R68 Subway Car Posted October 19, 2011 Share #1 Posted October 19, 2011 So after school and a career seminar, I decided to hit the train and head down over to Lower Manhattan. I took the opportunity to look at the construction of the new World Trade Center, which I am glad to say has progressed well. Then, I trekked over to Zuccotti Park, the headquarters of the now month long Occupy Wall Street movement. In the general area, there were several news trucks from various news stations including Fox 5 and WPIX 11 in New York and New York 1. There were also reporters from the various newspapers such as the New York Daily News and the New York Post. I circled the park and then I reluctantly decided to go in. I would say that the protesters were incredibly nice to me. I was also incredibly nice to them. I would also comment that the park looked relatively clean. So, as I go into the park, the journalistic spirit in me decided go and ask these protesters what were their demands and what was their vision on the economy, and a few other things. I was shocked to see one protester wearing a Guy Fawkes mask. I believe that person has obviously never learned that Fawkes tried to kill King James (no, not Lebron). I also saw signs in support of cop killer Mumia Abu Jamal. Again, I am convinced that some of these protesters were not properly informed of what this man did. I also saw some signs which called Obama a murderer and a defender of the 1%. In the park, I questioned a man with a Che Guevara t-shirt on and asked if he knew what Che did. He basically was defensive of Che despite me telling him that Che was a murdering coward. He also attacked Obama and the American Government, proclaiming that the government has killed millions of blacks around the world and was openly critical of the war in Libya. I told him that Qaddafi was an inhumane person who had innocent people killed (ie: the 1988 Pam-Am 103 Bombing). He continued to be defensive of Qaddafi. I also ran into an MTA worker who was handing out radical leftist pamphlets. I asked him why did he believe in communism. He told me that capitalism has killed millions around the world for profit and he was extremely critical of individuals like Franklin Roosevelt, who he attacked for interring 100000 Japanese Americans during World War II. He also praised unions for what they had done for the working man. I also ran into a communist and I briefly asked him why he believed in Communism. He told me that it would a system where the workers of the world had power and that it would be the economic system of the 21st Century. I told him that communists like Stalin killed millions of people around the world. He told me that capitalism killed millions of people every day. He and a Cuban friend of his praised Cuba as a modern and advanced country with high living standard and also praised it's government health care system. Finally, I took two small polls of individuals at the protest. I first asked five random protesters what were their demands from this. The first person I polled wanted the children of America to live a middle class life and said that the rich, corporations, banks and Wall Street were stealing from America and the world. The second person polled wanted jobs for everyone. The third person polled wanted more regulations of banks and jobs for everyone. The fourth person polled wanted to call attention to corruption on Wall Street and in the Government and wanted change. The fifth and final person I polled in the first poll wanted campaign finance reform and believed that people worth $250K or more should pay higher taxes. I finally polled another set of five random protesters on what economic system did they want. The first one I polled wanted a mix between capitalism and socialism. The second protester wanted capitalism, but wanted it to be heavily regulated. The third protester wanted communism and working class power. The fourth protester wanted socialism. The fifth and final protester wanted capitalism with a moral stance and felt it was immoral to give billionaires tax cuts. In conclusion, I disagree with the movement for various reasons. However, it was an interesting experience interviewing these protesters. Here is a link to some photos and videos of the protest by me: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39582957@N04/sets/72157627803180791 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokkemon Posted October 19, 2011 Share #2 Posted October 19, 2011 See? And supporters of the protest think I was making this stuff up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTARegional Bus Posted October 19, 2011 Share #3 Posted October 19, 2011 See? And supporters of the protest think I was making this stuff up... No you were Just stereotyping everyone that they were all pot smokers and lazy. I do agree and degree on what the protesters want. I agree on Jobs and banks should be more regulated so other recession doesn't happen again and tax reform so that everyone pays there share. but I don't degree with communism or down with there head type of stuff. He and a Cuban friend of his praised Cuba as a modern and advanced country with high living standard and also praised it's government health care system. I have been to Cuba, they are not an advanced country with high standard of living, maybe for the people that are close to Castro or the tourist that stay