Rant on:
The year 1998 the film The Big Lebowski... A lot of people love the film, and a lot don't like it or understand it. The moral of the story is this. You have two Lebowskis whose lives intersect. The first is a man known as "the Dude" who is only known for abiding. The Dude, is a lovable bum of a man who lives for white Russians, bowling, and some self medication. He has no gainful employment. He contributes nothing to society. He happily lives of the system. He does not hide his nature. He is a shiftless lovable tramp who would never willingly go out of his way to do... well anything.
The other Lebowski, is an old man who married into money. Who poses as a rich philanthropist, and has a twenty year old trophy wife and a personal assistant (a Smithers to his want to be Monty Burns). As you find out the "Big Lebowski" is a fraud. He is not rich. He is living off the wealth of His deceased wife, and did not work for a single cent he lords over everyone else... You will discover that he is not allowed to manage, invest, or touch any of the money he surrounds himself with. He is given a meager allowance to do as he wishes.
The basis of the movie is they are both the same people. One just accepts it, and is viewed as the hero. The other poses and is viewed as the villain. Why is this relevant today?
I bring you to occupy wall street...
You Have a bunch of hipsters, hippies, and mindless drones moaning on about how 1% controls 99% of the wealth and they still get bailed out... Wait... That is something to be a little upset about. But did the hippies focus on the idea that wall street did not write a single check to the people whose money they squandered? Nope. Did the hipsters mention that small businesses were crippled by wall street banks losing their money and recalling their credit, but were not given any of the billions funneled into the banks? Nope. These freaking mouth breathers have the stones to whine about the fact they too are in dept over their head and there is no government bail out for them...
Wait... What? seriously? A group of people are not outraged that we as a nation have to pick up the tab for poor investing and bad money management, but instead are PO'd because they were not bailed out of their own bad choices and poor money management...
Don't even get me started when the celebrities try to get in on this... If you feel these idiots need to have their debts paid off Oprah, then write a frigg'n check. You too Kanye,
Not seeing too many of the celebrities digging into their $4,000 pants fund to bail out a 9 year student of basket weaving, do ya?
"But those evil rich people, they don't deserve a bail out.... We do... Cause we're poor. We uh... Spent all our money on stuff we can't... Uh... Use... or sell... or get rid of... or profit from..." (I hope you read that in your best whiny 8 year old voice)
Occupy wall street was nothing more than a bunch of children raised with the entitlement mentality. We all came to the soccer game... We should all get a trophy... We should all get A's it's only fair... We all should be bailed out for our stupidity its only fair...
I weep for a nation that doesn't revile this... These people took an opportunity to insist that wall street pay people back, or that the government quit giving them entitlements and crapped all over it. They took something relevant (potentially) and made it about themselves.
The reason great movements in the past have worked is because people were making it NOT ABOUT THEMSELVES BUT ABOUT RIGHTING A WRONG... Wow... I do not applaud pretentiousness, or hypocrisy. So stop filling the streets with you stupidity, get jobs, work off your student loans (What do you mean I can't get a job with a liberal arts degree with a minor in Sanskrit?) or (What do you mean these assets are toxic? What do you mean this money isn't mine? What do you mean we can't fail, it would mean others would take our place... we would have to get real jobs...)
What I would give for someone to stand up and say enough. The government isn't the freaking answer. All that money you are asking for isn't theirs its ours. You are literally taking the money from your neighbor to pay off your debt. Until you kill entitlements (for rich and poor) this cycle will repeat itself, until the few in the middle break.
Rant Off:
Note. I cannot claim to be an expert in this movement. I did go to the website and read about it before they took to the streets. I read interviews from celebrities, and I ignored any media attention given to the event with the exception of AP. My disdain for the marchers was not influenced by right wing media, it was strait from my brain and my disgust for anyone who feels entitled to something just because its not fair they don't have it...
Live isn't fair... It rains on the just and unjust alike... Sometimes truth is just hard.
