My opinion, take it as you will...
So, I went to Occupy Austin today to get the lay of the land and see what I need to do to get Little One involved and keep her safe. Heck...to keep both of us safe. I get there and there's maybe 3 other women, one of them totally was another panhandler, and all others are panhandlers. Not homeless...but panhandlers. There is a difference. And, at this point Occupy Austin has been stolen by panhandlers. Austin is rife with them...just look at any major intersection corner!! In fact, after I ran away from City Hall I actually looked at each street corner and saw quite a few of the popular corners..empty. Because Austin said you "can legally sleep at city hall". And I came to inspect the situation the morning after. My bad. There was barely 30 people there and at least 25 of them were obvious panhandlers. Please don't get me wrong, though I know some of you will, I am in support of helping the homeless and helping them achieve their American Dream. But panhandlers???? Their American Dream is guilting people out of their petty cash on the streets. Austin is KNOWN for this horrifically large population of panhandlers. This frustrates me!!!! The ONLY possible reason they can claim they are hurting from the economic recession is because there are fewer people on the corners that HAVE petty cash to give. I admit...I felt uncomfortable and freaked out and very sad. Where the fuck is the protesters?? I mean...come on...this is not only a college town, but one of THE most progressive college cities in Texas???? My hope is this Saturday will bring more attendants and will actually have a true protest. I'm against corporation greed and corporatocracy and I want a future for my Little One that doesn't equal her living as a slave. That's my "what is their message?" response!!!!