My wife and I recently took part in the Occupy Wall Street demonstration at Times Square. It was a very enlightening experience. There were signs expressing all kinds of protests: against racism, war, corporate greed, lobbyists, the bailout of banks, everything but the common cold! They are not united in their complaints but they are united in their frustration, anger, and impotence.
These young people have put themselves in tuition debt and credit card debt with no possibility of a job. They will remain slaves to that debt for a lifetime. They see a world with no future for themselves in which they are powerless. They see a world in which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and the extremes are growing more polarized. They see a disfunctional government that pays no attention to their needs so they have decided to take it to the streets. They are circumventing the system and they are powerless no more. The whole world is watching, paying attention, and, as in the past, the establishment eventually will respond if they are smart about it.
So they have our attention, which is the whole purpose of their demonstration. Now what are they going to do about it? First, they need to take it directly and specifically to the corporations and banks that are raping the public, laying off American workers, outsourcing jobs, all while making record profits which pleases Wall Street not Main Street. In numbers there is power. Corporations can't survive without the support of the people. They need to carefully target specific, greedy corporations and, through the power of the internet, organize a boycott of their products. For example, Bank of America has levied a five dollar fee for using a debit card each month. People need to withdraw their savings and deposit their nest egg in a bank that is consumer friendly. Just as Netflix reversed their policy when they lost 600,000 customers, so will BOA!!!
By signing up millions of frustrated people who are out of work, they must use the power of the internet to organize boycotts monthly, and redirect people to alternative companies that are consumer friendly.
Most Americans support these young people, as witnessed from the growing number of middle-aged and gray-haired protestors I saw at the Times Square rally. It is not difficult to find people today who are not outraged by what our financial institutions did to this country. American tax payers bailed them out to avoid a total financial meltdown and they repaid us by hoarding profits, outsourcing jobs, and foreclosing on homes of the unemployed or underemployed. Corporate America has no moral compass, or patriotism, for that matter. They worship at the altar of their bottom line. That is why the boycott of their products is the most powerful weapon of the 99%. We need to change the way we do business in America and not give in to the corporate blackmail demanding a rollback on government regulations. The Republican Party is doing their dirty work so they will keep the economy weak to favor their cause. In the meantime, people are suffering, losing their homes, and even starving while they play their games and hold on to their two trillion in profits. Wake up, America!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Hit'em Where It Hurts
The Occupy Wall Street prosters now have our attention. Everyone has an opinion from the President on down. Now it is time to act intelligently and do something meaningful. If they really want this to become a movement they now have to take it to the next level. People feel powerless and these young people have proven that people still have the power to change the world by hitting them where it hurts, their pocketbooks!
Just marching and holding signs won't accomplish a thing but it has gotten the attetion of the media.
Let us take a page from from the playbook of Gandi and Dr. King. They need to organize boycotts, peacefully targetting greedy corporations that arrogantly keep giving huge bonuses by cutting their workforce or sending jobs overseas. They need to get to the heart of their anger. There isn't a person in this country who is not angry about how the financial sector was bailed out with our money and then were made fools of by using our tax dollars to give the fat cats their bonuses.
Take a lesson fron Netflix. Netflix raised their prices at a time when people are really hurting. Customers dropped them like a hot potato and the stock plummeted. 600,000 people cancelled their subscriptions. Without even being organized people managed to turn the tide on the company and forced them to reverse their policy. Without the support of the people these corporations will fold like a map if their profits begin to be affected.
So let's start with Bank of America who plans to apply a five dollar per month fee to use a debit card. If the protesters organize a movement to withdraw their savings from Bank of America and direct people to banks that don't charge a fee, I can almost guarantee that their policy would change in a week. We need to target the corporate abuse one by one and have us act on it. We need to focus anger on specific corporate greed if we want to make a difference. Companies should be boycotted for sending jobs overseas, taking obscene bonuses while laying off workers, and evading taxes by moving their headquarters off shore. Organized, targeted efforts can and will change the way we do business here. Wake up, America!
Just marching and holding signs won't accomplish a thing but it has gotten the attetion of the media.
