Friday, February 25, 2011

People vs. Banks

An International Day of Protest -- Saturday, February 26

Two sites in North Carolina:

Bank of America, 421 Fayetteville St., Raleigh, NC 9:30 am - 1:30 pm

Bank of America, 8551 US Highway 29 North (corner of Wt Harris Blvd & Hwy 29 North), Charlotte, North Carolina

26 comments:

Your Friendly Neighboorhood Teahadist said...

'Course, if you folks were serious about banks you'd take all your money out of your accounts and keep it in jars. And cut up all your credit cards and checkbooks. And refuse to take out any more mortgages. Or start your own bank. Or switch over to a local currency like the one in Asheville and only patronize local busineses that follow suit. THAT would make banks sit up and take notice.

Or as a second-best solution you could limit your banking to small credit unions, and spend your energy on lobbying efforts to preserve their tax advantages against the corporate banks. Not as dramatic as the first option, but still an effective way to fight the big corporations.

But no, you won't do that, will you. You'll keep on using all the conveniences that big banks offer you at the same time as you demand they make it cheaper. Like a bunch of self-righteous, entitlement-minded, adolescents.

amjp said...

And then there's this:

RALLY TO SAVE THE AMERICAN DREAM

Pack Square Park, 60 Court Square (Map)
Asheville, NC 28801

Saturday, February 26th, 12:00 PM

Please sign up for this gathering right away!

bring it on said...

Thank you friendly teahadist - I cannot believe your comments got posted. Usually this band of leftist hate mongers likes to wallow in each others misguided opinions and leave out common sense and actual facts.

And for the record, the current wave of leadership that was elected into office in 2010 is trying to do just that - save the American dream and save America. Next step: oust the embarrassing excuse for a president in the WH.

Mike D. said...

"An International Day of Protest"


This is vile, revolting, disgusting.

Exploiting the plight of those who are being killed at the hands of ruthless dictators in the Middle East, jumping on the protest bandwagon to serve your own battle against Capitalism.

Trying to upstage and overshadow the sacrifices of true freedom fighters to serve your own partisan political purposes. It is vulgar. It is nasty. It is inhumane.

NewGuy said...

What are we supposed to be protesting?

Brushfire said...

We are protesting the destruction of the middle class in America. We are protesting the takeover by the plutocracy, and the attempt to turn America into a banana republic.
We are protesting the obscene inequality of wealth in this country.

We support the unions in Wisconsin and their right to organize.
and Mike-

Egyptians also support the unions.

NewGuy said...

Very interesting. How would you say we need to redistribute the wealth in America. George Soros, Al Gore, the Clintons and President Obama are part of the problem you speak of, right?

Mike D. said...

Brushfire,

Those who have organized and participated in these pro-union demonstrations are using the true freedom fighters in the Middle East.

These protests are intentionally corrupting the tremendous suffering of the Libyan people for political gain in an unrelated direction. Bank of America shoots you in the face for daring to exercise free expression? I can't believe you would condone such perversion of sacrifice.

It is rotten, repugnant, an insult to respect, honor, and decency, and it will backfire.

Liberal POV said...

New Guy

"Very interesting. How would you say we need to redistribute the wealth in America. George Soros, Al Gore, the Clintons and President Obama are part of the problem you speak of, right?"

Sure they are we have a two headed one party system in America controlled and owned by the banksters. Voters have no real choice.

While George Soros, Al Gore, the Clintons and President Obama maybe part of the problem they are not the biggest part.

George Soros works for open societies and huaman rights.
What's your case against George Soros? Please don't quote Beck or Right wing propaganda blogs.

How will all of the silly non issues of the conservative movement such as gays, guns, and scapegoats make any of this better?

Google Matt Tabbi and read his work on the criminals of Wall Street.

Brushfire said...

Mike D - It's all part of the same game. How do you think all those rotten corrupt dictators stayed in power for so long? Notice that they all control land underlaid with oil reserves? Saudi Arabia is our wonderful good ally even though their regime is one of the most repressive on the planet. And who is behind all the union-busting, right-wing teaparty sponsoring - Fox news propaganda in this country? Oil barons including such eminences as Koch industries. Funny coincidence that, eh?

