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The Nation's Pulse

The World Doesn’t Owe You a Living

By on 10.11.11 @ 6:07AM

Some grandfatherly advice for the permanently aggrieved.

When I think about the Occupy protests in New York, Washington, D.C., and here in Boston (as well as in other cities across this country) I think about what my maternal grandfather used to tell me and my siblings. In his deep, authoritative baritone he would exclaim, “The world doesn’t owe you a living.”

Now I don’t want to leave anyone with the impression that my grandfather was speaking harshly or was anything less than generous with us. Quite the contrary, he would spoil us during my grandparents’ annual visits, giving us liberal helpings of gum, candy bars, and potato chips. Occasionally he would sing, “Roses are red, violets are blue, honey is sweet and so are you.” On our birthdays, he would send us cards accompanied by a crisp Canadian $20 bill. I even remember the handwriting on the envelopes. It would be written in block letters. I wasn’t addressed merely as Aaron Goldstein but rather as MASTER AARON GOLDSTEIN. He made us feel important.

So when Granddad told us the world didn’t owe us a living, I think it was his way of saying that the world wasn’t going to be gum, candy bars, and potato chips forever. After all, it was at the age of fifteen that Granddad went to work in the coal mines in Alberta’s Crowsnest Pass. Despite the dangers of working underground, Granddad was undoubtedly fortunate to find employment during the Great Depression. At its height in June 1933, the Canadian unemployment rate was nearly 20%. He would be eventually promoted to pit boss and remained in the mines for 43 years. Those 43 years represented more than half his lifetime.

I think I can say with certainty that Granddad was hardly the only grandfather to tell his grandchildren the world doesn’t owe them a living. Yet when I think about the twentysomethings occupying Zuccotti Park, Freedom Plaza, and Dewey Square, I wonder if their grandfathers ever imparted such wisdom. Considering the advocacy of things such as a guaranteed living wage and a free college education, chances are they didn’t hear this from their grandfathers or for that matter from anyone else.

Of course, one could make the case that even if these people had been told the world doesn’t owe them a living; it would be like speaking a language they cannot possibly understand. I suspect that many of the occupiers were told by their professors, their parents, and even their grandparents that they have a right to a job, to a home and to free health care, to education and for that matter to clean air.

My grandfather was certainly sympathetic to the labor movement when it came to concepts like the eight-hour day or a day’s pay for a day’s work. But that’s just it. You still had to put in your eight hours. You still had to do a day’s work. You still had to earn your keep. The occupiers leave me with the impression that they want something for nothing.

I don’t doubt that some of the occupiers have accumulated a considerable debt from student loans and haven’t been able to find the means to pay it off. But it’s difficult to see how camping out in the city square is going to improve their long-term employment prospects. I realize that finding a job in this current economic state is far from an easy task. Yet I honestly wonder how hard these people have been actually looking for work. How many jobs have they actually applied for? How many job interviews have they received? As Herman Cain said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal last week, “Don’t blame Wall Street! Don’t blame the big banks! If you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself!”

Not surprisingly, Cain was excoriated for his candor. ThinkProgress called his statement “especially heartless,” while Al Sharpton questioned his “blackness.” At his blog Freedom Writing, David Goodloe writes:

The vast majority of the unemployed are not to blame for their plight, and it is to Cain’s everlasting shame that he does blame them.

What’s next? Will he blame the sick and the handicapped for their conditions? Will he blame the elderly for coming down with maladies that typically affect older people?

All of which completely misses the point. Cain’s statement isn’t a matter of the heart, isn’t a matter of race, nor is it evidence that he blames the elderly and the sick for their afflictions. It’s just another way of saying the world doesn’t owe you a living.

Let me put it another way. Do unemployed youth stand a better chance of attaining employment if they spend their time applying for jobs or by spending their time occupying a patch of grass, be it on Wall Street or Main Street?

Again, I fully realize that finding a job in Obama’s America isn’t an easy task. The doors of opportunity don’t open readily and sometimes the government sees fit to keep them closed. When they do open, some people get to enter sooner than others and not everyone advances to the top. Sometimes it’s a question of sheer good luck. So capitalism isn’t always fair. But unlike socialism, capitalism isn’t intended to be perfect and that’s a good thing. A system geared toward perfecting an imperfect people does not work. To paraphrase Winston Churchill’s quote on democracy, “Capitalism is the worst economic system, except for all those other systems that have been tried from time to time.”

