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Occupy Wall Street Archive

Friday

24

February 2012

0

COMMENTS

The (Opportunity) Cost of Occupying

Written by , Posted in General/Misc.

As if the direct toll of the Occupy movement wasn’t enough, even the opportunity costs are proving deadly. As it turns out, forcing scarce police resources to deal withviolent, petulant outbursts means there are fewer such resources available for protection of law abiding, tax paying citizens.

67-year-old man who called police about an intruder on his property was beaten to death in front of his wife 13 minutes later because authorities were too busy with Occupy Oakland to respond to the request.

Peter Cukor, from Berkeley, was allegedly murdered by Daniel Jordan Dewitt, 23, a local man known to have mental health problems, around 9pm on Saturday night.

Mr Cukor initially called a non-emergency line after seeing Dewitt lurking on his property.

A source close to the case said an officer noticed the call on his computer and offered to check it out but was told not to as officers were being dispatched only to high-priority calls.

The 67-year-old then walked to a nearby fire station for help but no one was there. It was upon his return he was confronted by the intruder.

Shortly after, Mr Cukor’s wife heard him shouting for help and called 911 after seeing the suspect hitting her husband again and again over the head with a ceramic plant pot.

Thursday

22

December 2011

0

COMMENTS

Forget the 99%, Occupiers Representing Just the One: 'Me'

Written by , Posted in Culture & Society

The Frontier Lab conducted an in-depth look at the motivations of Occupiers. The investigation looked at the values behind their protest, and what they found was almost universal selfishness:

While their rhetoric might decry crony capitalism and bank bailouts, their values reveal self-centered and fear-based motivation.

…their values focus on their own individual fears and desires, rather than on those of others.

…Many in the media and political worlds have made inaccurate conclusions about the Occupy movement because their assessments, so far, have been based on the movement’s superficial attributes – its signs and its slogans – rather than its participants’ values.

By concentrating solely on the surface level pronouncements of the Occupy movement, one can easily be fooled, as the core Occupiers’ motivation hinges less on the political ends than on emotional, self-directed fulfillment.

This would certainly explain what happens in this video from Accuracy in Media, as donations for the real homeless are solicited from an Occupy camp (Hat-tip: Big Government):

“We take.” Indeed.

Tuesday

1

November 2011

1

COMMENTS

You Can't Make This Stuff Up: OWS Wants Trademark Protection

Written by , Posted in Free Markets

The anti-capitalist crusaders of Occupy Wall Street want capitalist protections for their capitalist ventures:

In an application dated October 24, the unincorporated association “Occupy Wall Street” applied for the trademark to “Occupy Wall Street.” The trademark application says the group would like to use the phrase on merchandise such as clothing and bags, in periodicals and newsletters, and on a website featuring “photographic, audio, video and prose presentations” about the Occupy movement.

The Occupy group has been screen-printing t-shirts and other items in Zuccotti Park, and plans to continue doing so once it has trademark protection, according to a representative.

I’ll just let that one sink in.

Thursday

27

October 2011

4

COMMENTS

Free Loaders Against Free Loading

Written by , Posted in Culture & Society

Occupy Wall Street free loaders who demand that the rest of us pick up the tab for their student loans, among other things, don’t much like it when others free load off them:

The Occupy Wall Street volunteer kitchen staff launched a “counter” revolution yesterday — because they’re angry about working 18-hour days to provide food for “professional homeless” people and ex-cons masquerading as protesters.

For three days beginning tomorrow, the cooks will serve only brown rice and other spartan grub instead of the usual menu of organic chicken and vegetables, spaghetti bolognese, and roasted beet and sheep’s-milk-cheese salad.

They will also provide directions to local soup kitchens for the vagrants, criminals and other freeloaders who have been descending on Zuccotti Park in increasing numbers every day.

…Some protesters threatened that the high-end meals could be cut off completely if the vagrants and criminals don’t disperse.

Unhappiness with their unwelcome guests was apparent throughout the day.

“We need to limit the amount of food we’re putting out” to curb the influx of derelicts, said Rafael Moreno, a kitchen volunteer.

That doesn’t sound very egalitarian and socialist of them. Why, it’s almost like they believe people have the right to control their property as they see fit!

Friday

21

October 2011

0

COMMENTS

Occupiers: We Want Jobs, Down With Job Creators!

Written by , Posted in Economics & the Economy

Sounds nonsensical, but that’s exactly the message one is forced to take when this latest #Occupy stunt is added to their other proclamations:

Occupy DC,” an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement, swarmed Union Station Thursday night to protest a speech by Wal-Mart Chairman Rob Walton at an event hosted by the non-profit advocacy group Conservation International. Union Station is Washington, D.C.’s train terminal, located just blocks from the Capitol.

