OCCUPY YOUR OWN LIFE - money talks. occupy campers will walk.
i am so glad that the occupy campers made their point. and that the media noticed and people are talking about it. it was about time that someone made a stand and made a point. it's about time that somebody made people listen! now it's time to go home with dignity
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Then the big boxes would have to change or die. Wal-Mart, in particular, has a lot of practice adapting to local conditions. A year or two ago, I read that in NYC and other places where space or ordinances prevented them from building huge stores, they built scaled-down "mini Wal-Marts" with more of a small-town general store feel to them.
If they didn't adapt, though, and they died, we're still just talking about consumer retail. I could easily see Wal-Mart in that position falling back on their real strength--distribution--and monopolizing that game. We'd have thousands of little independent shops all buying their merchandise from the Wal-Mart warehouses. But even if Wal-Mart truly bit the dust and there were hundreds of independent supply chains rooted at independent producers, that doesn't effect energy, finance, etc.
"...if people voted in politicians who had a vision and a conscience..."
How will such people campaign? In the US, we no longer have "equal time" laws for broadcasters. If the advertisers (or the corporations that own the broadcasters) don't like a candidate's message, that candidate will either not get coverage or will be mocked by the pundits. The reincarnation of Thomas Jefferson might be running for President on a platform that would change everything for the better. But I won't know about it if he's a carpet salesman in Kansas and everything he says pisses off the big money. Even if he gets a small following on Youtube, there will never be enough people willing to "throw away their vote" for him to actually get elected. Our election process corrupts good people.
"...and if the whole middle class stopped investing in all of the business that makes the "unreal" world go around..."
I'm not even sure it's possible for them to do that and remain in the middle class. Do you envision a middle class that uses only the electricity it can generate from wind turbines built by hand by local craftsmen? A middle class that does without February berries and salads? A middle class that walks or bikes everywhere, that doesn't travel, that wears homespun clothes, that takes echinacea instead of Prozak, that only pays cash or barters? It stretches the definition of what we currently think of as middle class.
"are you saying that anarchy IS the only answer?"
Not at all. But then again, I'm not saying that the protests are anarchy. In true anarchy, there's no point in protests. If no one's in charge or has more power than anyone else, what's the point of complaining to somebody? "Petitioning the government for the redress of grievances" requires a government. The protests aren't anarchy; they're democracy. This is what it looks like. There's nothing orderly about the oppressed fighting back.
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