So those who currently reside in Zuccotti Park, Freedom Plaza, Dewey Square and elsewhere filled with the desire that capitalism be abolished should be careful for what they wish because they probably won’t like what they get. They might find out that starting a revolution won’t guarantee them a living.

About the Author

Aaron Goldstein writes from Boston, Massachusetts.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (141) |

Kitty| 10.11.11 @ 6:22AM

I wonder how many of these protesters are old enough to remember what life was like behind the Iron Curtain? The 1984 movie "Moscow On the Hudson" is still a great, and funny, reminder of that time. It's remembered for its comedy -- Robin Williams defecting in Bloomingdales -- but it has its moments of pathos, too.

Aaron Goldstein| 10.11.11 @ 8:19AM

I remember seeing it when it was released. I There was that scene towards the end of the movie where Williams' is buying a hot dog and is startled to see his old KGB handler running the stand. It turns out he defected too. Even though the reviews were mixed I liked that movie.

PolishKnight| 10.11.11 @ 9:09AM

My Ukrainian wife cried during the first part of the movie. It hit close to home. The movie was actually filmed in Munich but it still had an eastern European feeling.

Nonetheless, she is also honest and says that there were good things about communism which should be acknowledged. Most people were equal or at least they felt equal. Here in the states, there are expensive stores that offer luxurious goods that tempt people to overspend and splurge. When there's a line at every store, people learned to make do with what they had. I'm not saying that's perfect but it was what it was. The protestors of the old USSR didn't have IPods or IPads or luxury goods produced by capitalism to gripe about it.

PhilTheCapitalistPig| 10.11.11 @ 11:30AM

I think Winston Churchill sums up what you've said with, "The inherent vice of capitalism is the uneven division of blessings, while the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal division of misery." -- Winston Churchill

Sheila| 10.11.11 @ 11:34AM

Excellent quote. There's no one like Churchill left today, anywhere in the anglosphere. Decline and fall.

Alan Brooks| 10.11.11 @ 7:57PM

"Excellent quote. There's no one like Churchill left today, anywhere in the anglosphere. Decline and fall."

In other words, the days of Reagan are over as well, so you merely go through the motions of finding a decent POTUS.

Alan Brooks| 10.12.11 @ 2:20AM

No one on this board can match my mindlessly ranting, no one !

Drunken Sailor| 10.12.11 @ 9:52AM

I think you take a back seat to Post America. Your a distant second.

PolishKnight| 10.11.11 @ 12:38PM

Certainly the unequal division of blessings is going on in modern Ukraine and Russia today with oligarchs cruising up and down the Volga on superyachts. It's quite understandable that many Russians may be nostalgic for the Soviet times when a basic standard of living, even "misery" by our standards, was guaranteed.

I told a libertarian capitalist friend of mine that a private healthcare plan here in the states cost about 5 to 10 grand a year and even then, when you had a child, that could be another 2 to 4 grand in hospital bills. He was shocked. Again, this is a system of various dysfunctional elements in the health care system ultimately harming the consumer: the trial lawyers, medical schools, illegal aliens, racial and gender quotas, etc. that cause an aspirin to cost $10 on a medical bill.

I'm not intending to be nihilist or just pick a fight, but these issues need to be addressed. Simply hanging a banner on free market capitalism, horrah!, isn't much different than slavish socialists worshiping a far off utopia.

The Obama Timeline | 10.13.11 @ 5:56PM

For the record, we do not enjoy free market capitalism in the United States. I can guarantee that in a free market, where government does not force insurers to load up policies with coverage most people neither need nor want, the premiums would be far cheaper than $10,000 per year.

A high-deductible, no frills policy is not expensive. Unfortunately, the federal and state governments make it illegal for insurers to offer such policies - and it will be worse under ObamaCare.

Kitty| 10.11.11 @ 9:29AM

I wore bout my VHS copy and now have it on DVD. The song Freedom, sung by Chaka Khan, is still one of my favorites.

Alan Brooks| 10.11.11 @ 1:55PM

Goldstein,
America is now a bigger welfare state than Russia ever was- so 'Moscow On The Hudson' is old. We are big statist because of our gerontocracy, including you and your dear old departed kin.
Your oversight is in not knowing how hypocrisy is permissible; but only when the proles are unaware.
Now they are vaguely aware. They don't know the score yet they know something is wrong.

Your people were aided by the state but you are too cowardly to admit the world owes you and your's nothing.

