[su_quote]First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.[/su_quote]
– Mahatma Gandhi
There isn’t a cohesive message coming from the protestors other than the system is rigged in favor of the top .01%. Those who think they are in control are losing their grip. They see their power and wealth slipping away. They’ve had their way for decades and will not willingly submit to a change in the existing social order. Last night Jim Cramer voiced the concerns of the .01% by saying the Occupy Wall Street protests were worrisome. They are worrisome to the moneyed interests. They are a reason for hope to the 99.9%. We are approaching our moment of truth. There is something terribly wrong with this country. A new American Revolution has begun. It is time to stop being afraid and take this country back. What happens next? The choice is ours.
– Jim Quinn (Read this http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-what-country-needs-now-hope)
But the banking elites that led these frauds have been able to do so with impunity from prosecution. Take on federal agency, the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). During the S&L debacle, the OTS made well over 10,000 criminal referrals and made the removal of control frauds from the industry and their prosecution its top two priorities. The agency’s support and the provision of 1000 FBI agents to investigate the cases led to the felony conviction of over 1,000 S&L frauds. The bulk of those convicti ons came from the “Top 100” list that OTS and the FBI created to prioritize the investigation of the worst failed S&Ls. In the ongoing crisis — which caused losses 40 times larger than the S&L debacle, the OTS made zero criminal referrals, the FBI (as recently as FY 2007) assigned only 120 agents nationally to respond to the well over one million cases of mortgage fraud that occurred annually, and the OTS’ non-effort produced no convictions of any S&L control frauds. OTS’ sister agencies, the Fed and the OCC, have the same record of not even attempting to identify and prosecute the frauds. The FDIC was better, but still only a shadow of what it was in fighting fraud in the early 1990s. If control frauds can operate with impunity from criminal prosecutions, then the perverse Gresham’s dynamic is maximized and market forces will increasingly drive honest banks and firms from the marketplace.
– Bill Black
The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street are Two Sides of the Same Coin
I am extremely disappointed by the way most people are belittling the Occupy Wall Street protests, which I firmly believe is an extraordinarily important moment in American history that will be seen as the moment when rebellion arrived on the streets of America. Despite my frustrations regarding how pretty much every commentator out there is trying to spin it negatively, this simple fact convinces me without a shadow of a doubt that this is the real deal and we are merely in the second stage of transformative change that Gandhi describes in the quote at the top. We are i n the ridicule phase. That is good since like anything else, a transformative rebellion manifests as part of a cyclical process just like anything else.
One thing that I think people are really missing is how similar Occupy Wall Street is to the early stages of Tea Party protests. Do you remember how the fake liberals dismissed that as a bunch of uneducated, racists wearing George Washington costumes? Many claimed it was “astro turf” and would die out. I recall the very day that I saw Rick Santellii on CNBC call for a new “tea party” in America. The moment that event got posted on youtube I sent it out to the entire trading floor at Bernstein saying it was the beginning of something big. People looked at me as if I was insane (as usual) and said that it was an irrelevant comment and nothing meaningful could come out of it. Fast forward a few years, here we are and not only did the Tea Party not peter out but it has become one of the most vibrant and influential political movements in America today. Those that dismissed the Tea Party most forcefully in the early days were from what I would call the “fake liberal” camp and the mainstream media (MSM). This is unsurprising because they simply did not understand it (the MSM aren’t paid to understand anything their job to help maintain the status quo and minimize and trivialize revolt). What the Tea Party represented was a rebellion within the Republican Party which had long ago sold itself out to the 0.1% financial elite class, the military industrial complex and large multi-national corporations that pay no taxes.
So now the Occupy Wall Street protests have begun and the EXACT same thing is happening. Yet this time most of the ridicule and contempt is spewing from what I would call “fake conservatives.” The MSM of course is playing their traditional role as is to be expected. Fortunately for me, I hold no attachment to any fake political party in America and I never have. I stand for a free and fair market system for the economy, for a fierce defense of Constitutional rights in all circumstances NO MATTER WHAT threat we supposedly face, and a cessation of the bruta l violence and war we perpetrate abroad. As a result of this non-partisan stance I have an excellent group of friends and contacts across the entire ideological spectrum. From this standpoint, I think I can see things for what they really are and what I am here to say is that Occupy Wall Street represents in part a rebellion within the Democratic Party (ie, the other side of the tea party coin). This is why most of the attacks are coming from the “right” side of the fake political divide. Just like the fake liberals couldn’t understand the tea party, the fake right can’t understand Occupy Wall Street. This is alright. It is all part of the process. Next they will fight us. Just like Gandhi said.
