On Friday, I wrote a post called, “Where’s The Outrage?” and it didn’t take long for that post to generate a significant amount of outrage. The post was about children who were being harassed, threatened or otherwise put in harm’s way as a result of the Occupy protest.
My point was simple. There had been a significant level of public outrage over the child sex-abuse scandal at Penn State University but almost none over what was happening to children in Occupy camps. That’s changed.
Many people have written to tell me that they are outraged by what has happened and want Occupy camps shut down as a result.
Occupy supporters have written to accuse me of being a biased right-wing conservative, challenge my sources, attack me personally, deny that children are threatened and to rationalize that while children have been harmed or threatened it’s not as important as the bigger crimes of corporations.
It is bizarre to say the least.
I don’t care who it is or what the cause, no child should be subjected to physical, sexual or verbal abuse by anyone and that includes the police, Occupy or any other group or individual. I am outraged by it and even more outraged by the absolute unwillingness of anyone within the Occupy protest to step up, acknowledge that it as happened and put correcting it on their agenda.
OWS spent hours last night debating whether or not to spend money to buy tickets for a delegation to go to Egypt but not one word was spoken about how some of their protesters harassed children on the way to school last Tuesday.
This is a group that criticizes the morality of others.
This isn’t about poverty or politics or even about who’s right or who’s wrong when it comes to the issues we are all facing in this world. It’s about morality and legality. It’s about a protest movement so insecure; it lacks the courage to stand up and admit when it makes a mistake and then set about fixing that mistake. It’s about a protest movement so lost in its own self-importance that it only cares about its cause.
In response to this, I have had Occupy supporters write and tell me that "sacrifices have to be made for the greater good" and "you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs." Occupy talks about doing all of this for 'the people' but when it comes to individual people, they ignore or deny or rationlaize what their protest is doing and has done to them. It’s small wonder that the majority of the 99% do not support Occupy or their tactics.
In response to this, I have had Occupy supporters write and tell me that "sacrifices have to be made for the greater good" and "you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs." Occupy talks about doing all of this for 'the people' but when it comes to individual people, they ignore or deny or rationlaize what their protest is doing and has done to them. It’s small wonder that the majority of the 99% do not support Occupy or their tactics.
The simple truth is that too many people, including children, have been harmed. Small businesses have been threatened. Cities have been vandalized. Low wage earners have lost jobs. People have been exposed to lice, scabies and even tuberculosis. Women, some minors, have been raped; people have been assaulted, robbed and threatened. Seven people have died. And all of this has happened because of Occupy.
The cost measures close to $50 million so far and continues to climb.
Few of us challenge the right to protest. We challenge what Occupy has become and its version of protest. It is a cause without an objective. It is a protest with no solutions and a movement without the morality to be offended by injury to the most vulnerable around it.
Idealism is all well and good but when it is not supported by real and practical action, it is useless. Idealism without true morality is immoral and self-serving.
My opposition to Occupy is not a left vs. right issue, it isn’t a 1% vs. 99% issue and it isn’t about the right to protest vs. suppression of protest. My opposition is based solely on the principle that you can’t fight injustice by being unjust and any movement that ignores, denies or rationalizes those it hurts is no better than those it claims hurts others.
It is the hypocrisy of the Occupy protest I oppose. It is the lack of living the morality they preach that I oppose and it is the mindless waste of energy and the cost to our cities that I oppose.
When it’s all said and done, it is self-righteous rationalization instead of righteousness that I oppose. Because of that, Occupy is no longer about issues, it has made itself an issue and unfortunately, not an issue of change for the better.
LINKS
YouTube video of Occupy Protesters Use Children As Human Shields
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIuHyDQzjxk
Video Of Occupy Portland Telling Protesters Not To Report Witnessed Sexual Assaults To Police
http://ironicsurrealism.com/2011/11/11/occupyportland-if-you-witness-sexual-assault-%E2%80%9Cnobody-should-contact-the-police%E2%80%9D/
OWS Frighten School Children During National Day of Action With Chants And Taunts
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/11/17/ows-protesters-chant-follow-those-kids-as-small-children-try-to-go-to-school-on-wall-street/#.TsW3b9av2TQ.twitter
The Occupy Rap Sheet: 302 crimes and incidents to date
Article By Huffington Post: Occupy Does Not Have The Support Of The Majority Of The 99%
Man Arrested In Occupy Philly For Sexual Assault
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You're painting with a pretty broad brush. Any movement, no matter what its goals will attract fools, and nutjobs. I give you the Tea Party as a good example of that. The occupation contains much more positive than negative, and was a result of legitimate grievances being summarily dismissed by those we elect.
ReplyDeleteFor a small percentage to destroy 20% of a nation's economy, and still profit from continuing to do so, is bad enough. But to then characterize everyone who suffered misfortune from their acts as lazy and stupid... Well, you can imagine why it may make the rest of us a tad cranky.
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.
ReplyDeleteWe agree on two points. We agree that every movement, group or organization attracts its share of fools and wingnuts and we agree that there is something wrong with a system that allows those who undermined the economy to benefit from that.
Where we disagree is about Occupy itself.
Occupy has presented itself as a highly moral force to bring about positive change. It is highly critical of the sins of others but very forgiving of its own. It's all well and good to talk about standing up for "the people" but when you fail to protect the individual people in your own camp, or at least try, you lose all moral authority.
I would have more respect for Occupy if it had simply acknowledged that it had problems with some within its movement, apologised for what they had done and then made a sincere effort to correct the situation. Instead, they deflect, they deny, they accuse and they ignore. I have no respect for that.
You should have just posted the video and asked for comments.
ReplyDeleteA picture (or video) is worth a thousand words.
Sometimes less, is more. :)
Thank you for your comment. I'm not sure that I totally disagree with you which is a frightening admission for a writer. :-)
ReplyDeletehmm gonna think about this some..
ReplyDeleteNobody can ask more than that from anyone. It is less important than we agree or disagree than it is that we consider with respect, each other's opinions. I oppose Occupy because it lacks that respect for the opinions of those who don't agree with it. Thank you for reading the post and for your comment.
ReplyDeleteIt's true that I have gained perceptive by reading your blog. Who do you want in the Occupy Movement to apologize? It's doesn't have centralized leadership. It's lead by super-majority vote of whoever happens to be there at the time. It's truly democratic and people within it are free to act. Even though, I am part of the 99 percent and support the movement, I can't apologize for the actions of some of the violent protesters. Who do you expect to apologize for these injustices?
ReplyDeleteIt;'s interesting to me that your movement has no difficulty in finding lots of people to speak out against the injustice of others but has no one that can or will speak out against the crime and injustice within its own movement.
ReplyDeleteUntrue. I see Occupiers on Twitter bashing the violence of their fellow Occupiers. I am on your blog saying that I don't support this violence. What more do you want?
ReplyDeleteI remember when the police were at the Occupy Portland encampment every night for a few nights. The protesters their were majorly opposed to violence. When an occupier would become violent the other occupiers would push that violent occupier to the police.
All we can do is not participate in violence by remaining non-violent and criticizing the use of violence by some.
The people don't need to answer for the actions of a few of the people. In the same way that you don't need to answer for the violence of some occupiers, I don't need to answer for it, but I can still support the aims and power of the movement by doing my part in moving it in a positive and productive direction.
Why do you expect all corporations to be accountable for the actions of some?
ReplyDelete