cognitivedissonance:

Well, would you take a look at that? Apparently, Americans support Occupy Wall Street over the Tea Party. But that’s not how FreedomWorks sees it. No way are these people anything like the Tea Party. From Politico:

Brendan Steinhauser, campaigns director for FreedomWorks, evoked leaders of the civil rights movement in distinguishing the protests, saying the tea party’s tactics resemble those of Martin Luther King Jr., while the Occupy Wall Street protesters are more like Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael.

“They just seem really, truly very unhappy, angry,” he said of the anti-corporate protesters. Tea partiers, on the other hand are for the most part “kind of cheerful, happy warriors,” he said.

Yeah, I totally remember that one time that Martin Luther King Jr. said: “You know if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies and saying my goodness what can we do to turn this country around?”

Oh, and this: “We have the chance to fight this battle at the ballot box before we have to resort to the bullet box. That’s the beauty of our Second Amendment rights… Our Second Amendment rights were to guard against tyranny.” Oh, that was Tea Partiers? Oops. 

MLK supporters always open-carried, right? RIGHT?!

Geez, those Tea Party people… They’re so cheerful and happy, and not at all angry or appearing unhinged! They cheerfully tote semi-automatic weapons outside presidential speeches and happily use fluffy, fanciful comparisons meeting the criteria of Godwin’s Law - OFF the internet, no less. 

The above chart is from ThinkProgress. An explanation:

The new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows that Americans support the Occupy Wall Street protests by a two-to-one margin (37 percent in favor, 18 percent opposed) while more Americans view the Tea Party negatively (28 percent in favor, 41 percent opposed)…. A new Time Magazine poll found an even more positive results for Occupy Wall Street, showing 54 percent held a favorable view of the movement, compared to just 27 percent with a favorable view of the Tea Party. 

Hmmm… sounds like these unhappy people are faring better than your cheerful warriors. I’m sorry, but to those calling this a liberal Tea Party, it’s just not. I’ve personally spoke with conservatives who support Occupy Wall Street and liberals who oppose it. We’ll see where the Occupy movement goes, especially in the next few weeks. So, uh, sorry to steal your thunder Tea Party?

(via techsgtjenn)

moeby:

life-and-entropy:

runintothesun:

cognitivedissonance:

Submitted by: Shane Moore

Okay, I’m sick of people acting like these occupy people are a bunch of heroes. They’re a bunch of lazyass pretend hippies who don’t wanna work.

Can’t get a job? Fine, start mowing lawns, walking dogs, etc. Do SOMETHING other than trying to mooch off my hard earned money. I don’t get health insurance at my job. I don’t expect someone to just hand it to me like they’re greatful I work for them. I should be greatful to THEM for a job. There are jobs. You know how to get money from the rich? WORK FOR THEM. 

Go to Georgia. There’s a whole bunch of rotting crops since they got the illegals to leave. Now there’s jobs for AMERICANS who won’t take them up on it because they think they’re too good for farm work. http://forums.hannity.com/showthread.php?t=2270871

I am supposed to feel sorry for people who won’t work, made bad decisions by buying too much house, getting a worthless degree etc.? Sorry, keep your socialism and your change and I’ll keep my money. If you want to live in a socialist country, go try North Korea on for size. 

Meg, of Cognitive Dissonance:

Wow, that’s cute and callous. You assume there’s some mythical land with jobs aplenty for the taking. All you have to do is apply. Uh-huh.

Actually, I’m going to do you a favor and not post your email address. I’m just going to factcheck this a little.

First off, here’s the official list of demands from the Occupy Wall Street General Assembly. I see nothing in there about being able to not work ever again while “mooching” money off of Shane Moore or anyone else. 

Also, there are about four people actively seeking work to every job that’s available. Some estimate it’s higher than that. Employers are finding difficulty with hiring candidates with the qualifications they’re seeking. As the Business Insider article details in the above link, there’s a gap between finding skilled workers and those looking for work:

Employers say they’re having trouble finding applicants who fit the requirements for open positions. In a recent survey by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, 40 percent of the members of the Inc. 500 (a group of the fastest-growing companies in the United States) reported that the biggest impediment to growing their companies was “finding qualified people.”

