Before you get all bent out of shape and take one of your clever protest placards to my head let us get some things straight. I started out university as an English major. In this particular matter, I am the voice of experience. I wanted to take classes that broadened my horizons, study literature written by the best of the best and have my mind blown by the debates in class. By the end of my first year, my brain had been filled with vast amounts of knowledge about history, anthropology, political science, archaeology, and Victorian English but the fact of the matter was that this was not going to pay the bills unless I taught classes on Victorian English and let's face it, that is a pretty narrow market.
What happened after that was a re-shaping of my future. I came to understand that I could always go back and study those things but what I needed to do was restructure my education so that what I learned was useful, lent itself to employable job skills, and gave me a foundation for future employment. Jane Austen and Athena would have to wait.
Along the way, I took a few courses in economics. I learned a thing or two about capitalism. One of those things is the power of the consumer's dollar. Oh you may think that the Walmarts and Chase banks of the world have all the power but the truth is, they don't. They exist because you buy from them or do business with them. Want to really protest? Hit them where it hurts: the bottom line. Do not buy from companies that fund/support/prop up things you do not like or agree with. Same goes for places that offer services you use. If you are reading this online, you can use the services provided by Lord Google, do some research and find out if that Capital One credit card is what you really want in your wallet. All you do when you destroy the property of the "1%" is give them reason to charge higher interest rates on things like loans and mortgages and give you less interest on your savings; someone has to pay for the damage and you just gave them justification for doing so. Thanks a bunch.
So all you Occupy Wherever can take your Marxist/Socialist ideals and rotate. You are where you are because of choices you made. Do not bother making your shitty choices someone else's responsibility or problem. Trust me, the "1%" do not feel guilty about where you chose to be in life. Have the balls to stand up, get a job, pay your taxes and contribute to society in a meaningful way. You say I am my brother's keeper? Well that asshole better get off his duff and get a job and I don't care if it is at a convenience store or bagging groceries at a market. No one is too good to work at these kinds of jobs. I have a hippie heart but I am tired of funding his leaderless, pointless Arab Spring field trip to Wall Street. And tell the fucker to pack up his tent, go home, and take a shower... him and his new dreds are stinking up the place.
Amen.
