My Two Cents (or is it Two Dollars?)

Can I be honest about something? Well, if I couldn't, I wouldn't deign to write a blog in the first place, but I have to say this.

While I appreciate the intentions and the ideas that the Occupation movement has, I find myself more irritated with it than in agreement with it. Let me help you see from my perspective:

1. Yes, it is dumb that the so-called 1% is disproportionately richer than the rest of the world. However, when you look at third world countries, and places where people pick through garbage because they can't find anything else to eat, you have to admit that we're pretty lucky.

2. Debt sucks. This is a fact. However, as soon as you hit 18, the government considers you an adult, and you are expected to work for a living. Food does not put itself on the table. Sometimes this requires having multiple jobs. Heck- I worked two jobs full time for two years to pay off my school debt. If I had had my own apartment at the time, I would have had to have worked three jobs. At the same time, it taught me a lesson. First of all, I will never enlist for a credit card unless it is absolutely, life-threateningly necessary. The temptation to spend beyond my means would be too much. Second, unless I know I can pay off a debt eventually, I refuse to take out loans. I currently have only one loan. I'd like it to be none, but I needed a car  (and when I say "needed," I mean needed). To have a car, an apartment, or anything else that requires upkeep, one needs at least one job. Yes, the economy sucks right now. Yes, it is next to impossible to find a job. Yes, it is ridiculous that one has to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. At the same time, nothing has changed. This has been the way for a very, very long time. Unless you have a job that is high up on the company ladder, and you give your very, very best to that company (which leads to that place on the ladder, by the way), you will not get a huge paycheck. In fact, if you whine about how much your job sucks, do you really think your boss won't notice? Yes, there are terrible bosses out there, as well as jobs that are, to put it politely, really awful. I have had good jobs, and I've had terrible ones, but I have learned something from both. If your attitude is right, and the quality of your work is good (and efficient), someone will notice. Never be under the illusion that cleaning toilets is beneath you. It can pay very well (and I should know... it's part of my job)  –– it may even lead to having a management position. So be patient. Don't expect the world to be handed to you on a silver platter. It doesn't work that way, and it hasn't since Adam and Eve got kicked out of the Garden.

3. Those people in the 1%? They work just as hard as the rest of us, I am sure. The higher up the ladder you go, the more headaches and responsibilities you have on your hands. Trust me- I would not envy them one bit. They may have the cars and the houses and the indoor pools and whatnot, but... Imagine how high the insurance is on those spazzy cars, how much it costs to repair them, and what if it gets scratched? I have my moments when I'd love to speed down the Autobahn in a Ferrari or some such fancy car, but they pass as quickly as the aforementioned car would pass my late Oldsmobile –– fleetingly. And besides... I prefer lakes to pools.

4. V for Vendetta was... no, is an awesome movie. I love it... BUT I'm afraid that recent events have almost ruined it for me. While the use of the Guy Fawkes mask had a very poigniant purpose in the movie, I do not see a resemblance between current events and the events in film. Frankly, I am sick of seeing references to it. I want to hurl my laptop across the room when I see pictures of people wearing masks on Facebook. Is the government inefficient and possibly insane? Probably. Do I think I could run things better? Nope. While I disagree with several things the leadership in this country (and in the state of Massachusetts) have done, I would not challenge them unless they fully went against my beliefs. Since I don't see the President proclaiming himself a god or acting like King Edward Longshanks (watch Braveheart again), I'm not planning on taking up the sword or the pen against my government. Seriously. If you think this is oppression, you really need to read the history books a bit more thoroughly (as well as George Orwell's Animal Farm and The Trial by Franz Kafka). If anything, our government needs our prayers. I wouldn't want their jobs, even if you paid me an eight digit salary. Have they failed us at all? Absolutely, but we need to forgive them for it anyway. They are human, just like the rest of us. They make mistakes, just like the rest of us. Sometimes they're big mistakes. Really big. If we really want to make a difference to this country, though, the first issues that need to be dealt with are the ones at the root of the situation. Changing Presidents won't do it. Switching which government party is in control definitely won't do it, and neither will sticking to the same old parties we've had from the beginning. Honestly, the best way to change things is to think for yourself. Stop following bandwagons. Form your own opinions, but base them on something solid –– not on passing fads –– then base your decisions on that.

5. I am thoroughly convinced that the invention of credit cards has been one of the major causes of the economic issues at hand. If people didn't spend money they don't have on things they don't need, and will never be able to earn enough to pay for in their lifetime... I also think it's an issue that most of our products are made in foreign countries by people making far, far less than what we'd consider minimum wage... because it's cheaper. That is pure greed. [For some reason, that saying (which comes from the Bible, incidentally, and has nothing to do with karma) comes to mind, "You reap what you sow."] If you are really, really serious about stopping the vicious greed of the supposed 1%, you should try and give them some competition and start your own companies –– and provide some jobs for the 99%, while you're at it. Back in the 40's, the economy was booming because we were making everything on our own soil. When war came, it was considered patriotic to save metal so that our troops would have bullets. Women knit socks for troops. People bought war bonds. It was a joint effort. Everyone knew what it took to keep things rolling. Work ethic was expected, not just hoped for. What has happened? Unless I have a warped sense of history, something painfully terrible and severe has happened to us culturally which has caused us to have a feeling of being "entitled" to get whatever we want.

So, forgive me if I have been blunt, but my tongue (or pen, rather) can only be held back for so long before it begins to chafe at the bit.