Liberal POV said...

Brushfire

Your response to Mike is an accurate description of reality.

It amazes me the Teahadist fail to connect those dots but instead want to blame silliness( birthers, gay marriage ) and scapegoats for their own declining standards of living.

Brushfire said...

New Guy - A progressive tax code such as was proposed by Thomas Jefferson would apply to everyone. As incomes go up, tax rates increase. George Soros and Bill Clinton would not be exempt. Why should they be? What's your point?
Those particular individuals you mentioned are not part of the problem of corporate oligarchies taking over the American government and destroying our environment, because those particular individuals are trying to solve the problems.

NewGuy said...

Brushfire, you indicate that gays, guns, and scapegoats are non-issues. I couldn't agree more!! Thank you for bringing this to light!! If they are non-issues then why does the left continually bring them up? Take the gun thing for example. It is a non issue. A Constitutional Right. Yet the left continually rouses the right over this issue. Take Bloomberg in NY for example. When he sends agents to Arizona to mess with those folks he makes a non-issue an issue. Same for Lautenburg, Schumber, McCarthy and others. If they would give up on the gun thing and get on to other, more important things, perhaps this country could move in the right direction. Again, you are 100% right in the way you classify non-issues. Very thoughtful.

Mike D. said...

Brushfire,

It is not "funny", and it is not a "game". Thousands may have died in front of an advancing firing line of ruthless thugs, bravely facing death to fight for their freedom.

And you think it's a funny game.

Deplorable.

Brushfire said...

NewGuy - Where did you see that about the non-issues? I don't know what you are talking about.

Mike - Are you being deliberately obtuse? Where did you see that I think the world protests are funny? Are you deliberately ignoring the point that the corrupt and dictatorial regimes in the middle east are supported by the same oligarchy that controls the banking system, Wall Street, and the right-wing propaganda networks?

Liberal POV said...

Mike D

"And you think it's a funny game."

Brushfire's Comment

"Mike D - It's all part of the same game. How do you think all those rotten corrupt dictators stayed in power for so long? Notice that they all control land underlaid with oil reserves?"

I'm sure Brushfire has already given a well written response but where in that comment is anything being made light of?

Game
"2 a type of activity or business, esp. when regarded as a game : this was a game of shuttle diplomacy at which I had become adept.
• a secret and clever plan or trick : I was on to his little game, but I didn't want him to know."

Brushfire said...

Thank you Liberal POV. I was wondering if my meaning was really as unclear as Mike and the New Guy seemed to indicate. It appears they are engaging in straw man arguments or perhaps argument by changing the subject.

Mike D. said...

Brushfire,

You posted a picture of one guy who doesn't look even remotely Egyptian (looks like an American political activist college student, in fact), standing with his back turned to the Egyptian protesters, holding a pro-union sign, and the picture is being promoted on the United Steelworkers website, posted by "Zack Farley of Minneapolis, Minn., who describes himself as an activist — CARAG Board Member, DFL SCC Member, SD 60 GOTV Director."

This, to you, proves that "Egyptians also support the unions".

And you call me obtuse?

No, I understand your argument perfectly well, and it is absolutely disgusting that you would cheapen the sacrifice of citizens in Libya who are literally dying to be free of their dictator. You think FoxNews is a dictator. You think Dick Cheney is a dictator. You think the Koch brothers are dictators. But the truth is, you have no understanding of what true oppression is. You have no concept of true suffering.

All you know is that your people have told you that you have an opportunity to further your political goals by stealing the stage from the truly courageous freedom fighters of Egypt and Libya, and if your people say it's ok, no amount of disgust at your complicity from people like me is going to shake your defense of the truly despicable action you have chosen to defend.

