Members YeahDoIt Posted November 14, 2011 Members Share Posted November 14, 2011 Is anyone performing for the Occupy Wall Street crowd? There is likely an opportunity for musicians and songwriters at Occupy Wall Street somewhere. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-207_162-57323874/new-generation-of-music-key-to-occupy-protest/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted November 14, 2011 Members Share Posted November 14, 2011 I'm sure they expect that for free too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Electric Catfish Posted November 14, 2011 Members Share Posted November 14, 2011 I'm sure they expect that for free too. What else, exactly, do they "expect for free?" It appears you're missing the point of the protests. What do corporate pimps controlling whore politicians have to do with expecting things for free? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jwlussow Posted November 14, 2011 Members Share Posted November 14, 2011 Spin doctors are out in force. The "Occupiers" are just trying to get their homeless hands in the pockets of hard working people, right? Funny thing is when I spoke with a relative that is protesting in Chicago it seemed more like a "why is a corporation making record profits still coming up with more ways to squeeze a little more blood from the rock". A corporation that makes record profits and gives it's leadership a hundred million dollar "bonus" for a job well done while announcing "poor" and requiring a $5.00 per transaction fee if the account holder uses their own money might be a problem....unless you are the person receiving the hundred million dollar bonus. It does help that these corporations "purchase" the support of politicians and media. I guess everything costs more these days. I can see the points on both sides and it's going to get worse before it get's better. Kind of reminds me of France's history. Corporate big whigs are smiling and telling the unemployed to "eat cake" if they have no bread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kramerguy Posted November 14, 2011 Members Share Posted November 14, 2011 I'm sure they expect that for free too. Nobody I know who is participating in OWS is asking for anything free, other than a fair chance to make a honest living.. something 99% of the population has been without for a long time. Keep in mind the corporate media isn't going to tell you anything except what they want you to hear.. that a bunch of freeloading hippies in drum circles want to not work and take all your money... and it couldn't be further from the truth. Until you go there yourself and see, don't be so quick to judge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted November 14, 2011 Members Share Posted November 14, 2011 A corporation that makes record profits and gives it's leadership a hundred million dollar "bonus" for a job well done while announcing "poor" and requiring a $5.00 per transaction fee if the account holder uses their own money might be a problem....unless you are the person receiving the hundred million dollar bonus. During the boom times they called these "Performance Bonuses". During the bust they kept paying out the bonuses but called them "Retainers". As such it's become clear to many people that these payments have nothing to do with companies making money or not or are about contributing to the American economy but are instead just a means for a few very-rich people who get paid very well for not doing a whole lot to continue to do so. And we know that money has to come from SOMEWHERE at some point. Guess who's left holding the bag? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIMKEYS Posted November 14, 2011 Members Share Posted November 14, 2011 During the boom times they called these "Performance Bonuses". During the bust they kept paying out the bonuses but called them "Retainers". As such it's become clear to many people that these payments have nothing to do with companies making money or not or are about contributing to the American economy but are instead just a means for a few very-rich people who get paid very well for not doing a whole lot to continue to do so. And we know that money has to come from SOMEWHERE at some point. Guess who's left holding the bag? I am not sure its that simple. as for holding the bag ..If you dont like the fees, take your business somewhere else. You only end up holding the bag with a bank fee if you are willing to hold it. This thread really needs to be moved to the poltiical forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kmart Posted November 14, 2011 Members Share Posted November 14, 2011 Nobody I know who is participating in OWS is asking for anything free, other than a fair chance to make a honest living.. something 99% of the population has been without for a long time. Keep in mind the corporate media isn't going to tell you anything except what they want you to hear.. that a bunch of freeloading hippies in drum circles want to not work and take all your money... and it couldn't be further from the truth. Until you go there yourself and see, don't be so quick to judge. I got no clear interest in one side or another of the OWS deal, but only a freeloading drum-circle hippie would say something like 99% of the population has never had a fair chance to make an honest living. Maybe you mixed up your words there or something, but it's that kind of hysterics that will preclude the Occupiers from having a significant impact on the population at large. