Occupying the basement?

You know, there was supposed to be a protest in Salisbury yesterday. But I’m pretty convinced the Occupy movement doesn’t have much traction, or, for that matter, a fawning press, within these local confines. I had better things to do than to cover these whiners, but one local blog and one local news station delivered short new items on the protests.

Perhaps a tactic change is in order? Well, we’re not exactly a major metropolitan area but I suspect we have a few people around who are as nuts as these people photojournalist ‘El Marco’ detailed in Denver.

It’s more than that, though. One has to ask what possible grievance these committed liberals really have? I suppose it’s because they don’t have absolute control of all the levers of power? Maybe they would like to institute a dose of fascism, allowing the businesses they choose to survive while others are crushed under the bootheel of regulations written in tandem by these chosen businesses and government bureaucrats? It’s the way we are headed under this regime.

By no means am I a fan of crony capitalism, as I think the rules should be simple and fair for everyone who wants to play. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re ExxonMobil, Walmart, or the corner store – everyone should compete on as level of a playing field as possible. It’s why America was enough of a land of opportunity for ExxonMobil and Walmart to get to their level, but apparently somebody wants to close the door now that they’re safely inside.

There’s something to like about the idea of protest, as the Occupy movement is billed as the flip side of the TEA Party protests – well, TEA Party protesters tend not to get arrested, deal drugs, copulate (willingly or not) in sleeping bags, or trash their surroundings, yet the idea is sort of the same – but there’s the question of identity.

People may not have agreed with every facet of the TEA Party’s demands and their use of our Constitutional right to peaceably assemble, but the TEA Party’s theory of restoring power to the people resonated with a large number of voters. On the other hand, the narcissistic entitlement mentality of the Occupy movement abuses that right of assembly by trashing its surroundings and committing violence in the name of exerting their rights. Anyone walking by Zuccotti Park may wonder what they are getting into, although by many accounts pedestrian traffic is being driven away thanks to the garbage and smell.

Fortunately, the Salisbury protest was of much shorter duration and peaceful – perhaps thanks to the watchful eye of the law. But for how much longer?

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.