Stealing the thunder and the spotlight from the Libyan and Egyptian freedom fighters to serve your own political goals, trying to pervert the message of the protesters, in the media, in the eyes of the public, to change their message into your message, to exploit their suffering and force them to fight your battles for you is a truly awful thing to do.

And that is precisely what is going on here.

I can't stop you from doing it, but I can certainly tell you that if I saw you pushing a little old lady out of the way in line at the grocery store so that you could go first, in my opinion, it would not make me lose as much respect for you as does defending this travesty.

NewGuy said...

Brushfire,

That comment was directed at Liberal POV, not you, sorry.

Brushfire said...

Mike - How does protesting injustice in my own country steal anyone's thunder?
There is a coalition of power in this country determined to create a banana republic from our once thriving democracy.
Are we supposed to knuckle under and meekly survive off the crumbs from their tables, while our rights are whittled away, because people in other countries are protesting (the same power coalition) more severe abrogations of their rights? How does that help other countries fight for justice?
Please explain how my shutting up about injustice here, helps Egyptian freedom fighters.

Mike D. said...

Brushfire,

I have already provided numerous explanations for how and why it is wrong to exploit the suffering of courageous freedom fighters for your own political gain. Regardless of what I say, you are going to turn a blind eye and continue to use these people, so I will make no further attempt to convince you that what you are engaged in is wrong.

But my giving up does not make what you are doing any less awful.

Mike D. said...

Brushfire,

Well, ok, I will try one last time.

When you want your voice heard, you have so many options available to you. You have a Constitution which protects your rights to free speech and expression. You have a voting booth which offers you generally free and fair opportunities to change your representatives. You have a police force that will unequivocally protect your Constitutional right to petition your government with your grievances. You have newspapers which allow, even encourage dissent in the form of written letters to the editor. You have access to blogs like this and many others, which offer uncensored conversation in a public arena. You have a media that is free to challenge government policy as often as it likes. Your executive branch of government is term-limited, so you cannot have a 40 year dictator. Your entire existence is protected. Your free thought is encouraged and nurtured.

The people of Libya and Egypt have none of this, though they do yearn for it.

The people of Libya and Egypt have only one valuable bargaining chip... their lives. And they are courageously laying down their lives in a gamble for freedom, a gamble which offers torture and death if it fails.

How dare you steal from them the only thing of value that they own in this world?

So your politicians do not have 100% control over all three branches at this particular moment in history. Get over it! You don't have to take away the dignity of the Libyan people and incorporate it into your arsenal! You have plenty of tools already available to you, and another election will be here next year, with the entire House of Representatives up for reelection!

Why not allow the spotlight to remain on the true victims for a little while? You will have plenty of other opportunities to grab the spotlight for yourselves.

Brushfire said...

Mike - Are we talking the same language? How do protests against injustice in the US steal ANYTHING from protesters in the mid-east?

Why should we shut up just because others have it worse? It's the same oligarchy that runs the show in ALL the countries - including the US.

What about the protesters in the UK?

Do you have the gall to tell them their protests are not legitimate? Who are you to deny me the right to protest against what I perceive as a danger to my grandchild's future?
If I called it a "teaparty" would you then approve?

Mike D. said...

Brushfire,

You and I both know perfectly well that the protests in the UK began well in advance of the Middle East uprising. The leftists in the UK have been protesting austerity measures imposed by the Cameron government for over a year.

Please don't try to play me the fool to sneak by a disingenuous comparison. We both know what those protests in the UK have been about, and we both know when they began.

We both know that the Wisconsin organized labor protests and the new bank protests are piggy-backing on the ongoing revolution in the Middle East.

And we both know how wrong it is. You just won't say it, because indecent behavior is perfectly acceptable to you, as long as it serves the purposes of your team.

The difference between us is that I'm not on a team.

Brushfire said...

Mike - The Wisconsin labor protests began when the Republicans in Wisconsin tried to pass a bill that will break the union. The Bank protests are an extension of the UK uncut protests.

To what team do you think I belong?

not Mike D or Brushfire said...

To what team do you think I belong? Brushfire

The socialist team.