Let us take a page from from the playbook of Gandi and Dr. King. They need to organize boycotts, peacefully targetting greedy corporations that arrogantly keep giving huge bonuses by cutting their workforce or sending jobs overseas. They need to get to the heart of their anger. There isn't a person in this country who is not angry about how the financial sector was bailed out with our money and then were made fools of by using our tax dollars to give the fat cats their bonuses.
Take a lesson fron Netflix. Netflix raised their prices at a time when people are really hurting. Customers dropped them like a hot potato and the stock plummeted. 600,000 people cancelled their subscriptions. Without even being organized people managed to turn the tide on the company and forced them to reverse their policy. Without the support of the people these corporations will fold like a map if their profits begin to be affected.
So let's start with Bank of America who plans to apply a five dollar per month fee to use a debit card. If the protesters organize a movement to withdraw their savings from Bank of America and direct people to banks that don't charge a fee, I can almost guarantee that their policy would change in a week. We need to target the corporate abuse one by one and have us act on it. We need to focus anger on specific corporate greed if we want to make a difference. Companies should be boycotted for sending jobs overseas, taking obscene bonuses while laying off workers, and evading taxes by moving their headquarters off shore. Organized, targeted efforts can and will change the way we do business here. Wake up, America!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Boot Straps? They Don't Even Have Shoes!
The Republican philosophy of rugged individualism is part of American folklore. It's John Wayne and apple pie all rolled into one and it is easy to sell to the American voters. It makes a good soundbite and it plays upon our sense of the underdog who can overcome all obstactles in this country. It might even be true in a few isolated instances but, for the most part, it is simply more an American myth today.
There was a time when immigrants came to this land of opportunity, worked hard, lived frugally, and saved every penny. It was a common story in almost every immigrant family who came here in the twentieth century. In my own family, my father earned a meager living during the depression, made less than a dollar a week, and was able to survive. Later in life, with just a high school diploma earned at night, he owned seven houses and never made more than twenty two thousand dollars a year. Yes, you were able to pull yourself up from your bootstraps without government assistance. He accomplished the American dream because he was smart, industrious, and frugal and he was in a very small minority among his friends and family. When my parents passed on, each of their three children were given a house with no mortgage. No one in my circle of friends was as fortunate as I was.
Today I make ten times what my father earned and can't match his accomplishments. Times have certainly changed. Immigrants today still work very hard for very little money but their expenses are astronomical. The cost of rent, food, transportation, utilities, and medical expenses are cost prohibitive. Their salaries are barely covering basic needs. There is simply nothing left at the end of the week. Yes, they live frugally as my parents did, but they never get ahead. Like most of the working poor today, they barely make ends meet. Why? When you look at the data for the last fifty years it is obvious. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer.
So today, when people need it the most, Republicans want to dismantle the social safety net. They manipulated the economy in favor of the upper class with their supply side economics, and continue to protect the wealthy against higher taxes at the expense of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other social programs like unemployment insurance. Why should the wealthy pay for these programs that they will never use? Today the deck is stacked against the poor and lower middle class. They don't even have the shoes, never mind the bootstraps. Comparing America before Ronald Reagan and after are two different worlds. Look at what has happened to our country. Wake up, America!
There was a time when immigrants came to this land of opportunity, worked hard, lived frugally, and saved every penny. It was a common story in almost every immigrant family who came here in the twentieth century. In my own family, my father earned a meager living during the depression, made less than a dollar a week, and was able to survive. Later in life, with just a high school diploma earned at night, he owned seven houses and never made more than twenty two thousand dollars a year. Yes, you were able to pull yourself up from your bootstraps without government assistance. He accomplished the American dream because he was smart, industrious, and frugal and he was in a very small minority among his friends and family. When my parents passed on, each of their three children were given a house with no mortgage. No one in my circle of friends was as fortunate as I was.
Today I make ten times what my father earned and can't match his accomplishments. Times have certainly changed. Immigrants today still work very hard for very little money but their expenses are astronomical. The cost of rent, food, transportation, utilities, and medical expenses are cost prohibitive. Their salaries are barely covering basic needs. There is simply nothing left at the end of the week. Yes, they live frugally as my parents did, but they never get ahead. Like most of the working poor today, they barely make ends meet. Why? When you look at the data for the last fifty years it is obvious. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer.