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted November 14, 2011 Members Share Posted November 14, 2011 Without getting too political (because blame for the financial mess we are in can be spread on both sides of the aisle)the one thing that worries me immensely about our current economic situation (and these protests are a reflection of that) is the sheer lack of movement on the jobs creation front. You can blame Bush, or Obama, but the fact is every day corporations are recording these profits on the backs of American workers and choosing not to reinvest it in the free market to spur new growth. My own company is a reflection of that. Private company, under 300 employees, 33 years in business. Last year we made record profit, the highest in the history of the company. That was a reflection of cost savings through layoffs, writeoffs and keeping wages and benefits stagnant. We're on track for the same in 2011 & 2012. Yet the job fulfillment ratio is still sometimes 3 to 1. One person with the responsibility and accountability of three positions. Both my wife and I have been gainfully employed during this recession. I don't attribute that to hard work... I consider it luck. Luck that our number hasn't been called. However while our job responsibilities have increased threefold our wage has remained stagnant. Now my company is far from the greed depicted on Wall St. My company has been forced to do more with less because just like my own lenders, it's at the mercy of banks that would rather call in loans rather than lend new money. We (taxpayers) lent these banks the largest interest free bailout in history and they have not held up their bargain. Banks would rather hedge their bets using your retirement investments and corporations fear no penalty for moving money and jobs offshore while using loopholes for the purpose of tax avoidance. I've worked my entire life since the age of 13. With the exception of 9 months after 9/11 (job was eliminated do to downsizing) I never not had a job that paid me for a wage. I graduated college in the early 90's in what was termed a 'mild' recession by todays standards. To support myself (aka: barely cover food and rent) I worked as many as 6 part time jobs at once. As a college graduate I was 26 until I could finally land my first professional job with benefits and almost 29 when I was financially stable toward building a career. I lost 5 years toward my financial development (contribution toward retirement, managing debt, gainful employment) as an adult and I am still suffering a bit today as a result. Being out of work for a period of time damages the human psyche. I can't imagine being out of work years. Managing personal responsibly is only one part of a successful life. Having the opportunity in society to make a contribution is another part. These corporation are part of our society and not doing nearly enough to increase job growth.... and they been given the greatest business advantages to do so in our American history. As easy as it would be for me to thumb my nose at OWS and call them, lazy and irresponsible... well isn't that the very behavior of the banks that took bailout money, spent their sweet time paying it back and didn't provide the promised reinvestment back into lending pools? Again... I don't support the protests, but I've felt their pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted November 14, 2011 Members Share Posted November 14, 2011 I am not sure its that simple. as for holding the bag ..If you dont like the fees, take your business somewhere else. You only end up holding the bag with a bank fee if you are willing to hold it. This thread really needs to be moved to the poltiical forum. I wasn't talking about the bank fees. I was talking about the bonuses. A company loses money one year but the CEO still gets a multi-million dollar bonus---where do you think that money comes from? Who is ultimately paying their salary? Kinda turns the whole free-market idea on its head if the top guys get paid huge salaries and bonuses REGARDLESS of if the company is profitable or not, wouldn't you say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FitchFY Posted November 14, 2011 Members Share Posted November 14, 2011 I'm sure they expect that for free too. Hahahahaha - nothing in this thread, which is sure to go on for ages, will be nearly as funny or accurate as this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted November 14, 2011 Members Share Posted November 14, 2011 I got no clear interest in one side or another of the OWS deal, but only a freeloading drum-circle hippie would say something like 99% of the population has never had a fair chance to make an honest living.Maybe you mixed up your words there or something, but it's that kind of hysterics that will preclude the Occupiers from having a significant impact on the population at large. One of the problems we have in our society PERIOD is that we love over-simplistic rhetoric. Everything needs to be boiled down to a catch-phrase that can fit on a bumper sticker. The economic situation and the social repercussions of it are complex, to say the least. But the media doesn't want to deal with anything that can't be simplified to silly nonsense like "we're the 99%" or "they're a bunch of freeloading hippies who smell bad" or whatever works for their audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIMKEYS Posted November 14, 2011 Members Share Posted November 14, 2011 Without getting too political (because blame for the financial mess we are in can be spread on both sides of the aisle)the one thing that worries me immensely about our current economic situation (and these protests are a reflection of that) is the sheer lack of movement on the jobs creation front. You can blame Bush, or Obama, but the fact is every day corporations are recording these profits on the backs of American workers and choosing not to reinvest it in the free market to spur new growth. My own company is a reflection of