Deconstructing the Occupy Wall Street Question.

Please read this if you are a supporter of Occupy Wall Street and you are frustrated about the fact that people keep asking, "What is the purpose? What is the point? What do they want to accomplish? Why are they protesting Wall Street and not the Government?"

Please read this if you are a supporter who is sick and tired of hearing people say, "Their message is not clear. They don't know what they are talking about. They all have too many different ideas of what they want. They aren't going to accomplish anything."

Actually, they have a purpose, they have a point, they have already accomplished what they wanted to accomplished and all of that explains why they are protesting Wall Street and not the Government. Also, their message is clear, they know exactly what they are talking about, and the fact that there are many ideas is the whole point. Like I said, they have accomplished everything they set out to accomplish.

Please, repeat the above paragraph out loud ten times.

The explanation is simple:

Their purpose is to occupy Wall Street and rally the people of the United States.

The point is to put pressure on Wall Street by bringing them unwanted attention to force the public to accept and become vocal about the problems our country because of the actions of Wall Street rather than ignore it all.

They wanted to accomplish this and they did.

Government has already been the target for these problems for the past 10 years and targeting them has not brought any changes. Occupy Wall Street instead brings attention to the problem rather than the discussion about the problem.

This message is clear. Occupy Wall Street. Occupy. Occupy. Occupy. Wall Street. Wall Street. Wall Street.

Everyone in this movement knows that they are talking about Wall Street.

They are supposed to have too many ideas, because there is not one simplistic problem. it is an entirely complex problem complicated by a complex system.

And they have accomplished so much. They didn't just occupy Wall Street; they occupied the world.

The Reddit Enterprise

I am involved on Reddit's political forum in a typical manner: argumentative comments on /r/politics. Posting large quantities of comments that have seemingly no purpose other than to irritate is now a regular practice. Whether it is through my phone on the way to work or in my office at home, I make sure that certain people feel miserable about the things they say.

Many would ask why it is important to me. Many ask for my intention. I will let you figure that out.

My method is simple. If I find a hole in someone's argument, I exploit it and only that. The intention is not to defend any particular argument, but to undermine someone's argument by poking intentionally through an indefensible hole in their logic, knowledge, or self-esteem.

I do not make these pokes with immature language or hate in my words. I use a bit of passive language sometimes to extend the word count to increase the "loftiness" of my appeal. I try to seem overly confident, simple, and straight forward. I use the words "fact", "reality", and "simply" a lot. I focus on as little else as possible other than the thread I intend to cut. I slice ever so extremely at my opponent in this way and I can topple their argument and throw them immediately into a weak, defenseless position. Most respondents have no problem giving away their entire offensive platform to defend themselves and thus fall apart in hopes of defending their flag without a fort.

If they wanted to defeat me, they would need to simply admit their wrong and reiterate their point without the flaw. Yet, it is hard for them to smoothly reiterate a point that is based on a hole in their logic. They want to defend everything, because they don't really understand what they're arguing about. They're just used to arguing, and as the internet goes, they only know how to argue against everything. I doubt they can even correctly pinpoint their hypothesis.

Many people who I target have such a considerable hole in their logic. I promise you, it is not hard to notice once you know the criteria. I have gotten so precise that I have even driven people to delete their posts or change them if my response makes them look stupid enough.

But, there is a purpose behind all of this. I do have an intention. And I do have a particular target audience.

I am the 99%.

Let's End the Cynicism

Troy Davis, an innocent man, is killed by the justice system in George; John Boehner, Speaker of the House of Representatives can essentially say the only people that deserve help from the government are the rich; our country remains engaged in two wasteful wars in the Middle East and countless other battles abroad; it is not only popular but necessary for our politicians to say they do not agree with the Global Climate Change consensus among scientists; Politicians by and large would rather seek the backing of corporations than directly attract popular vote in order to get elected...

The list goes on. All of these things are happening now.

And as I browse forums and discussion boards I see the same attitude everywhere.

We talk about this being the age of cynicism. I once heard that our generation's one tool is our cynical form of satire. I see it as a result and culmination of popular media.

It was brought upon by TV shows and movies that suggested problems in America are solved swiftly and in fantastic ways. It was brought upon by jaded world views developed from the supposed domination of the world by the US after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was brought upon by our parents who had jobs and could pay for things. It was brought upon by our false misunderstanding as children that the world was perfect and we need not worry. When we found out we were wrong, we could not comprehend the course we must take to solve these problems.

In fact, if you are reading this you are already of the small number of our generation, or other generations, of America that figured out something needed to be done. You read this because you agree or maybe you think cynicism towards politics and the world around us is a good thing.

What I am trying to do is change peoples' minds about the world and about our country. I'd like to be able to put some very key ideas into the mind of the average person:

• We can get out of Government what we want, but it is going to take work.
• Politics is not defined by the debates. It is about the system, the process and the laws that come from it. Therefore, politics do matter.
• Civic engagement is fulfilling.
• Knowing who is supposed to be representing you is a key element of belonging to your city.
• Understanding politics is not futile.
• All people deserve the ability to participate in politics.
  

Protest in NY

So, right now there is a protest in New York on Wall Street.

One of the Streaming Links Here

Something I have come to realize is that protesters have no idea how to effectively make a big difference through their actions. Today, it seems as if all protesters simply protest in the image of the 60's but forget that people did what they did back then for reasons other than to "look" like they are doing something.

