Percentages

This Occupy Movement has me a bit befuddled, I must admit.  Now, I will fully offer the fact that I am not the most read when it comes to the meat and potatoes of these "peaceful" protests.  I don't know what agenda they, as a whole, are pulling for.  But, it seems to me, they don't know either.  Are we really surprised at this, considering they claim to be the 99%. That's a lot of folks to put into one category.

Yes I understand the great dichotomy of the 1% with the "work-horses" of the American populous.  And yes I do believe reform is needed.   But, these seem to be desperate acts of desperate folks.  I don't know if the spark of the Arab Spring gave the momentum or catalyst for the now global "Occupy" movement, but we can hardly place these two in the same category.   I wonder what happened to the grass roots movements of the past,  is this how they have evolved, or is this what happens when the grass gets too high.

I support the protesters, I support the need for change, I support their rights, I support the pain and desperation from 3 years of financial turmoil.  I do not support wanton police violence, I do not support a display of power over another person, I do not support subjecting someone to feeling inferior as a result of a broken system.  But, this being said, I can't feel good about these movements.

You would call me the 99%.  That's what I would be on paper.  No denying it.  It's who I and my family are.  I've had some lucky breaks and many, many blessings.  But, I attribute this to good decisions, not the failing of others.  This is where I separate myself from those who claim a down trodden existence at the whim and legislation of wall street.   But, what do I know.  I'm not in their shoes...

I also support the clearing out of the camps by the municipalities.  I feel these places have become a refuge for those who take advantage of the outcries of those in desperation.  A place festering with feces, drugs, and criminal activity.  It's fitting and somewhat poetic these camps foster crimes in which the citizens report to the police who, later on, force them from their confines.  A symbiotic relationship, like star wars...just not as cool. But, I support their First Amendment rights.

A reason companies excel and capitalism thrives, is due to organization, planning, and implementation.  A Strategic, Attainable, and Measurable (SAM) goal.  A force of research, options, and mostly a business plan.  This is what moves things forward.  It seems these SAM goals and plan of action is absence in the movement.  Perhaps they should establish an Executive Council, or appoint someone to be CEO of the group.  Another person who can handle the general operations from day to day...we'll call this person a COO. And someone to handle all meetings with the press, I don't know, how about a PR person.  And someone else to stream it all online, an IT guru. Oh, but someone must handle international efforts.  This is, after all, global.  Or is this just what happens when the boomer generation of hippies finds they have not planned for the future.

To garner more than 1% of public support of the 99%, to be against the 1%, we need to realize more needs to be communicated.  Until then, I wish you all luck in your camps as winter approaches.  Perhaps all that time hidden from the winter's chill will provide for you an opportunity to plan...for a united effort I can get on board with.  Until then, I will admit to being the 99%, but not agree to having the 1% of the 99% talking for us all.