So today, when people need it the most, Republicans want to dismantle the social safety net. They manipulated the economy in favor of the upper class with their supply side economics, and continue to protect the wealthy against higher taxes at the expense of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other social programs like unemployment insurance. Why should the wealthy pay for these programs that they will never use? Today the deck is stacked against the poor and lower middle class. They don't even have the shoes, never mind the bootstraps. Comparing America before Ronald Reagan and after are two different worlds. Look at what has happened to our country. Wake up, America!
Friday, October 7, 2011
It's About Time!
The protesters on Wall Street may have started with frustrated young people who have no job prospects, but if you look closely the crowd has changed. As the movement spreads I see more and more people with gray hair, middle class professionals, and labor union members who are out of work. Finally, people are getting angry about corporate greed in America and it is about time!
For years now I have been asking myself, "Where is the outrage?" Where is the outrage over a war in Iraq that was not necessary? Where is the outrage over driving this great nation and the world to the brink of a depression? Where is the outrage of conducting two wars, expanding government in the form of Homeland Security, passing a prescription drug plan that lines the pockets of pharmaceutical companies, and selling people junk mortgages they knew they couldn't pay back. All of this was done without paying for it and nobody went to jail. It was reckless, irresponsible, and immoral but nobody said a word until now.
Corporations are sitting on over two trillion dollars of profit, their stocks rise everytime they announce layoffs, and they send jobs overseas. They are the so-called job creators who are not creating jobs in America. These are the same people who took a bailout from the taxpayers and then proceeded to take their annual bonus money on our dime. Every year since, the bonus money gets larger while they continue to layoff workers.
No one has been prosecuted for this injustice either. We have become very complacent in this country and it seems like we just accept whatever we are told. At any other time in history a preemptive strike against a country that had nothing to do with the attack on 9-11 would have resulted in war crimes against Bush and Cheney. Yet the American people just shrug their shoulders and re-elect the people that were responsible.
Everyone agrees that it was deregulation without any oversight by the Republican, Cox, of the S.E.C. that caused the meltdown of the Great Recession. Yet now, the Republicans want to do away with the regulations passed by the Obama administration. They want to go back to the ways of doing business that got us into this mess in the first place. It is beyond reason that they actually took back the House in 2010!
So I am very proud of these young people on Wall Street who are speaking for all Americans who are frustrated with our system. Finally, someone stood up and said, "No more!" Hopefully, this movement will grow stronger as more and more people lose their jobs. It may just have an effect on the way people vote on Capitol Hill. I remember another time when young protesters actually stopped a war. It can sway public opinion and open people's eyes to what is happening to our great nation. Wake up, America!
For years now I have been asking myself, "Where is the outrage?" Where is the outrage over a war in Iraq that was not necessary? Where is the outrage over driving this great nation and the world to the brink of a depression? Where is the outrage of conducting two wars, expanding government in the form of Homeland Security, passing a prescription drug plan that lines the pockets of pharmaceutical companies, and selling people junk mortgages they knew they couldn't pay back. All of this was done without paying for it and nobody went to jail. It was reckless, irresponsible, and immoral but nobody said a word until now.
Corporations are sitting on over two trillion dollars of profit, their stocks rise everytime they announce layoffs, and they send jobs overseas. They are the so-called job creators who are not creating jobs in America. These are the same people who took a bailout from the taxpayers and then proceeded to take their annual bonus money on our dime. Every year since, the bonus money gets larger while they continue to layoff workers.
No one has been prosecuted for this injustice either. We have become very complacent in this country and it seems like we just accept whatever we are told. At any other time in history a preemptive strike against a country that had nothing to do with the attack on 9-11 would have resulted in war crimes against Bush and Cheney. Yet the American people just shrug their shoulders and re-elect the people that were responsible.