in nice hotel with all the necessities, but for the people it like going backing to time to the 50's but the infrastructure decaying with poor living standards, oh and if you want to go to the bathroom good luck trying to find toilet paper lol. If he and his friend like Cuba so much they should go back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peacemak3r Posted October 19, 2011 Share #4 Posted October 19, 2011 You should of bumped into a grammar teacher protestor and learned what paragraphs were, reading that was a burden. Anyways, that area is a mess, especially since I go to school in that area. But like you said, they are very kind indeed to supports and non-supporters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubwayGuy Posted October 19, 2011 Share #5 Posted October 19, 2011 See? And supporters of the protest think I was making this stuff up... Actually no. He highlighted the fringe element since as any journalist knows...that's what creates buzz, controversy, and promotes the media outlet discussing the fringe element. The surveys he took are what I got out of it. And what I saw were 5 people with different opinions who collectively had very reasonable demands for the most part: -3 of 5 people he interviewed spoke in favor of the capitalist system. -4 of the 5 people specifically mentioned creating jobs as a priority. -0 of the 5 people mentioned anything about wanting anything for free. -Most seemed preoccupied with maintaining a middle class standard of living in America. -Many are upset with Obama for reneging on campaign promises and ultimately failing to staredown Washington politics and the bulldog Americans elected to CHANGE things in 2008 - not listen to the same idiots who helped lead this country into a quagmire and even turn to the banks and Wall Street for "advisors" -While not to defend socialism or communism, capitalism "has" killed millions around the world for profit. Left unchecked, thousands of American workers died each year from lack of workplace safety standards until they were enacted by GOVERNMENT to curb the excesses of capitalism. While just one example, this is why I continue to say that "controlled capitalism" is the best system for America - and something we so clearly lack. We have a clever ruse right now that calls itself capitalism which is merely privatized profits and socialized losses in a deregulated environment where anything goes provided you spend money and hire lawyers and accountants to describe it in small print in an annual report. And it doesn't work. Talk to ANYONE and they will hold radical ideas about something - the MLB luxury tax, the NBA salary cap, gun rights, gay marriage, premarital sex, drinking age, statutory rape laws, the BCS, pollution/climate change, and even foreign affairs. What brings these people together - and should really bring all Americans together at this point (and it's starting to, based on the Quinnipiac poll that says a majority of Americans surveyed agree with the protestors and overwhelmingly support their right to protest) - is a recognition of the unchecked greed driven culture of "casino and crash" that has been created yet again in the financial services industry through a system that allows patronage and "pay to play" to direct regulations in a way beneficial to the moneyed interests that would sell this country and everyone in it in a heartbeat if it meant making more money. Whatever people's individual beliefs, it's not about that - it's about making those responsible pay for their crimes and enacting legislation that prevents anything like what happened from EVER, EVER happening again while simultaneously bringing back real production jobs from foreign countries and illegal immigrants so that Americans can get back to work and one day resume the highest standard of living in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHV9218 Posted October 19, 2011 Share #6 Posted October 19, 2011 Please, watch the Nazi Banksters Crimes Ripple Effect at http://jforjustice.co.uk/banksters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trainmaster5 Posted October 19, 2011 Share #7 Posted October 19, 2011 See? And supporters of the protest think I was making this stuff up... I never thought you were making it up. I've pointed out in another thread about the protest, and protests in general, that they generally encompass a variety of people with different lifestyles and sometimes different agendas. I do take exception to people who see things with a jaundiced, prejudiced view and ,frankly, viewing your posts on the Wall St protests, that's how you come across to me. As I've said before I've been involved in protests for over 40 years, civil rights, anti war, local NYC event, Black Panther, Young Lords, what have you, and I've seen the extremes but I have never painted protesters with a broad brush as it seems you are doing. If I'm wrong I apologize to you, personally. If the protesters come across as sometimes unkempt, unruly, and somewhat unorganized at times , so be it. That's the beauty of it to me. They are expressing their grievances in the time-honored American way and that's their right. Just because you may not agree with them is no reason to take potshots at them or denigrate their cause. Just my opinion. Carry on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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