The Irony Of Occupy
By
Gary Gerard, dumbhoosier.com
I’ve been watching the coverage of the Occupy Wall Street
demonstration and related Occupy demonstrations across the
land over the past couple of weeks.
I couldn’t help but notice some striking irony.
I certainly don’t begrudge anyone a healthy protest. There
wouldn’t have been civil rights legislation and women
probably still wouldn’t be voting if not for civil
disobedience.
But what really struck me was the photos and videos I saw of
the protesters. Seemed like almost a circus atmosphere lots
of the time.
Protesters were drinking booze and smoking dope. They were
laying around playing games on smart phones and laptops.
They were listening to iTunes on their iPods and iPhones.
I guess we could call these events iOccupy or iProtest. Hey,
there’s an idea. Somebody needs to come up with an app for
that. Capitalize on the anti-capitalists. Or, well, I
suppose that would have to be a free app.
But there is a certain amount of irony here, isn’t there?
I mean, all these devices and technologies in play by these
protesters were brought to them by the very investors,
venture capitalists and titans of industry they deplore.
They are all products of the very capitalism they now decry.
This is not to say they don’t have a point. Wage disparity
and the shrinking middle class certainly are problematic in
our society today. And I don’t think anyone would argue that
adjustments to our tax code and economic system are not
needed.
But I just can’t help but chuckle at the irony.
The Daily Mail sent reporters into the abyss of Occupy Wall
Street where they photographed people in trendy True
Religion® jeans, Dior shirts and Jimmy Choo shoes. Not
your average anti-capitalist attire. One guy actually was
photographed thumbing through a massive wad of cash.
They interviewed a trio of co-eds from Bard College. You
know, the Annandale-on-Hudson Bard College. It costs a cool
couple of hundred K to go there. So I’m sure these kids’
parents were no strangers to a small chunk of the unbridled
capitalism the Occupy’ers so roundly denounce.
I used to find the same kind of irony at Tea Party rallies.
You know. Anti-big-government types holding up signs saying
things like “Keep your hands off my Medicare,” which, of
course, is one of the biggest government programs ever
devised.
So yeah, there’s plenty of irony to go around at protests, I
suppose.
But the crowning irony, the irony of all ironies, came just
this week, I believe it was Monday – maybe Tuesday – when
President Barack Obama spoke warmly and supportively about
the protesters and came dangerously close to endorsing them.
He said those holding sit-ins and rallies are expressing the
frustrations of Americans over Wall Street practices and
economic inequality.
“It expresses the frustrations that the American people feel
that we had the biggest financial crisis since the Great
Depression – huge collateral damage all throughout the
country,” he said.
“And yet you’re still seeing some of the same folks who
acted irresponsibly trying to fight efforts to crack down on
abusive practices that got us into this problem in the first
place.”
It’s an odd take on the situation from a guy who has taken
more money from Wall Street types than any other president
in the history of mankind.
It’s a classic case of biting the hand that feeds you,
or to be more crass, crapping where you eat.
Back during the campaign, in the first quarter
of 2008, then-candidate Obama raked in just more than
$6 million in donations from the titans of Wall Street –
investment companies’ employees and political action
committees.
And, unbelievably, that was in second place behind Hilary
Clinton who pulled in $6.29 million.
John McCain only took in a lousy $2.59 million from the Wall
Street types.
For the sake of comparison, George W. Bush got $4 million in
2000.
One might say, “Well that was then and this is now.” And one
would be dead wrong.
According to a recent Washington Post story, fully one-third
of Obama’s re-election campaign’s record-breaking
second-quarter fundraising came from Wall Street sources.
That’s up from a paltry 20 percent of total donations from
Wall Street in 2008.
Meanwhile, paradoxically, White House spokesmen are running
around trying their best to align Obama with the Wall Street
Occupy’ers, to make it appear he’s on their side.
Senior Adviser David Ploufe, on “Good Morning America,” was
asked about the White House view of the protesters.
“If you’re concerned about Wall Street and our financial
system, the president is standing on the side of consumers
and the middle class,” he said.
Really? Because the New York Times earlier this year
reported that Obama called a couple dozen Wall Street execs
to the Blue Room at the White House.
They were asked how to speed up the economic recovery and
for opinions on stuff like hedge fund regulations and the
deficit.
The Times reported:
“The event, organized by the Democratic National Committee,
kicked off an aggressive push by Mr. Obama to win back the
allegiance of one of his most vital sources of campaign cash
— in part by trying to convince Wall Street that his
policies, far from undercutting the investor class, have
helped bring banks and financial markets back to health.”
The article also noted that last month, Obama’s campaign
manager traveled to New York for meetings with Wall Street
donors.
That trip ended at the home of big-time hedge fund manager
Marc Lasry, ostensibly to woo former Hilary Clinton donors.
And this from the Times:
“... Mr. Obama will return to New York this month to dine
with bankers, hedge fund executives and private equity
investors at the Upper East Side restaurant Daniel.”
Ah, the irony.
You know, I guess I would agree with the Occupy’ers. The
system truly is broken. Just not necessarily the way they
think it is.
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