“That clearly speaks to the skills gap that exists,” says Thom Ruhe, director of entrepreneurship for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. “So we’ve got this paradigm of millions that are unemployed, yet there are literally hundreds of thousands of jobs that are available if we had the right skilled labor to put there, so there’s a challenge.”

Note he says “millions unemployed” but “hundreds of thousands of jobs” are available. So even if finding skilled workers wasn’t an issue, there would not be enough jobs to go around.

This leads to underemployment - essentially, people who want to work full time, but cannot find full time work. As Bloomberg explains: “More Americans who would like a full-time job are settling for part-time work instead. They are counted in the underemployment rate, which increased to 16.5 percent, the highest this year, from 16.2 percent. The number of people working part-time for ‘economic reasons’ jumped 444,000 to 9.3 million.”

How do we get skilled workers? Affordable education is crucial. Right now, the class of 2011 will be the most indebted class to graduate college. Wages have not kept up with the cost of education, health care, housing, etc. This is all while corporations are posting record profits. We’re in trouble all around.

It’s not as simple as you think. You can’t just say “GET A JOB ASSHOLE” and that makes it so. Not with the way the economy is now. 

The average worker is unemployed for approximately 40 weeks. That’s nearly a year. 

As for Georgia, if the crops are already rotting, there’s nothing that can be done. And the law did not just get rid of undocumented workers, jackass. People who are in the country legally also left. You know why? If you live in fear of being hassled or arrested for not having proper documentation on you at ALL times, you might take off too.

And North Korea is not socialist. The -isms aren’t all the same thing. North Korea is, on a good day, a one-man dictatorship ruling a communist state. On a bad day, it’s a murderous, infantile tyrant’s playground. You want socialism? Try Sweden. It sounds horrific:

Sweden has an extensive child-care system that guarantees a place for all young children ages two through six in a public day-care facility. From ages seven to 16, children participate in compulsory education. After completing the ninth grade, 90% attend upper secondary school for either academic or technical education. Swedes benefit from an extensive social welfare system, which provides childcare and maternity and paternity leave, a ceiling on health care costs, old-age pensions, and sick leave, among other benefits. Parents are entitled to a total of 480 days’ paid leave at 80% of a government-determined salary cap between birth and the child’s eighth birthday. The parents may split those days however they wish, but 60 of the days are reserved specifically for the father. 

As for the rest of your post, there’s really no point in addressing it. You sound as if you think we should grovel in gratitude for jobs that pay less than a living wage. Instead of wishing we were all at your level and had no benefits, why not wish for health care for all? Countries with socialized medicine spend far less of a proportional amount of GDP on health care than we do. One theory is better access to a doctor leads to more preventive care, which then stops minor issues from becoming major ones. 

Like it or not, you are in the 99%. It’s not lazy socialists like you picture. It’s this man. And this woman. And those of us in Casper, Wyoming. I will continue to fight for you to have the right to a decent living wage, a job with benefits, affordable education and health care, and congressmen who represent We the People and not corporations. You can continue ranting on the Hannity forums. We’ll be out there so you don’t have to, Shane.

Cheers,

Meg

I support this movement and I work one job (two jobs starting next week). So….not everyone in this movement is a “lazyass pretend hippie”.

Here’s what pisses me off about employment in this country:

1) I worked hard in college to graduate with honors, with a 3.8 GPA, an internship, multiple research projects, and graduating a year early only to end up having to take a job at shoprite which consequently made me extremely miserable (so yes, I did take something but that doesn’t mean I was happy about it)

2) It took me six months after graduation to find a job in the field, which paid the same rate as shoprite ($7.50) - doesn’t exactly pay the bills. No benefits whatsoever.

3) I just found a job in the field that has decent pay ($15), SEVENTEEN FUCKING MONTHS after I got my bachelor’s degree - and I would say that this is mostly due to the fact that I am currently working on my master’s degree and the fact that my current job happens to require conducting crisis intervention, as the position prefers someone with that. Not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to attend graduate school, and there are still people I went to school with finding difficulty getting work in their field.

So, in conclusion:

IT’S NOT THAT FUCKING EASY.

