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Viewing all posts tagged "Occupy Wall Street"
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As of 8:30am this morning, there were about 100 people “occupying” the public park area outside One Liberty Plaza (Edit: It’s not public, but the owners gave permission, see comment below). The massive NYPD presence is ringing the area without much to do. It’s close to several food vendor trucks and is generally a nice spot to enjoy one’s lunch al fresco, though it’s rather cool and drizzly today, so I doubt they are displacing anyone. It kind of looks like the saddest Phil & Friends show ever.
Foot traffic by the NYSE is being heavily regulated by metal guide barriers, and people seem generally pissed that the trains which normally stop there are not running south of Fulton. Multiple entrances to most buildings have been closed off, and one must show a building ID to get inside. Interestingly, I did *not* see the standard SWAT cops with assault weapons scattered around. The visible NYPD presence is wearing regular cop uniforms.
All in all, there aren’t enough protesters to cause much more than a nuisance, but the city’s protective measures are certainly a pain in the ass to the people who work here. And FYI - we’re not all grossly overcompensated executives or traders.
Disclaimer: I fully support people’s right to peaceably assemble and protest whatever they want. I personally think that the “protest now, figure out our cause later… via Facebook” idea reeks of contrived populism with a dash of ironic “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house,” but I probably would have found the idea romantic in my high school days, too.
One reason I came to work in this industry - with my degrees in Political Science and Economics, and a specialization in International Relations with respect to developing economies - is because of a desire to understand the overwhelming complexity of the global financial/political ecosystem, and to act to make that system a more compassionate one when possible. In my years on The Street I’ve taken a variety of steps to make my small universe of influence accountable to a resonable ethical standard, and beyond that I’ve selfishly absorbed as much information as possible about why the status quo is what it is.
I’m of the opinion that committing one’s life to understanding this shit is hard; sleeping on the street for a while is not only easy, but creates the appearance of an adversarial “outsider” citizenry that is not a critical (and often willing) participant in the system itself. I have no further intention of explaining or defending my admittedly jaded view of the Occupy Wall Street folks.
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Bearish trader on BBC News says the markets are run by fear and Goldman Sachs. Hilarity ensues.
Nothing this guy says is new or surprising. What’s noteworthy is that the media is so scripted that the only thing they know to push is UP UP UP. When it’s quite clear that things are going in the opposite direction, people should certainly follow the institutions and put their money elsewhere. The rub is that getting on the short side of the market is hard for “normal” people (or impossible, if they don’t meet arbitrary “account minimums”), and they’re actively told not to do anything “too risky” by shitty financial adivsors and the complicit news media.
I can’t stop LOLing - I love this guy; what an dick. He’s clearly contrarian and just trying to stir up shit with his 30 seconds of soundbite, just like all the other douches telling you everything-is-going-to-be-fine-don’t-call-us-we’ll-call-you. The assholes worth fighting, though, are those perpetuating the “put your money in mutual funds and hope for the best” people - they guys that dissuade the populous from thinking and educating themselves about how the markets actually function… i.e. obviously everyone else these anchors have ever spoken to.
HEY WALL STREET PROTESTY PEOPLE: Still looking for a cause that might actually **change** something? Raise awareness of the impossibility of “Main Street” to protect themselves in a down market, and the continuing lie we’re all told about the security of Mutual Funds. The vast majority of mutual funds working class Americans have access to are long only. The minority of long-short funds are still the domain of hedge funds and private asset management. They essentially serve as never ending pools of input money that gets sucked out by the people with the ability to take the other side of a trade. Somebody get me some cardboard and a sharpie, this could use a sign.
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WikiLeaks Mobile Information Collection Unit, parked on the Lower East Side in NYC (via @alexsotirov)
aka Most awkward friend ever to ask for help moving into your new apartment.
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To all Occupy Wall Street Participants, here is your key to victory
From Reddit, where the comments are also worth reading:
Guys, listen. Here’s the deal.
I love you guys with every shred of my hard-left leaning heart. But I think you might be doing something wrong. Here is one thing that can help you.
Tomorrow, wear a polo and khakis
Seriously. polos and khakis. Every time you guys DO finally get some fucking press, it’s a scrawny dude with dreads in a ratty t-shirt. You’re going big here, dress it. Tomorrow, Polo shirt and Khakis.
Why? Because you need to get the right-leaning equivalent of me on your side. I’m 35 right now. I understand where the hippy thing comes from. I get it as well as a guy who’s 35 can. My Counterparts do not. They think you are scummy druggies on welfare and when they see on tv a bunch of people who they think are S.D’s on W, they root for the cops to hit you again.
Speaking of the cops, Who do you think they’ll mace first? SD’s on W, or a guy in khakis and a polo? Seriously, it’s fucking cop camouflage. And if they DO come for you. When people at home see PEOPLE THAT LOOK LIKE THEMgetting abused by police… That’s when shit changes.
Seeing protesters get beat up means nothing because protesters get beat up all the time. Therefore, don’t look like a protester! This connects you to the person watching and opens them to your side!
So for serious. Do it. You’re almost about to tip this thing over. Polos and khakis. Cop Camo + target audience = Shave, shower and polos and khakis.
TL;DR: Polo shirt and Khakis = dress code for nyc protests tomorrow.
Do it.
Edit: Going to bed soon, one more thing before I turn it over to all of you.
Please spread this as much as you can. Professionalism will help push this thing over the edge. You have labor pushing you. National Media is starting to wake up to you. You’re almost there. Keep pushing.
Think: Business Casual Friday. Don’t play it up like the Billionaires for healthcare. You’re just a guy, going to work in this big office building here.