Useful Idiots
Most of the time you hear the term “useful idiots” it is used in a totally pejorative sense. I think this is wrong. A “useful idiot” is actually not really an idiot, rather it is someone who is ignorant and therefore can be manipulated by those that are not ignorant to do as they desire. I mean who reading this was not a “useful idiot” at some point? I know I was. For most of my career on Wall Street that is exactly what I was. I worked in finance but had no idea how the system actually worked. As a result of my ignorance I was v ery susceptible to much of the propaganda that was blasted in my ear overtly and subliminally for much of my life. While I have always been cynical and never fell for the garbage either political party spewed, I was ignorant about how the world works and as such I could have been a danger to myself and others. Fortunately, I finally did dig further into the matrix, took the red pill and started writing about what I learned. Eventually I decided to leave Wall Street and pursue a different path.
Ok, so is there a point to all this rambling? Of course. The point is that just because there are a lot of “useful idiots” at the Occupy Wall Street protests (just as there were at the Tea Party Protests) that doesn’t mean we should dismiss what is happening or belittle their frustrations. They are merely ships without anchors floating around aimlessly in a sea of ignorance. Rather that mock them right into the hands of bad guys that want to recreate feudalism like Michael Moore, George Soros and Warren Buffett we should educate them.
Michael Moore and Other Carpetbaggers
Let me be clear about one thing. There are plenty of disconcerting things that have emerged in the Occupy Wall Street Protests. The main threat is the clear attempt of disingenuous elites to co-opt the movement and steer the “useful idiots” right into the concentration camps. You think George Soros is an idiot? You don’t think he knows exactly what he is doing when he voices his support? He is trying to co-opt it and own it. He didn’t start anything. He is a carpetbagger of the highest order.
One of the more disturbing things I have seen is this video of Michael Moore at the protests. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l97SuV6DThQ&feature=player_embedded After watching it I was so disturbed I sent the following out to my smaller email list:
It’s great to watch all these guys that never understood the real issues and clearly still don’t attempt to co-opt the message of the Occupy Wall Street Protests for their own agendas. For those of us that have been fighting this in the trenches for years, this is the greatest risk to the movement. That some radical self-serving interests take the message over. I don’t think it will succeed but that is what has happened in history and we must be vigilant. Watch this quick video of this dangerous man, Michael Moore. When asked about ending the F ederal Reserve there is a really awkward moment and then he blurts out “END CAPITALISM.” End Capitalism Michael? Where is there capitalism. How about end crony capitalism?
My conclusion on this spectacle is the following. Either 1) He STILL hasn’t bothered to understand how things work and is just looking to be some sort of revolution rock star to stroke his own ego and childish solutions or 2) He is a crony capitalist himself and after having made millions via “capitalism” has decided like Warren Buffett, Soros and all the others he is content to shut down the opportunity to make money for others. End capitalism? Hmmmm, yep and go the planned neo-feudalism in which he is well positioned.
Whether it is 1 or 2 doesn’t matter. It is one of them and that makes him someone not to be trusted and with zero credibility in the movement and one that cannot offer real solutions. WATCH this video. This man is dangerous and must be exposed and discredited.
The key point I am trying to make here is whenever someone worth tens of millions of dollars pushes a agenda based on “end capitalism” turn and run the other way. Run as far and as fast as you can. Remember what feudalism really is. It was a system designed by the last guys to rape and pillage who then decided to shut down the random raping and pillaging once they had secured their castles. Michael Moore, George Soros, Warren Buffett and all the others have their castles and they don’t give a crap about you. Furthermore, did you see what Tiny Timmy Geit hner just said? From Bloomberg: *GEITHNER: `YOU SHOULD BE DEMANDING BETTER RESULTS’ FROM GOV’T. Don’t make me laugh. Here is the biggest insider crook on earth trying to tell us what we should want. Truly a disgusting character.
So…next time you see someone marching with an “end capitalism sign” stop that person and educate them. Explain to them why there is no capitalism, only crony capitalism and explain the financial system to them. That way we can drop the idiot part of the term and they can just become useful.
Some Good Signs
The moment I knew the Occupy Wall Street protests were the real deal was when I saw the large group around Union Square (two blocks from where I used to live) with many, many “End the Fed” signs. I don’t know much but I know Manhattan and I have never seen signs like that on the street there. So in conclusion please watch this video from a OWS protestor. People get it. This is real. Nice work kid. Enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFz1VVXsWRU&feature=player_embedded
Peace and Wisdom,
Mike