Stan Redmond| 10.11.11 @ 3:06PM

gerontocracy. You learned a new word, or made one up. Very good.

Though I have no idea what you're rambling on about.

Brubaker| 10.11.11 @ 4:48PM

I think he must work at being incoherent.

Alan Brooks| 10.11.11 @ 4:57PM

Youths transfer their funds to old folks such as Goldstein's grandpappy. What, you're not going to write that Gramps didn't get tons of dough from govt?
No one is fooled anymore- you sell mags but go nowhere with your politics..

Alan Brooks| 10.11.11 @ 5:10PM

...All I want is Goldstein to scan copies of his granddad's financial records petaining to what he received from govt.
Then we'll see who is ungrateful.

axbucxdu| 10.11.11 @ 11:05PM

Out of the park. Can we sign you up for the Phillies next season?

Ed| 10.11.11 @ 3:51PM

Hi Kitty -- Thanks for jogging my memory. "Moscow on the Hudson" was one of those sleeper films that stays with you.

Erica Brigid| 10.11.11 @ 6:47AM

First of all, the world doesn't owe the banks and big corporations a living. It's the banks and corporations who are demanding the bailouts, and not the kids who went into hock to get a career-promising education only to have America renege on their side of the bargain.

tsd| 10.11.11 @ 7:05AM

A career promising education, are you kidding. Education in the US today in most cases prepares you to protest, it does not prepare you to get a job and earn a living. The liberals running our education system are a bunch of right to this, right to that, entitlement pushing morons who never earned a living in the real world. The banks and corporations can get fixed... not so sure about the education system and it's over educated morons.

Occam's Tool| 10.11.11 @ 12:08PM

Gosh, I don't know. I worked hard, got my scholarships, got my MD, worked hard, and still work hard. I am on 24 hour call 8 days out of every 14, and work 12 straight days, then two off. My vacations, almost always, are worked into my off call week. My late 20s were spent in 80-100/hr a week training, and then I was a rural shrink on call 12 straight days 24 hours/day for an inpatient unit with 2 days off for years.

I do get these guys. I thought I was a slacker.

Occam's Tool| 10.11.11 @ 12:08PM

I don't get these guys, I mean. By the way, Sheila, Churchill was a Zionist, and his closest scientific advisor was a Jew.

Jim| 10.11.11 @ 1:36PM

As a college student taking five classes with four hours of sleep every day I believe your generalization is founded in ignorance and hostility towards a system you may not agree with. That being said id like to know what your degree and major were, what job you hold today, your annual income, and whether your own employer required college in order for you to be hired.

Taking a reductionist view that the educational system is simply a product of failed liberal experimentation is rediculous, college students are getting into STEM fields and are the drivers of the economy and the next generation of innovation. College allows for critical thinking and the challenging of norms, liberal, AND conservative thought. I don't know when it became a mortal sin to demand not entitlement but a fair opportunity for those who work hard to get a job.

The flaws in our education system come from incompetent teachers, there are numerous studies that have shown that if we take the bottom six percent of poor performing teachers and replaced them with average performing teachers our rankings in the international community would significantly rise.

Also stop trolling and add something substantive to the discussion instead of a partisan screed that betrays your ignorance.

Brubaker| 10.11.11 @ 5:14PM

Jim, I suspect that tsd was making the point that large numbers of students pursue liberal arts degrees that do not provide a clear path to employment.

Degrees in the hard sciences, law, medicine and business are generally easier to sell, though much harder to obtain.

In other words, if you've spent four (or more) years partying and end up with a degree in feminism, don't cry the blues when it doesn't lead to gainful employment. That's really not an issue of liberal versus conservative; it's an issue of having skills for which someone is willing to pay.

And yes, I realize that even some people with stellar academic credentials are having a hard time finding work, but they are fewer in number than those with degrees of dubious value.

tsd| 10.12.11 @ 8:06AM

Good to hear you are working hard in college. I worked my way through college on my dime...hope you are not on a free ride. I worked, built and own business's and do not require any degree if you can do the job... as in the real world it is about what you can do and not some piece of paper from our education system. When you grow up and gain some prospective we can talk...bet your ideas of the world mature a bit by then. By the way, we need an education system and hard working people... we just have to make it better. If my business's put out as much crap as our education system for the money it spends, I would have been run out of business years ago!

Darin| 10.11.11 @ 7:18AM

A "degree" in African American Studies, the History or Feminism, Art Appreciation, etc. is most definitely NOT career-promising. If you think it is, what career? What does such a degree qualify a person to do besides be a teacher on that subject (good luck trying to break through that good-old-boys network)?

