Dear OWS Protesters:
First, I want to commend you for having the guts to “take on the man.” Your voices have been heard and you’ve made your points. I say “voices” and “points” because those were many. Since you have had no unified goals or leadership it’s been difficult to tell just what you were trying to accomplish at times. Again, congratulations on having the courage to take a risk and protest.
Having said that…
You have worn out your welcome. While you’ve been touting how you’ve been keeping the parks and other such public places where you have been occupying clean, you’ve kept others from enjoying the public places you’ve taken over. Not only that but some of your brethren in other cities have taken to assaulting police officers and one of your ilk in New York assaulted a member of the NYC EMS (Social Medic covered that here). We get it: You’re angry because you spent student loan money getting a Masters degree in underwater basket weaving and now can’t find a job making $100,000 per year.
Here’s a reality check: I took out student loans to become a paramedic. I’m still paying those off and will be for at least a few more years. I also don’t make nearly $100,000 per year. I work a full time job, have a part time job and I’m also a volunteer when I have the time. Why should you get anything handed to you when you don’t seem to want to work for it? Some of you have said you want a check at a “living wage” regardless of employment status I resent that. Why should I have to work for you to sit on your tail so you can surf Twitter all day, lamenting that your latte from Starbucks was made incorrectly?
I pay for enough people who don’t need public assistance yet get it anyway as it is. Don’t add to my problems.
You say you hate big business, yet you have no problems using your iPhones, Blackberrys and Android phones to shout your views. You do realize that all of that money went to a corporation, right? Whichever cell provider whose 3G or 4G you used is also a big corporation. The fast food you ate, yes even the Starbucks? All of the money you spent goes to a corporation. All you did during these protest was line pockets of the companies you seem to despise. You know what they’re doing?
Laughing all the way to the bank.
The success or failure of your mission will be the topic of debate in the coming weeks. If my opinion matters, I say you failed, mainly from a lack of vision, leadership, unification and hypocrisy. I will be glad to see you go. Yes, you have the right to assemble. Go ahead and do it again, it’s your right. However, you don’t have the right to clog our streets and otherwise disrupt our lives. You also don’t have the right to assault police officers and paramedics.
If you really want to make a difference, make something of yourselves. Stop blaming everyone else for your bad decisions and laziness.