that. Private company, under 300 employees, 33 years in business. Last year we made record profit, the highest in the history of the company. That was a reflection of cost savings through layoffs, writeoffs and keeping wages and benefits stagnant. We're on track for the same in 2011 & 2012. Yet the job fulfillment ratio is still sometimes 3 to 1. One person with the responsibility and accountability of three positions. Both my wife and I have been gainfully employed during this recession. I don't attribute that to hard work... I consider it luck. Luck that our number hasn't been called. However while our job responsibilities have increased threefold our wage has remained stagnant. Now my company is far from the greed depicted on Wall St. My company has been forced to do more with less because just like my own lenders, it's at the mercy of banks that would rather call in loans rather than lend new money. We (taxpayers) lent these banks the largest interest free bailout in history and they have not held up their bargain. Banks would rather hedge their bets using your retirement investments and corporations fear no penalty for moving money and jobs offshore while using loopholes for the purpose of tax avoidance. I've worked my entire life since the age of 13. With the exception of 9 months after 9/11 (job was eliminated do to downsizing) I never not had a job that paid me for a wage. I graduated college in the early 90's in what was termed a 'mild' recession by todays standards. To support myself (aka: barely cover food and rent) I worked as many as 6 part time jobs at once. As a college graduate I was 26 until I could finally land my first professional job with benefits and almost 29 when I was financially stable toward building a career. I lost 5 years toward my financial development (contribution toward retirement, managing debt, gainful employment) as an adult and I am still suffering a bit today as a result. Being out of work for a period of time damages the human psyche. I can't imagine being out of work years. Managing personal responsibly is only one part of a successful life. Having the opportunity in society to make a contribution is another part. These corporation are part of our society and not doing nearly enough to increase job growth.... and they been given the greatest business advantages to do so in our American history. As easy as it would be for me to thumb my nose at OWS and call them, lazy and irresponsible... well isn't that the very behavior of the banks that took bailout money, spent their sweet time paying it back and didn't provide the promised reinvestment back into lending pools? Again... I don't support the protests, but I've felt their pain. where did you get the idea that a business was a social institution? Business is hunkered down because its a very risky economy. I think you will find that the banks for the most part have paid back those bridge loans that got them out of the bind of too much invested in property and not enough cash to keep doing business. They are going to be tight fisted when it comes to making loans. I cant say that I blame them. As for this deal being floated on the backs of the 99 percent. Only 50 percent pay any taxes so I dont think I buy into the 99 percent thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ggm1960 Posted November 14, 2011 Members Share Posted November 14, 2011 I envy them for all the free time they apparently have. I can only dream of all the things I could learn and productive things I could do with more time to myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kanetoads Posted November 14, 2011 Members Share Posted November 14, 2011 I live in Oregon, trust me, I get hippies...and the Occupy Movement is for the most part a bunch of hippies who now can't even get the crappiest of jobs, which is pretty much all they went for in the past. Having a degree in Political Science, and having actually looked hard into the financial meltdown, I can assure you that 99% of the people do not know, including those on TV of why we are in the mess we are in. Protesting over bank fees is idiotic. Change banks. This is dumbed down mass psychology, group think, social networking at its finest. For the most part big business has chosen to purchase or manufacturer products in countries with cheap labor forces. The jobs have left the US, and they have extended credit to those here who don't have the means to pay off the debt. Wall St. has been selling the bad paper offshore, hence the European debt crisis. Meanwhile the SEC here has been bought off not to watch the store, so it's been a festival of thieves. The start of this mess, and it continues today, is your average person has been sold on the idea that accumulation is the path to happiness. Everyone ran up credit cards, bought houses they couldn't afford, and in a nutshell, were told, that 'you can be rich too'... In a sick way I support the Occupy crowd, much as I support anti-war protesters. I know there are hangers on, people that are just there for the social reasons, to bitch, for something to do, but it sends a message...stop messing around. My feeling is that when the US goes broke, and the Saudis and Chinese stop buying our debt, either things will reset, (devaluation), we go to war, or we are soaked up in some way. Since the US has never gone bankrupt, there really isn't any way to figure what will happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators BATCAT Posted November 14, 2011 Moderators Share Posted November 14, 2011 I'm sorry, but I don't want to have to keep checking this thread every half hour to see when it inevitably turns into a poo-storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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