Everyone agrees that it was deregulation without any oversight by the Republican, Cox, of the S.E.C. that caused the meltdown of the Great Recession. Yet now, the Republicans want to do away with the regulations passed by the Obama administration. They want to go back to the ways of doing business that got us into this mess in the first place. It is beyond reason that they actually took back the House in 2010!
So I am very proud of these young people on Wall Street who are speaking for all Americans who are frustrated with our system. Finally, someone stood up and said, "No more!" Hopefully, this movement will grow stronger as more and more people lose their jobs. It may just have an effect on the way people vote on Capitol Hill. I remember another time when young protesters actually stopped a war. It can sway public opinion and open people's eyes to what is happening to our great nation. Wake up, America!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Don't Assume, Google!!!
Start to Google the so-called experts that you read about in education. It's fun!!! I started at the top. I Googled the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, and I found out that he has no real teaching experience. Of the last nine Secretaries, only two were teachers. Most people assume that people at the top who make decisions for millions of students have the experience to back it up. We assume they are the experts, that is how they got the job!
Next, I Googled the NYS Board of Regents. Surely, they would all be experienced teachers. They are very learned people but only five were in education. Of those five, three were classroom teachers, but two of them taught in private schools. Only one had public school experience. Mayor Bloomberg was harshly ctiticized for appointing Cathy Black to head the largest school district in America. She had no experience in the field of education. He later appointed a person who taught two whole years in kindergarten, and he was praised for his appointment! Joel Kline, his first appointee to the position, was a lawyer who never taught a day in public school.
Finally, I wanted to attend an educational conference sponsored by the NY Times. They listed a dozen prominent people who would be sharing their ideas on how to fix public eduation. I Googled all the members and, much to my surprise, most had no real teaching experience and those that did spent only a few years doing the job. Most were lawyers, scientists, business executives, college professors, you know, people that we respect in society. Absent was the lowly public school classroom teachers. After all, what would they know about fixing the system? They are the problem!!!
Education is too important to leave the decision making in the hands of teachers. This is the attitude that has prevailed in this country. You must have several letters after your name, or you must be a successful business person, or you must be a real professional, like a doctor or lawyer, to have any gravitas in education. If you are an experienced classroom teacher in the public school, you have no credentials. College professors get the respect because they are learned experts but who do they teach? They teach the top students in our country and most of the time, they pontificate through lectures which is the worst way to learn.
So how is this working for us? It's not. How about trying something innovative and let the lowly classroom teacher have some say in policy making? Let's reward innovation among successful public schools and those lowly teachers who know what works. That would make too much sense. Wake up, America!
Next, I Googled the NYS Board of Regents. Surely, they would all be experienced teachers. They are very learned people but only five were in education. Of those five, three were classroom teachers, but two of them taught in private schools. Only one had public school experience. Mayor Bloomberg was harshly ctiticized for appointing Cathy Black to head the largest school district in America. She had no experience in the field of education. He later appointed a person who taught two whole years in kindergarten, and he was praised for his appointment! Joel Kline, his first appointee to the position, was a lawyer who never taught a day in public school.
Finally, I wanted to attend an educational conference sponsored by the NY Times. They listed a dozen prominent people who would be sharing their ideas on how to fix public eduation. I Googled all the members and, much to my surprise, most had no real teaching experience and those that did spent only a few years doing the job. Most were lawyers, scientists, business executives, college professors, you know, people that we respect in society. Absent was the lowly public school classroom teachers. After all, what would they know about fixing the system? They are the problem!!!
Education is too important to leave the decision making in the hands of teachers. This is the attitude that has prevailed in this country. You must have several letters after your name, or you must be a successful business person, or you must be a real professional, like a doctor or lawyer, to have any gravitas in education. If you are an experienced classroom teacher in the public school, you have no credentials. College professors get the respect because they are learned experts but who do they teach? They teach the top students in our country and most of the time, they pontificate through lectures which is the worst way to learn.
So how is this working for us? It's not. How about trying something innovative and let the lowly classroom teacher have some say in policy making? Let's reward innovation among successful public schools and those lowly teachers who know what works. That would make too much sense. Wake up, America!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)