Relevance Achievement Unlocked

stfuconservatives:

wearentreallythe99percent:

EXIF Data:
Make: SAMSUNG
Model: SAMSUNG ES17 / VLUU ES17 / SAMSUNG SL40 / SAMSUNG ES19
Software: 908261

Wow, yeah, this is the slimiest thing. It’s an entire blog dismissing and minimizing everyone’s suffering on the justification that they have digital cameras and possibly computers!

From their summary:

We aren’t the real 99 percent. The real 99 percent exist in famines in East Africa, in the slums of India, without food, water, or sanitation - we live a life of luxury compared to them.

I love a good ol’ fashioned “don’t you have more important things to think about” derail.

-Joe

Typical. “You aren’t starving and shitting in a bucket, so why are you complaining? Sure, you have no job, can’t afford to provide for yourself and your family, but at least you’re not living in a slum in Africa!”

Because, you know, in the developed world in the 21st Century that’s, ultimately, what we should all be happy with, what we should aspire to - not crapping in the street.

No. Everyone should have a decent standard of living. Everyone should have access to healthcare based upon their needs and not their means. Everyone should have the opportunity to gain education up to the level of their ability and, again, not based on their means. Be they in America, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Germany, Thailand. Anywhere.

It is unacceptable to tell people they should be happy with being treated like shit because it could be worse. It should be better for everyone. Everywhere.

(via stfuconservatives)

wearethe99percent:

We are a Native American family We are the 99%.

(via deanaferal)

lilfix:

doctacrofty:

aginghipsterking:

theowlintheolivetree:

spacemunkie:

gamershifty:

zosky:

stfuconservatives:

timekiller-s:

dumbthingswhitepplsay:

moononwaters:

fattiesinlove:

hupsoonheng:

rayrayslife:

tangibletangencies:

anisodus:

At 13 you haven’t even hit real life yet HAVE YOU EVEN HIT PUBERTY KID I just can’t even get mad this kid is growing up around morons that teach her to say this uneducated bull.

I wanna watch her go to college.  Then get out of college with a biology degree and not have a job.  Then be in debt like the rest of us and then have to get a job at McDonalds. 

Yeah, you tell that to my friend who has a FUCKING MASTER’S FROM YALE and is going to community college to try and get into med school instead because she can’t fucking find a job with a fucking MASTER’S.

Also, “bitter women’s studies”? Fuck you. Fuck you so hard.

>I just can’t even get mad

no lol i’ll get mad

she’s 13, she’s on the internet and she’s posting things to it; she doesn’t get a pass for parroting some kind of ~edgy~ shit involving calling people “hippies” as an insult

here kid here’s a classic GET OFF MY LAWN YOU KIDS and take your snotty ignorant white crap elsewhere

respect your elders 

also why is she bragging about her mom ‘giving up her career’, the wording alone makes it sound tragic. it’s one thing if her mom happily chose to be a stay-at-home mom but the words ‘give up’ imply just the opposite

This has to be simultaneously the most hilarious and most tragic thing I’ve seen. She honestly believes that it’s so easy to get a job after college? She honestly believes that?

This poor girl is going to be in over her head someday. I’m not sure whether I should be laughing at her hubris and naivety, or if I should slap her silly, shake her by the shoulders and scream “Wake up!”

This is why I have moments of ageism, especially since these brats are like my cousins and I wanna backhand them and go “I DID NOT RAISE YOU LIKE THIS, GAWD!”

telling these little shits to shut the hell up is NOT ageism and is actually a damn good reason to ignore at least some of the shit kids say as little clones of their insensitive ass parents. like the person above said, her mind won’t change until she’s 22 (an adult!!!) and with her stupid biology degree that no one cares about and doesn’t have a job, so, there you go.

I can’t add anything at all to the commentary that’s already been placed.

The “bitter women’s studies” remark was particularly offensive.

Other than that, RAGE RAGE RAGE RAGE!  THIRTEEN-YEAR OLD CIS FEMALE FLAUNTING WHITE PRIVILEGE NEEDS SOME FACTS.

I have a damn job, am a little luckier than many of 99 per centers (although I still struggle and live payday to payday and continue to deal with the residual effects of a serious illness … including the hospital bills) and I’m behind the 99 per centers all the way.

What a little shit. “I have no experience earning my own money or paying my own way in life, but I know that hard work pays off!” OH REALLY.

Really.

