The movement here in Amarillo has been organizing itself for a little while now using FaceBook. You can go here to get to that FaceBook page. The event scheduled is a march to the Chase Tower (Amarillo's most obvious representative of Wall Street banking). Those participating will meet at 3pm on Saturday (10/15/11) at Elwood Park in Amarillo (located on 11th between Washington Street and Jackson Street). It is scheduled to last until 6pm, and a general assembly meeting will be held afterwards.
If you live in the Amarillo area and would like to show your support for Occupy Wall Street, I urge you to attend this peaceful event. Help to establish a fairer economy and a government that is responsive to the people and not the corporations. This can be done, but only if Americans across the country (and in Amarillo) are willing to step forward and demand it.
P.S. -- If you are attending the event and can give an old hippie blogger a ride to the event, please contact me at jobsanger@hotmail.com.
The 2010 census population of Amarillo is 185,743, so unless 1,858 or more people show up on Saturday, you won't even be 1%, much less 99%.
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming you think you made a point with that silly statement, but I fail to see it if you did.
ReplyDeleteAmarillo is an incredibly friendly city to small businesses and entrepreneurs. As I look out my office window, I may be able to see the eeeevil Bank of America and Chase, but local banks like Amarillo National and Happy State Bank have been very helpful in financing start-up companies and firms (like the one I work for, for instance). Organizations like the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation (AEDC), the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and the West Texas A&M University Enterprise Center (with its EnterPrize Challenge and Incubation Works) have helped a lot of small business people get up and running in this city.
ReplyDeleteI know it's exhilarating and cathartic to feel like you're part of a great movement righting the wrongs of society, but at the end of the day, you're still going to be unemployed.
After you've bemoaned the greed and corruption of the 1% on Saturday, perhaps next week some of you might begin availing yourselves of the considerable opportunities that actually do exist for the 99% right here in Amarillo.
And you think this somehow makes it wrong for someone from Amarillo to object to massive national unemployment, vast unequal distribution of wealth, and corporate ownership of the federal government?
ReplyDeleteAnd where are these "considerable opportunities"? I'd love to know.
And you think this somehow makes it wrong for someone from Amarillo to object to massive national unemployment, vast unequal distribution of wealth, and corporate ownership of the federal government?
ReplyDeleteIt's not an either/or; it's a both/and. If it makes you feel better to protest, then by all menas do. Just understand that it won't improve your lot.
And where are these "considerable opportunities"? I'd love to know.
Did you not read my comment?
Have you got an idea for a business? AEDC, SBDC and the WTAMU Enterprise Center are available to help you to come up with a viable business plan. Once that plan is developed, ANB and Happy State Bank would love to talk to you about lines of credit if your plan makes sense. And you know what, Ted? You don't have to be a Millionaire or Billionaire™ to do it. What a concept!
Maybe you don't have an idea, but somebody else might. You could meet them at one of the many seminars that the SBDC hosts. Two heads are often better than one.
Of course, it requires a little more work than making a sign and waiting for Uncle Sugar to "redistribute" the fruits of someone else's efforts.
So it's fine to redistribute the wealth from someone's labor, but not from corporate profits? How about a little fairness.
ReplyDeleteWhere do corporate profits come from, Ted?
ReplyDeleteThe labor of a lot of working people.
ReplyDeleteCorrect. A lot of working people who are compensated for their time and effort. But if the corporation didn't take a cut (i.e. a profit), there would be no reason to hire those workers in the first place, because there would be no incentive to invest. Without investors, there would be no capital - no capital, no company.
ReplyDeleteEven a non-profit corporation has limits to its largesse. If, after wages are paid, there's not enough money left over to pay the bills, the corporation will go belly up.
If you work for a corporation, and you think they're taking too much of your time & talents and not paying you enough for it, you can either 1) take your time & talents to another business that does; or 2) start your own company (see my earlier comments).
If you're a consumer and you think they're charging too much for their product, you can choose another product or service. Don't like McDonald's? Go to Burger King.
Whether it's a kid running a lemonade stand, or a multinational corporation selling sophisticated goods or services on a global scale, the concept is the same. The producer makes something (goods or services), and if there's a market for it, the consumer pays whatever the market will bear. Fortunately, the whole process is voluntary.
But if labor is complusory, it's called slavery. If payment is complusory, it's called theft. Unless the government is involved.
Then it's called taxes. Or ObamaCare.
Labor is just as important as capital and should be rewarded at a decent and livable level. We're talking about economic justice. Corporations should make a profit, but the workers should also be able to share in increased productivity. That's not happening right now.
ReplyDelete