I have a recommendation for American protesters. When you go to a protest, do it in a business suit. Nothing would be more insulting to the people they are aiming to target with their message than to dress up like them. It would be not only confusing, but disarming. How would a police officer on the scene feel? Confused as to who they should be beating with night sticks, spraying with pepper spray.

In our society, we can dress up like we belong to any of the social classes. So, instead of dressing up like:

Dress up like:

Public Approaches

It seems to be about every day now that I catch some street harassment. There is at least one person every day who wants to ruin mine by showing how misogynistic they are. Some guy will show off to an invisible audience by embarrassing some young (never old) lady with his unpleasant cat calls.

If you are wondering who the victim is, it is not me. And I feel sorry for a girl who honestly just wants to walk down the street. It's embarrassing to guys, really, more than it is to girls. These things increasingly bother me when I hear the same types of guys laugh about raping women (but it's just a joke, right?) and supposing women should be where they belong. And sometimes friends I would not expect to accept or pursue this behavior will shout out some line at a girl and then laugh to me expecting me to be impressed. I even hear myself say things sometimes.

Honestly, I cannot stand any of this. Men should be capable of knowing that this is not the way to flatter women. Some guy I talked to today said it works sometimes, but I could hardly believe him cause I had just confronted him for whistling at some girl about the way she was dressed as he rode past.

I was on my bike, too, and he had noticed me on the light rail earlier, so he rode next to me after giving that girl a tasteless impression of the average cyclist. I moved my bike closer to his and kept my voice low rather than getting aggravated.

"Hey, dude. Do you think that really works? What you said to that girl? Because I'm pretty sure women do not like being talked to that way."

We had a brief conversation afterward while we rode our bikes through the local college campus. He seemed like a guy who might have shouted back in confidence if I had raised my voice. If you yell at people for this sort of behavior, you better hope they are the shy type. And as he sung in sweet chatter that rang out positive tones, he did it with all of the wrong words. This was a guy, stuck in his world of persistent angst, who had picked up a nasty habit of hitting on girls in public.

But I persisted, and even brought up some issues my partner has had with her harassers and some of her friends. As it turned out, I was more impressive than I thought I would be. He seemed to come to some sort of understanding and accepted my points. Later on, I kept wondering if I could have the same effect on anyone I came up on the street doing this. This guy bore little resemblance to many of the harassers on the street. I cannot imagine using this technique every single time, but I am certain I will make my attempts when I am able.

Singularity, Impulse

Singularity

The weight of importance on the idea of singularity, individuality, oneness has plagued my life constantly. Not only this obsession created many distasteful people and attitudes, but it has also affected my impulses.

Beginning at a young age, I enjoyed imagining myself as someone important, that I could stand alone. I imagined that I was simply more exquisitely important than others because I was me. I was "the one". Why I felt this way is a mystery.

For example, when I would sit in my First Grade class, my teacher Mrs. Corey would be talking up front about the alphabet or math. I would have my name-tag in hand and fly it from outside my peripheral view onto the top of my desk as if it were a logo for a TV series, starring me. I would draw out my adventures, but since my motor skills were poor, I designed alien-like creatures who represented my friends and I. Of course, mine looked more different than any of these others in order to represent my "oneness".

Playing with my friends I always felt entitled to the coolest weapons or games. When we built toy cities with one another, I found myself creating exceptionally original ideas in order to ensure that I was the one who stood out the most. In games I would quit if I felt I could not be the best.

Since those waking days I have been through many trials with my sense of singularity. My willingness to stand alone punished me countless times. One example: I voiced my distaste to the driver of a car about her choice in music while we drove around late at night. She had not taken my criticism well nor had I packaged it kindly resulting in a three hour argument parked in front of another friend's house. Afterwards, I was willing to believe I could be self-righteous and get out of this situation without a scar. Of course, my friends dumped me--not her.

She had even gone so far as to blame my attitude about her music on my recent breakup: "No wonder you two broke up!" And even though I still assess her accusation as completely wrong, she probably did not deserve stubborn resistance from me to accept her choice in music, despite my feelings about it.

Ultimately, it does not matter what any of us think or feel inside. We can choose how to interpret our emotions. Choosing our actions over our emotional impulses could earn us jobs, find us friends, and encourage us to accomplish feats we would not immediately think ourselves able to do. If I had told her I liked her music I would be lying, but we never would have fought.

It comes to exactly this: is it worth following our impulses? I say no, because quite frankly, none of us are "the one" enough to follow our senses with 100% return on investment. In return, I offer the concept conscientiousness.

Impulse Reliance Defined

I thought it would be nice to round off the previous piece with a little snippet on impulse.

I see that people rely upon their impulses out of the obsession with one's relative success in life from chance. Impulses are glorified everywhere. If there is not enough of an inner desire to rely on impulses, there are certainly external sources that will insist.

"Use the force, Luke" is a quote that contains a message of impulses. Ditch science, ditch review, ditch help--use your instincts because they'll get you through every time.

But I guarantee, if you're out in the forest and a bear starts accosting you, your first instinct may be to run or to shoot. Strictly, both are the wrong approach. To escape one must know the methods of escape from a bear, knowledge being the primary motive. Your impulses will not come in handy.

I find that knowledge, patience, and conscientiousness are much more capable of producing favorable results. Seriously; even if you have the ability to do something, you might not be able to do it if you focus too much on the end result and not on the means of getting there...

So the point is simple: do not be impulsive. Think things through, breathe, and take your time. Even if it is an impulse that you know you cannot achieve, you probably should think about it for a moment to realize it will only detract from what you really need to be doing.