Be Heard Not Just Counted

I believe that we are lied to in the open so often by so many politicians and corporations in so many different ways that people not only think it's true but automatically discount any other way of thinking. Enjoy the corp/pol Kool-Aid; it's tasty but holds no nutrition. 

Corporations and politicians have colluded to make themselves richer without regard for the potential consequences to their employees, customers, communities, and environment. And they know that keeping a separate class of people down is the only way they keep that wealth and power. (See the last 300 years of history.)

I don't want completely free education, I want equal opportunity for reasonably priced education to those that desire to make more of themselves. 

I don't want to stop paying taxes; I want those that make more to pay the same percentage I do instead of getting tax breaks that aren't available to the rest of us.

I don't want a corporation to have the ability to give gifts and money to politician's campaigns in exchange for special exemptions and considerations and call it lobbying instead of being prosecuted for bribing. 

I want banks to recognize that when we trust them with our money, we expect to be treated fairly and not to be preyed upon by nickel and diming us out of every cent they can.

I don't want free health care or even universal health care, but I do want to live my life without being afraid that my next accident could result in an insurance claim that won't be paid by the company that I PAY to insure my health, thereby sending me spiraling into debt. 

I don't want free money in my pocket. I just want less money going into the pockets of politicians and more money going into our communities. 

I don't want MY debts to be forgiven; I incurred them. But in today's economic crisis CAUSED by the banks that we owe the money to, the banks need to accept some responsibility and fault for some individual's hardship. Yes there are programs out there, but the onus is still on the indebted to deal with the bank that helped create the problem in the first place. The banks should bear the responsibility for their poor business practices that harmed so many. Instead of a fine to the SEC which amounts to a slap on the wrist, they should take some losses and admit guilt while making things right for the borrower by modifying their loans to allow people to keep their home. 

I know that my opinion differs in some respects from OWS, and I don't have all the answers, but I believe that when the system is broken and allows for these abuses to continue, then something new must be tried. I don't see how we can just put new people in the same chairs and expect different results without LOUDLY and with great emotion voicing our displeasure at the current status quo. There is NO incentive for Congress to change their ways as long as we remain quiet and complacent. 

I will always encourage people to voice their opinion in the voting booth, but it is time we voiced that opinion in the streets too so that the politicians truly understand what we want.

Be heard not just counted.