Even if you don’t think that you SHOULD be judged on appearances (which I do agree), You have to realize that you ARE. Fight the appearance fight another day. Polos and khakis.
Do it.
Yes! This!
And how about we upgrade the signs … Get some white posterboard (New Yorkers learn to ignore people with chicken-scratch cardboard signs as it is, make it look like you tried…)
…And put some *innovative thoughts* on there.
For example, did you know that interest rate derivatives trading (largely blamed for the 2008 worldwide market clusterfuck) grew 29% in 2010, surpassing pre-2008 financial crisis levels?
Or how about the fact that of the 3905 Domestic Equity funds listed on the Fidelity Fund screener (a good mutual fund resource for Normal People), <2% allow the use of short selling to hedge for market downturns?
…Trufax.
Pose a real question. Start an actual dialog. Yes?
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So I went for post-work meeting drinks at Trinity Place last night and left about 8:40. Tried briefly to get to the J/Z at Wall Street, but ran into an immovable group of people at the corner shown in the video. Everybody was tense because the cops put up metal barricades and stopped people from freely crossing Broadway. The officers were gruff in telling me where to go until they looked at me and, completely based on my work clothes, suggested I go around the back of the crowd. Rather than walk out of my way, I decided to cut through Zuccotti Park up to Fulton, instead. Less than 5 minutes later, this.
It’s difficult to not vent rage on both sides lately. I pretty much live [physically and ideologically] in the middle of this mess. Grr. -
Having previously participated in protests which marched over the Brooklyn Bridge, I was not surprised to hear about the arrests of Occupy Wall Street protesters in the roadway of the bridge. You’re not allowed to block traffic with any protest, especially a bottleneck. Is it “restrictive of your right to protest?” Perhaps somewhat, but I don’t think a side effect of demonstrating dissent should be to totally screw your fellow citizens’ commute. They have just as much “right” to the public roads as you do, so let’s all share, no?
The video is pretty clear. A group of protesters come to a halt at the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge roadway. There a cop tells them that if they continue walking, they will be arrested. The group continues walking. Within the next couple of hours hundreds of people are arrested.
We can debate the fairness of this police action. It seems if the police wanted to prevent the protesters from walking on the road they could’ve put up a barrier. People in the back of the procession couldn’t have heard the police officer’s warning; some may have willingly retreated. At the same time, the lead protesters knew they were guiding their comrades into illegal territory.
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Two marines talk about why they’re at Occupy Wall Street (ending the U.S. involvement in overseas wars and struggling to find jobs after returning despite having university degrees) and respond to Sean Hannity’s statement that the protesters are unamerican. “I’d tell Sean Hannity to Fuck Off.”
Pretty good stuff.
I’m glad to see people of varying walks of life getting inspired enough to come out and make their voices heard. Perhaps we can start working on Occupying Washington and stop misdirecting this dialog at one single industry that, while certainly not angelic, is only a part of the problem.
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Full series is here.
Faces of Occupied Wall Street #6
Robin Sage, who works on Wall Street, protesting at Liberty Park.
Drawn on arches paper.
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(via ThinkProgress)
Hey, my necessarily complex sign ideas are catching on!*
Of course, this one is a little bit like protesting the barn door being open long after the horse was turned into glue, but we can still be angry about it.
And (this started as a post in favor of the image, but I realize it’s deteriorating quickly) in most cases the buyers were aware that they were buying the loans more likely to default, because that’s why the bundle came with a higher rate of return. (Though because of the utter lies of the credit rating agencies, they didn’t know how MUCH more likely…)
The problem was the mass delusion that house prices would continue to increase, so that even if the homeowner couldn’t pay, the bank which foreclosed on the house would still hold an asset worth more than it was initially. It’s not dissimilar to the 1980s Michael Milken junk bond scandals (in that people were willing to buy things they knew were shit, because the potential return was that lucrative), though here the mark-to-market pricing and very opaque credit rating process caused a large gap between the real and perceived risk of the CMO. Also, the whole economic ripple effect when one domino started to fall didn’t help.
Still, two thumbs up for this woman!
*I am aware I had nothing to do with this
Don’t mention that participles are not to end sentences with…
Don’t mention that participles are not to end sentences with…
Don’t mention that participles are not to end sentences with… -
I haven’t seen a print copy yet, but I believe the article is here.
Occupy Wall Street
Photography Jamie Chung. Spray Art Justin Metz
Another great cover from the folks at BBW.
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Students for Liberty: Occupation or Education?
My friend from way-on-back in middle school is quoted in this article which presents a Libertarian perspective on Occupy Wall Street.
It’s been odd for me to read posts from so many political camps and notice that I agree with different things from different sources. I find the marriage of one social ideology with one fiscal ideology to be somewhat difficult when it comes to associating with a party.
At any rate - the article is a succinct and well presented piece. Do click through. :)
The demonstrators have rightly noticed that the problems that politicians claimed to have solved are worse than ever. Corporations seem to have even more power than before, while debt and unemployment are crushing the middle class. The problem, however, is not that democracy failed, but that it succeeded. The Wall Street protesters need to realize that it is that the government’s well-intentioned efforts to help the poor and middle class that has lead to the situation we are in today. We suffer from a system of unbridled democracy, not one of unbridled capitalism. Whether it is raising the minimum wage and driving up unemployment, trapping the poor in dependence on welfare, empowering Wall Street by regulating it, or subsidizing homeownership with low interest rates, it has been the determined efforts of politicians to give the voters what they want that has delivered the miserable the results that people are so fed up with today. Democracy delivered the programs voters wanted, but not the results they expected.
Based on Postage by Greg Cooper. Everything heavily modified by me.
*Unlikely to find your lost post using this but you can try...
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