The Occupy Idiots

By now, surely you've heard the reports of the idiots "occupying" Wall Street and Main Streets across the country. You've heard the stories of this genteel, intelligent crowd defecating on police cars, fornicating in public, running around with no clothes on, relieving themselves wherever they want, and piling up trash in public parks while they chant about corruption and inequality.

I have a few questions for the crowd. In one photo, a woman has her two school-age children at the protest with her on a Thursday afternoon. Why weren't those children in school? One of them holds a sign that says, "Big business is stealing my future." I don't think she has much of a future if her mother pulled her out of school for something this ridiculous. It's the mother who's stealing her future. The other child holds a sign that says, "How will I pay my debt?" I don't know -- go to school and learn, then get a job? You certainly won't pay it by standing around on a street corner holding stupid signs.

The newspaper reports that the top 1% "captured" more than half of all family income growth between 1993 and 2008. Even if that number is true, which I kind of doubt, who did they "capture" it from? Do you suppose it's money they earned by hard work, innovation, risk-taking, and wise investment? Surely that could have had nothing to do with it!

One protestor said her daughter "deserved as good an education as the wealthier communities." Why? My neighbor has nicer things than I do, and he can afford to send his kids to private school. Does that mean I deserve those things too?

One protestor had a large tattoo of Che Guevara on his chest. Che was the Argentianian Marxist who played a large role in the Cuban Revolution with Fidel Castro. He believed that economic inequalities were an intrinsic result of capitalism, and the only remedy was world revolution. Che was eventually executed when he tried to foment a revolution in Bolivia. Just the sort you want your children to look up to.

Some of the protestors are people complaining about having to repay student loans. I realize that it cost a huge amount of money to go to school now, but I have to wonder how many of these people made the best use of their time? Benjamin Vail is 29, and he graduated in 2008. That means he was 26 when he graduated. If it took him 8 years to graduate, that could be why he owes more than $60,000. Did he not realize when he took that money that he would be expected to repay it? At least his wife learned basic math in college. She said, "With my $40,000, we now have $100,000 in student debt." And she's surprised about that?

Martha O'Brien complains about CEO's making $15 million or $20 million a year. As long as the government isn't bailing out their companies, I don't care. It's no skin off my nose. Martha says they could be spending that money on keeping jobs in the U.S. They could, but it's their money. How would Martha like it if I told her how to spend her money?

Other protestors claim they want jobs. If that's the case, why are you here instead of out pounding the pavement? Yet I heard one man say he took time off to come for the protest and another say that he quit his job to come protest. Now that makes a lot of sense -- quit your job so you can go protest because there are no jobs.

And the biggest question of all is, do you really believe you're changing things by standing around out here griping because some people have more money than you do? If you really want to do something, go home and get a job. If you can't find a paying one, take a volunteer one until you can find something else. Many a volunteer job has turned into a paying one. But I forget, that would require that you take some personal responsibility, and you all seem to be out of that.

"Hundreds march in Occupy Dallas." The Dallas Morning News; October 7, 2011; p. 1A.