Oh. My. God. Is this kid for real? You know you works hard? My dad works fucking hard, he goes to work all day putting in ceiling tiles and it HURTS him, every day he comes home tired and sore. And it breaks my heart. He can barely make ends meet, he still provides for my sister and mother (who both have shitty jobs).

Maybe you should actually try to survive in the real world before you start spouting your ridiculous “opinions”.

Grow up.

Oh, p.s. I actually KNOW someone who’s gotten a degree in biology, and guess what? They’ve been searching for work since they graduated.

Reblogging because she makes me so angry. Age gives her no reason to be this ignorant. My dad works all day everyday and we could barely pay the mortgage, my mom is a GEOLOGIST and she has been searching for work for years.

Now that I have found this post, I can form a proper reply to this utter nonsense. Just because you are thirteen years old does not mean you are exempt from criticism and I certainly will not go easy on you. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Courtney and I live in a middle class household where my mother works her ass off to support us because my father was severely injured in a car accident roughly fourteen years ago and it kills my father knowing that he can’t bring more to the table. Now that you know my story, I hope you can see where I am coming from when I say fuck you, and how dare you make such assertions about people who are just like my parents or worse off and how dare you say that you aren’t a “productive” member of society if you don’t have a job or a specialized degree? Are you aware of how many people with degrees are out of work and severely in debt? Oh, and “bitter women’s studies” is code for “We want to abolish all oppression and we don’t give a fuck what some thirteen year old girl thinks about the movement.” I hope you never have to face the hardships that the Wall St. protesters have faced/are facing and I hope that you come to your senses before you say something as ignorant as this to one of those “Dirty hippies.” You know nothing about the movement, yet you feel free to make bare assertions about those brave enough to say “We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take this anymore.” They are the truly productive members of society because they dare to challenge a system so corrupt that they are robbing themselves blind. 

Sincerely, Courtney

My dad has a job, and my mom quit her job to raise me and my three siblings.

We have a house (although I currently live in a dorm cuz I’m in college) and live pretty well, which sounds like about how you are.

But you know what? I can’t afford college. I have some money from my grandmother that can get me halfway there, since I get no substantial financial aid, but after that I’m going to be forced to take out $100,000 dollars in loans if I want to get a degree. And no, I’m not taking biology, I’m taking Film and Television Production, but that’s because that’s what I’m interested in. And if someone wanted to take “Bitter Women’s Studies,” that’s their choice, although as is stated above, women’s rights is a legitimate problem and a legitimate thing to study. Would you like to go back to the days when you had no vote and were essentially your husband’s property? No, no you wouldn’t. Then you wouldn’t have the opportunity to be a productive member of society, which you seem to think is important for you.

Oh, and you know how you got those rights? People like the Wall St protesters. People willing to stand up for what is right.

Good day to you.

Well little miss self-righteous, think about this.

What if your dad lost his job like millions around the world did during the worldwide recession, leading your family to use up all of their savings to pay the bills and get food? What if your precious mommy HAD to go back to work to support your privileged ass? What if both of your parents, due to some god damned miracle, found jobs unlike millions of people around the world, but those jobs were minimum wage where their bosses treated them like crap? 

The world unemployment rate is one of the lowests it has ever been, besides the Great Depression, and it is worse for young people. So, please before judging people whom you call unproductive and what not, DO YOUR FUCKING RESEARCH AND TRY TO PUT YOUR PRIVILEGED WHITE UPPER CLASS ASS IN OTHER PEOPLE’S SHOES.  

Ok, so I’ve grown up in the heart of middle class England, with both my parents working, but they still can’t afford to put me and my sister through University! I have had to get a loan to go to, and I’ll have a degree at the end maybe even a Masters but I’ll still be in debt, I still won’t be able to get a job with a click of my fingers! And you know what kid, working in McDonald’s will not pay enough to live off as well as pay tax and insurance and rent or any of that, and most of the people on Wall street are skilled professionals who deserve to have jobs, but they can’t get one because the economy can’t provide them with them at the moment because of the shit that the bankers in Wall Street pulled! You are 13, you know nothing about those people, nothing about the world! Do not presume to think that you know better than everyone else because you’re in a safe little bubble because sooner or later it will burst and you will see what a shit place the world is.   

Reblogging for ALL the excellent commentary.

(via lilprince)