understand your pride in what you’ve accomplished, but I want to ask you something.

Do you really want the bar set this high?  Do you really want to live in a society where just getting by requires a person to hold down two jobs and work 60 to 70 hours a week?  Is that your idea of the American Dream?

And that, I think, is a big reason I support the OWS movement.  I put in my hard work, but it hasn't gotten me anywhere.  Where is my American Dream?  I don't expect anyone to give me a handout.  I just don't want the richest people to be able to continue to get richer while I spend money and work hard only to get nowhere.  

It's to the point where I pretty much decided (even before the OWS movement) that I won't be voting in 2012.  It doesn't matter if I vote Democrat or Republican.  They're all controlled by the rich lobbyists.  Politicians don't give a rat's @ss what I think once they're in office because I have no money to give them.  I'd like to step back to the previous letter once more because I think the writer makes an excellent point.  

Look kid, I don’t want you to “get by” working two jobs and 60 to 70 hours a week.  If you’re willing to put in that kind of effort, I want you to get rich.  I want you to have a comprehensive healthcare plan.  I want you vacationing in the Bahamas every couple of years, with your beautiful wife and healthy, happy kids.  I want you rewarded for your hard work, and I want your exceptional effort to reap exceptional rewards.  I want you to accumulate wealth and invest it in Wall Street.  And I want you to make more money from those investments.

I understand that a prosperous America needs people with money to invest, and I’ve got no problem with that.  All other things being equal, I want all the rich people to keep being rich.  And clever financiers who find ways to get more money into the hands of promising entrepreneurs should be rewarded for their contributions as well.

I think Wall Street has an important job to do, I just don’t think they’ve been doing it.  And I resent their sense of entitlement – their sense that they are special and deserve to be rewarded extravagantly even when they screw everything up.

I don't think it's fair that the taxpayers have to pay for bailouts while the people who got us in this mess are still raking in the big bucks.  

(Source)

I just want there to be consequences for f*cking up our nation.  I want my vote/voice to matter.  I want my hard work to mean something and get me somewhere.  So, yes, OWS may not be perfect and you may not agree with them wholeheartedly, but you should at least be pissed about the same things they are.  And even if you aren't, you should still support their rights to protest 100%.  Not to do so is just un-American.  Love the first amendment!