Protesters chanted, “We are the 99 percent” while letting balloons loose. Station security attempted to stop the balloons from reaching the train terminal’s iconic high ceiling.

…Two activists in the crowd told TheDC that they were volunteering their time to speak out against Conservation International’s connections to corporations.  According to Forbes, Walton’s net worth exceeds $21 billion.

Damn that Wal-Mart! How dare they create all those jobs, provide affordable goods and raise our standard of living. No one should ever associate with such cretins…we demand social justice!

Wednesday

19

October 2011

0

COMMENTS

One of Those Stories You Can’t Make Up

Written by , Posted in Economics & the Economy

It’s hard to express how many levels this story hits on:

Occupy Wall Street protesters said yesterday that packs of brazen crooks within their ranks have been robbing their fellow demonstrators blind, making off with pricey cameras, phones and laptops — and even a hefty bundle of donated cash and food.

“Stealing is our biggest problem at the moment,” said Nan Terrie, 18, a kitchen and legal-team volunteer from Fort Lauderdale.

Eighteen year-old legal volunteers are always comforting.

“I had my Mac stolen — that was like $5,500. Every night, something else is gone. Last night, our entire [kitchen] budget for the day was stolen, so the first thing I had to do was . . . get the message out to our supporters that we needed food!”

A $5,500 Mac?!? What idiot would bring a $5,500 computer to a freaking protest?

Crafty cat burglars sneaked into the makeshift kitchen at Zuccotti Park overnight and swiped as much as $2,500 in donated greenbacks from right under the noses of volunteers who’d fallen asleep after a long day whipping up meals for the hundreds of hungry protesters, the volunteers said.

“The worst thing is there’s people sleeping in the kitchen when they come, and they don’t even know about it! There are some really smart and sneaky thieves here,” Terrie said.

…

Security volunteer Harry Wyman, 22, of Brooklyn was furious about the thievery — and vowed to get tough with the predatory perps.

“I’m not getting paid, but I’m not gonna stand for it. Why people got to come here and do stupid stuff? All it does is make people not wanna come here anymore,” Wyman fumed.

Wow, just wow. It’s too bad Wyman can’t see that he, the OWS crowd, and high-tax loving politicians are the bigger thieves, making businesses “not wanna come” to the US economy anymore.

Sunday

16

October 2011

2

COMMENTS

Tea Party, OWS Congruence Greatly Overstated

Written by , Posted in Liberty & Limited Government

Some, particularly libertarians who can find at least some ideological agreement in either group, think there is hope for the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street (and its various offshoots) to work together somehow. They base this off an assessment of common ground expressed by this image:

Obviously it’s difficult generalizing movements that have significant diversity of views even within their membership, and the OWS crowd is particularly difficult to pin down. But insofar as their views can even be deciphered, the image seems a fairly accurate representation. But it’s also incredibly misleading.

Yes, there is overlap in what folks are upset about, but there is virtually none in the proposed solutions. Consider the same image with the logical solutions added. The Tea Party side would read, “The government has way too much power, so it should be reduced and the government should therefore be smaller.” And the Occupier side would read, “Large corporations have too much power, so it should be reduced through greater regulation, and thus a bigger government.” There is no common ground here, because the prescriptions are exactly the opposite of one another.

Occupy Wall Street is a big government movement at a time when big governments are imploding the world over. It is the last gasp of a dying ideology, lashing out in rage at its own impotence in the face of necessary cuts in government spending. They are the American equivalent of violent Greek protesters incapable of accepting the inherent internal contradictions of large welfare states that were behind the nation’s insolvency. Pretending that advocates for limited government can work with these people in any way, shape or form is an exercise in self-delusion.

Wednesday

12

October 2011

0

COMMENTS

OWS Creates Unsanitary Conditions at NYC Park

Written by , Posted in Energy and the Environment

The flea bagger party has rendered Zuccotti Park unsanitary. While the Tea Party was noteworthy for it’s careful stewardship of protest locations, even going so far as leaving them cleaner than when they arrived, the so-called environmentalists on the left are trashing their environment.

Officials say Bloomberg visited with protesters Wednesday to tell them of plans to clean Zuccotti Park by the end of the week. Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway said in a statement the protest has “created unsanitary conditions and considerable wear and tear on the park.”

The park is owned by Brookfield Properties, which has asked the police commissioner for help from the NYPD to clear the park so it can be cleaned.

It turns out that smelly hippies are bad for environmental health.

Sunday

9

October 2011

0

COMMENTS

About Me

profileI serve as Vice President of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a non-profit think tank dedicated to preserving tax competition and free markets. This site features my personal views, which are not reflective of CF&P.

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