Occupy..... rambling rant
Ok, so from my perch in the southern hemisphere, where there are no apologies for income inequality (and the distinct attitude to 'keep the poor Asians out of our country') the 'Occupy' movement is kinda funny.
If you publicised to the world that you could 'Occupy Singapore', for example, boatloads of people would be rushing towards the country, dying to occupy it. And they get thrown out. Same for the US, where throngs of illegal immigrants would be dying to come occupy these rich developed countries - and they get deported too. Nope. The 'Occupy Movement' is only for some people, probably rich middle classes. Oh no. No one thinks that they are rich. They're in student debt and are on the dole, but sorry folks, we are all rich.. We are all rich because we have homes, families and some kind of medical care. We also have wifi and computers and phones to coordinate 'occupy' movements. We have enough food to think about losing weight. We might not be as rich as we want to be, but we're doing ok, especially where these Occupy movements are being held. These protesters aren't complaining that they don't have food, electricity or running water. They are complaining because they don't earn as much as the people on the top of the corporate food chain.
But that's ok too. The rich can complain that it's not fair that they aren't as rich as the top 1%, or even the top 20%. Income inequality is a bitch because people covet their neighbours' asses and the neighbours love making their other neighbours jealous. The naughty rioting children in London wanted iPhones just like everyone else. What were the 2 things that we learnt in Econ B?
1) People are selfish.
2) Wants are unlimited.
The entire capitalist system was created to service these two base human desires. No one wants to blame themselves for how the world turned out, but people have used their dollar votes to create their own society. If they didn't want bankers, why did they go and get mortgages? Why do they have pensions? If people didn't want a petroleum based society, why is 'Top Gear' so popular? Why do people buy cars and who are the evil earth destroying idiots who travel on aeroplanes? If they don't want global warming, why do they not switch off the lights when they leave a room and why do they turn on the heating when they can wear more jumpers and then continue to wear their jumpers and jackets instead of turning down the air conditioning? If they want the save their manufacturing industries, why do they buy things that are made in China? Why do we pay $200 to see Roger Waters in concert?? He's so rich, he should perform for free!!
Hmmm? HMMMMM ??
The change, my friends, starts within.
There are 3 ideas that stick in my mind when I think about global injustice.
1) 'If i haven't seen such riches, i could live with being poor'
2) The steady state economy is a sustainable one where there is no growth (GDP stays the same, people are consuming the same amount as they did the year before).
3) Companies run to keep the shareholders happy, but the shareholders are dumbass and tend to be stupid white men (sorry, I'm influenced by Michael Moore) so companies should ignore their stupid shareholders and do what is right by society.
I still believe in them, even though they are old ideas that i learnt when i was in university. By trying not to consume more than last year, by only investing in companies that i believe in, but not getting into anything more fancy than a 'future', and doing what i think is right at work, screw what the stupid white men think (that includes my husband haha). By trying to limit my own wants and to try and not be so selfish, I try to change the world. I also try not to make people jealous by what I HAVE, but what i am. That's difficult. No one wants to be me.
There is a dream of the modern society, like in Star Trek, where robots do all the work, there is no money and you can live and do/go wherever and whatever you want. Will us humans be ever satisfied with it? How do we remove income equalities when the most satisfying feeling is to make your neighbours jealous?
Answers on a postcard??
If you publicised to the world that you could 'Occupy Singapore', for example, boatloads of people would be rushing towards the country, dying to occupy it. And they get thrown out. Same for the US, where throngs of illegal immigrants would be dying to come occupy these rich developed countries - and they get deported too. Nope. The 'Occupy Movement' is only for some people, probably rich middle classes. Oh no. No one thinks that they are rich. They're in student debt and are on the dole, but sorry folks, we are all rich.. We are all rich because we have homes, families and some kind of medical care. We also have wifi and computers and phones to coordinate 'occupy' movements. We have enough food to think about losing weight. We might not be as rich as we want to be, but we're doing ok, especially where these Occupy movements are being held. These protesters aren't complaining that they don't have food, electricity or running water. They are complaining because they don't earn as much as the people on the top of the corporate food chain.
But that's ok too. The rich can complain that it's not fair that they aren't as rich as the top 1%, or even the top 20%. Income inequality is a bitch because people covet their neighbours' asses and the neighbours love making their other neighbours jealous. The naughty rioting children in London wanted iPhones just like everyone else. What were the 2 things that we learnt in Econ B?
1) People are selfish.
2) Wants are unlimited.
The entire capitalist system was created to service these two base human desires. No one wants to blame themselves for how the world turned out, but people have used their dollar votes to create their own society. If they didn't want bankers, why did they go and get mortgages? Why do they have pensions? If people didn't want a petroleum based society, why is 'Top Gear' so popular? Why do people buy cars and who are the evil earth destroying idiots who travel on aeroplanes? If they don't want global warming, why do they not switch off the lights when they leave a room and why do they turn on the heating when they can wear more jumpers and then continue to wear their jumpers and jackets instead of turning down the air conditioning? If they want the save their manufacturing industries, why do they buy things that are made in China? Why do we pay $200 to see Roger Waters in concert?? He's so rich, he should perform for free!!
Hmmm? HMMMMM ??
The change, my friends, starts within.
There are 3 ideas that stick in my mind when I think about global injustice.
1) 'If i haven't seen such riches, i could live with being poor'
2) The steady state economy is a sustainable one where there is no growth (GDP stays the same, people are consuming the same amount as they did the year before).
3) Companies run to keep the shareholders happy, but the shareholders are dumbass and tend to be stupid white men (sorry, I'm influenced by Michael Moore) so companies should ignore their stupid shareholders and do what is right by society.
I still believe in them, even though they are old ideas that i learnt when i was in university. By trying not to consume more than last year, by only investing in companies that i believe in, but not getting into anything more fancy than a 'future', and doing what i think is right at work, screw what the stupid white men think (that includes my husband haha). By trying to limit my own wants and to try and not be so selfish, I try to change the world. I also try not to make people jealous by what I HAVE, but what i am. That's difficult. No one wants to be me.
There is a dream of the modern society, like in Star Trek, where robots do all the work, there is no money and you can live and do/go wherever and whatever you want. Will us humans be ever satisfied with it? How do we remove income equalities when the most satisfying feeling is to make your neighbours jealous?
Answers on a postcard??