And where, pray tell, is there any promise that if you get a degree you will be given a career in that field? It's implied by all college recruiters, but that's just a sales pitch. The same pitch promises you a wonderful life if you buy this new car or use this shampoo. If you really believe the college recruiter pitch, you're incredibly stupid and get what you deserve (like if you buy that car or shampoo).

Teaghan| 10.11.11 @ 2:07PM

Or gender studies.

Get a degree in something that will allow you to get a job when you graduate.

Stan Redmond| 10.11.11 @ 3:08PM

My morning coffee tastes especially good when the barrista (a respectable job but an entry level job none-the-less) is prepared by someone with a masters degree in philosophy.

Stammon| 10.11.11 @ 7:31AM

First of all you should worry about you and yours, not what the "banks and big corporations" are doing. If they are successful in influencing the government and you don't like it vote to change it. No one"reneged" on any bargain. There was never any "bargain" and no free lunch either. I have two children in college right now. Both straight A students in the hard sciences. Both hired immediately for pay in summer internships. They were raised to understand that you have to work to get what you want. My kids work hard to make successes, those kids work hard to make excuses.

Jeff| 10.11.11 @ 10:28AM

Stammon- very well put. This ludicrous scapegoating of nebulous "greedly corporations" by losers is a bit much. "Greed" means profits; profits means dividends and capital investments; dividends and capital investments means economic growth and lending; economic growth and lending means new jobs and a better economy. Kudos to your kids for their hard work.

JohnM| 10.11.11 @ 12:44PM

There can be profit without greed. Profit is a useful tool for growth. Greed is evil and destructive. Balance is the key.

Skippy| 10.11.11 @ 3:25PM

Greed, in the form you imply, is already illegal.
Our laws put the truly greedy cheaters in jail, and other businesses shun them and their practices.
Some flourish for a spell, but eventually they fail.

Stan Redmond| 10.11.11 @ 3:12PM

WHOA WHOA WHOA. That's way to complicated. I thought the best way to achieve profit and create jobs was unemployment benefits and tax increases. Nasty Pelosi said so.

Occam's Tool| 10.11.11 @ 12:09PM

Exactly right, Stammon.

Occam's Tool| 10.11.11 @ 12:09PM

Exactly right, Stammon.

chuck| 10.11.11 @ 8:17AM

Erica,

Thank you for your wisdom. It is a shining example of what is wrong with some young people today.

chuck| 10.11.11 @ 8:22AM

BTW,
Did you post this comment using your Iphone or Ipad while "Occupying Wall Street" to protest corporations like.......Apple, Verizon, AT&T, Nike,.....
Just wondering.

Timothy L. Pennell| 10.11.11 @ 10:10AM

And yet, people want these very same people, who bailed out these Banks (and they did it for themselves) to run their Health Care.
And, please, let's stick to the FACTS.
These "Kids" are nothing but Bums, Dirtbags, Drug Addled SCUM.

tonypal| 10.11.11 @ 1:39PM

Are you serious Erica? Go read that smelly group's list of demands. In there, you'll find the twin pillars of college-age grievance; forgiveness of student loan debt and a free education.

C-GT| 10.11.11 @ 2:13PM

There is no "bargain". Never has been, never will be. Who told you there was, and why did you believe it?

Big Swede| 10.12.11 @ 5:22AM

You're exactly right!

Take this "economic growth" thing for example, the groundpillar of capitalism, best bargain in history.

What we see globaly today is a bubble about to burst.

Alan Brooks| 10.11.11 @ 5:03PM

"First of all, the world doesn't owe the banks and big corporations a living."

Erica, don't be so sincere around these liars who want the state to give their people funds (and services, btw) but not others. They want the state to put their grandkids through school, not others'.
You've got to admit these Rightists are tough as leather.

axbucxdu| 10.11.11 @ 11:20PM

The trouble Al, is the money goes to the tax consumers favored by both sides. The left has never been bashful about claiming their pound of flesh. Cut it all, indiscriminately, and starting yesterday.

jmulcahy| 10.12.11 @ 6:14AM

Erica,

There are no guarantees in life. No one owes you anything.

Virgil Cain| 10.14.11 @ 5:40PM

Erica, could not have said it better myself. Awesome post! The hogs with their snouts in the government trough are the very ones wagging their tongues at us.

