Some random items re: Occupy:
- Why Occupy? Why Tea Party? Why Protest? Simple; The US economy is broken. Incomes are less than they were 35 years ago. Everything costs more. We've had 17% unemployment (traditional measure) for 2 years and we're about to lose many more jobs.. Our collective debt is 370% of our GDP (from all sources, from consumer to gov't). Our financial system has a) enabled the transfer of our manufacturing jobs to a mercantilist (managed trade) China and b) stolen the rest of our wealth (and is in the process of gambling what's left of it away). Finally, given the ongoing instability of our economic system, we don't have long before the entire thing fails and with it our collective future (rich or poor). The question really is: why aren't you protesting? why isn't everyone protesting?
- For my part, I'll help where I can, but my focus is on building networked resilient communities that can quickly replace sections of the current economic system when it begins to fail.
- This chart (below) shows why the Tea Party is different than the Occupy movement
- The plausible promise of occupy: to reclaim, open, shine a light on places of power.
- Mayor Rahm Emanuel shuts down the Chicago Occupy. The Dems don't like it much either. Both parties get their money/marching orders from the same place.
- More later.