Taking Wall Street

Today is the day that the "Taking Wall Street" movement comes to Canada. I have been following with great interest the progress of this movement. Watching the news this morning, I see that it has spread to Europe and Asia, as well as to many cities in North America. Good for them!! I see this movement as one of frustration by many different groups of people. There are young people who wonder when and where they are ever going to find the kind of work that they have spent many thousands of dollars and hours training for. There are the Middle Aged, who have lost their jobs, their pension funds and quite possibly their futures. And the 60's generation, which includes me. We perhaps feel guilty that all the marvelous things WE were going to accomplish never materialized, as we began to worry about families and housing, health care and that second or third car, and forgot the things we were so vehemently against!! Remember how we rallied against the "Military-Industrial Complex",which seemed to be in real control of the governments of Western countries? Are things any different today? Who really has made the decisions to go to war over the last thirty or forty years?? It seems we have learned nothing from Vietnam!! George Bush Senior and Junior both instigated attacks against Iraq. Who made those decisions? Who decided that Iraq had "Weapons of Mass Destruction"? The United States at that time had so many security agencies, that the information had to come from one of them. But, once the truth was found out, and it was determined that Iraq had NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS, the war was conveniently turned into a witch hunt for Saddam Hussein. We have to justify our wars somehow!! Even after he was found, hiding and terrified, the war continued, as they were by that time in too deep to just walk away. There had to be some kind of victory in order for the United States and Great Britain to pull out their troops, in spite of the hundreds of lives already lost. Finally victory was declared, and the re-building started. And who profited from this? The same damn companies who had encouraged war in the first place. Having destroyed Iraq with their weapons, they were now getting the contracts to do the clean up!! Talk about a great country to live in and do business. The leaders of these businesses are part of the one percent who are making obscene profits while much of America goes down the tube. But the people of the USA seem to have a "tax phobia". As soon as someone mentions raising taxes, even if it is on taxes on Billionaires, the extreme right, i.e. the "Tea Party" puts so much pressure on the Republican politicians, that even if they know (they MUST know!!) that the U.S, is in such dire economic trouble, that taxes are going to HAVE TO BE RAISED, in order to pay down the colossal debt that has been piling up, much of it due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan-from which they made huge profits on the backs of dead soldiers!! I am sorry to be so blunt-no, really I'm not. THE OBSCENE PROFITS MADE BY THE USA, CANADIAN AND EUROPEAN COMPANIES DURING THESE WARS WERE ON THE BACKS OF THE DEAD SOLDIERS!! And now, with the United States and many European countries nearing bankruptcy, these same corporations, banks and individuals feel that they should not have to pay higher taxes to help their own countries out of the mess they are in. It is easy to blame it on consumers, who were practically hoodwinked into taking mortgages the banks KNEW they would never be able to afford to pay. Blame it on the little guy. Isn't she the one who is always at fault for the mess? Blame it on the Black President. Even though most of this mess was inherited from a man who was probably one of the WORST PRESIDENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE REPUBLIC, blame Obama. He inherited a bankrupt country, already in a banking crisis thanks to eight years of neglect and pandering to the rich by George Bush! Obama took over as President in perhaps the worst crisis the United Sates had ever been in, including the "Great Depression" of the 1930's. What has Obama done that is so terribly wrong? Why are the wealthy, who can afford the best of Health Care, so opposed to others having just a little bit of the same?? Why are people being tossed into the Streets by the very same banks who practically begged them to take mortgages that the banks KNEW these people could not afford to pay? Why were so many trillions of dollars spent to save these banks and corporations when it was THEIR OWN FAULT for the mess they were in?? And how do they show their gratitude?? They are doing the same damn things all over again. Why weren't some of those trillions used to help people keep their homes? Why were hundreds of thousands of people being thrown out of work by the same companies that had been bailed out?? Why are obscene bonuses being paid to the same companies that just recently were sucking at the Government teat to save their asses?? Dear god, that would smack of Socialism. If there is anything the TEA PARTY and their ilk fear more than taxes, it is that. They have no inkling what it is, but that doesn't stop them from being terrified of it anyway. So they go to church. Church attendance, especially amongst the evangelistic churches, has skyrocketed. Why?? The church is complicit in this whole mess in the USA. What is it's main message? Don't worry about what's happening to you today, you will get your reward when you die!! I am sure that is great comfort to the homeless, sick and mentally ill!!! Of course, they would not be welcomed in these huge temples of GREED that these churches have built in any case. They aren't dressed properly, they smell, they can't follow along with the hymn singing and the preaching. We'll just donate a few items to the food bank, and we can forget all about them. Just like the OTHER huge corporations (yes, I look at these churches as just other corporations), they throw a few scraps to salve what conscience they have, and then go on living their lives, oblivious to what is really happening in the world. Yet, these are the people that the Historical Jesus says the churches should be caring for. (For the record, I believe that Jesus did exist, he was not the son of any god, as there are none. That was a marvelous way that women in ancient times justified the fact that they were pregnant, but not by their mates-a visitation from a god!! Who could argue with that?? Jesus, I believe, was a Rabbi who attracted the attention of Rome for his "radical" views, and was probably crucified as a result. Unlike gods from many other cultures, he did not return from the dead. The Egyptian god Osiris did the same thing, as did many others. In fact, most of the Christian beliefs were borrowed from other cultures, and put together at a meeting of churchmen long after the real Jesus had died. His death and resurrection, along with the words put in his mouth by Paul and others, form the basis of what Christians believe today. I would rather have the REAL Jesus, thank you very much, when I look at the death and destruction religions have been responsible for over the last 5000 years-but this will be a topic for another post. So, get out and protest today, whatever it is you are protesting. Our world is becoming increasingly unfair to the average person. Occupy your own "Wall Street" and don't stop. Those in power will not listen ,and they have all the power on their side if you want to make them listen, so please don't give them an excuse to use it. Do not confront the police, clean up your litter, and show the world your concern, the way it should be done, practicing non-violence. A little guy named Gandhi found that to be VERY effective!!