Occupying

Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) said in The Wedding Singer, "No, sir, I have no experience but I'm a big fan of money. I like it, I use it, I have a little. I keep it in a jar on top of my refrigerator. I'd like to put more in that jar."

I have a coin jar I keep. I took it once to a bank to cash it. They outsource the counting to a machine that does it automatically, yet wanted to charge me a "counting" fee. WTF. I went to the grocery store to use a coin machine to count my pennies, and they assess a fee to it as well.

Everyone wants a piece of me. EZ Pass I think is the biggest scam for charging fees, as well as museums, you know, those entities that use public funds, yet charge me an extra fee to purchase tickets over the Internet, that I pay to print out on my own???!!!

I was not sure about Occupy Wall Street/Pittsburgh. If you take a look at the signs and pictures, it seems anyone with a complaint is there, from veterans, to environmentalists, to unions. I thought it was silly; like G20, protesting just to protest (was it really about anarchy?).

But then I read an article about President Obama's job creation panel.

I cannot wrap my head around having some of the biggest assholes on this panel helping to figure out how to solve unemployment, when they themselves are the problem.

Look at D. Raja . . . we are in a recession (really, we are), hurting from high unemployment, low wages, high cost of living; and yet he is running for County Executive after outsourcing jobs in his own company. I suppose that's supposed to make us feel like he is a real businessman, and we all know having a business-attitude in the government solves everything . . . and the newspapers around here say there is no difference between Raja and Rich Fitzgerald? Really?

Getting back to Occupy . . .

I wrote last year about the 80's Steel Industry collapse, and the sense of helplessness that was felt. The deregulation of, well, everything in the 80's, led the way to corporate greed. All of a sudden, unions became weak; wages did not grow with the cost of living; workers took a backseat while CEOs lined their pockets. Is this really capitalism? According to Karl Marx it is. . .

Is it really necessary to lay off workers after making a billion dollar profit? Who is kidding who here?

I always thought in a Capitalist society, everyone benefits; and when everyone benefits, money, products, and services all increase.

Henry Ford seemed to believe that if workers are happy, the business will be more successful--he offered double wages in order to keep turnover low, and attract the best employees.

Milton Hershey built the town around his factory--houses, transportation system, schools, library, etc., all to keep his workers happy.

Bill Gates installed ping pong tables and dress however the fuck you want to, to make his employees happy.

I love the fact that many wealthy people insist they did it all themselves . . . I would like to meet a person who really did it all themselves. Taught themselves using their own handwritten books and did not use the library, school, or college; drove on their own roads; never used a hospital; kept their money under their mattresses and not in an FDIC insured bank; you get my point. Or do you?

Occupy is a movement that hits upon all that is wrong with today, mostly sacrificing the worker for money. The American Dream seems to only apply to those with a trust fund. I like it when a politician says that "we" have to start saving more.

How?

No health insurance (Start a health savings account! With what money?); college tuition rises every 8 seconds; milk and bread are almost affordable, while chicken and beef are out of the question; utilities are a fucking disgrace.

Invest in the stock market . . . you mean the one that doesn't know which way is up?

If you just stop drinking your latte mocha cappuccinos every day, you can put that money aside . . . oh my God, you're right! I would be saving like a $100 a year! Let's see, what would I be able to buy with all that fucking cash . . .

I like the eff word. It has such power to a peon like me.