Darin| 10.11.11 @ 7:14AM

To those who are "sympathetic" to the protestors, answer this: would YOU give them a job? Would YOU pay them to do something? If you would, why aren't you doing so now?

The truth is the majority of these "protestors" are lazy whiners out of touch with the real world. They want something for nothing and are willing to go to extreme measures to make that fact known. I'd love to see a landscaping company set up a booth to recruit workers for manual labor. How many of the protestors are willing to put in a hard days work? How many are willing to get their hands dirty? I venture to say very few. They don't want a job - they want, in fact they demand, a handout.

Old Soldier| 10.11.11 @ 8:38AM

I interview college kids and recent grads regularly. I meet some smart motivated young people - and lose half of them to other opportunities.

Once in a while we get a whiner who made it past HR. One who acts like he's doing me a favor talking to me. They don't make it past me.

Stan Redmond| 10.11.11 @ 3:15PM

Pretty easy to get rid of the whiners. Do a check for pot and they're history.

Old Soldier| 10.11.11 @ 8:38AM

I interview college kids and recent grads regularly. I meet some smart motivated young people - and lose half of them to other opportunities.

Once in a while we get a whiner who made it past HR. One who acts like he's doing me a favor talking to me. They don't make it past me.

Alan Brooks| 10.11.11 @ 5:05PM

"To those who are "sympathetic" to the protestors, answer this: would YOU give them a job? Would YOU pay them to do something?"

No, I want to take what your people get from the state and give it to them. I want any of you who cheat on your taxes to cease and desist.

USSAlabama| 10.11.11 @ 8:07AM

I'm reminded of a PSA where a kid is saying:

"I told my dad I wanted to get a degree in pottery, because, I'm like way good at it. My dad told me to pay for my own education. Where does he think I can get that kind of money making pottery?"

USSAlabama| 10.11.11 @ 9:22AM

Edit:

Actually says "Where does he think I can get that kind of dough making pottery?"

Looked for a link - appears to have been scrubbed.

Lawrence Boccardi| 10.11.11 @ 8:13AM

Excellent postings! Got it now, Erica?

Sam Vaughn| 10.11.11 @ 8:26AM

Aaron, thanks for this, very timely. One of two role models in my life was taken off life support today after a stroke. Still lucid he is making decisions right to the end. Growing up, his parting comment every time me and his son went to play soccer was "stay straight". In the tough times that followed. I always remembered his clear cut honesty, "do the right thing" attitude and his faith. I drew from those qualities to sustain myself through poverty, loss, and eventually a University degree and a better life. He taught me that men stand up for themselves, with courage, honor and compassion. There were plenty of times when it would have been easy to blame my plight in life (I came from the wrong side of the tracks) on somebody else, even let it turn into hatred and bitterness. He taught me otherwise, I became what he would have considered a man as a result. I thank him for that and am deeply saddened that a fine man has decided to leave. Calling his shots to the end.

Aaron Goldstein| 10.11.11 @ 8:53AM

You have my condolences. From the way you speak about this gentleman I gather you weren't the only one with whom he left a large imprint.

chuck| 10.11.11 @ 9:18AM

Sam,
My condolences. I lost my father at the end of last year. He and the man you described were very much alike. We owe them a lot, and serve them best to pass their wisdom down to the next generation.

I hope you work every day to make him proud. I try may best to make my father proud of me.

Take care.

Sam Vaughn| 10.11.11 @ 9:30AM

I guess I should have added, I was fortunate to have positive role models to counteract far too many negative role models. These kids are dupes and stooges for more powerful people with no sense of "doing the right thing".

Drunken Sailor| 10.11.11 @ 10:52AM

He sounds like a fine man Sam, Sorry for your loss. The world needs more men like him.

Sam Vaughn| 10.11.11 @ 1:01PM

David Brown, to whom I refer above, passed away 1 hour ago. West Point class of 48' surrounded by family, a tower of strength and courage right to the end, more concerned about those he left behind than himself.

Aaron Goldstein| 10.11.11 @ 1:16PM

David Brown, R.I.P.

Skippy| 10.11.11 @ 3:29PM

Ave atque vale.
Vaya con Dios.

chuck| 10.11.11 @ 10:05PM

Sorry for your loss. Be thankful that such a strong and decent man was there to make such an impact on your life. Be sure to pass his values down to the next generation, it will be your greatest tribute to him.
Praying for David Brown.

chuck

Margie| 10.11.11 @ 10:17PM

So sorry, Sam V.
David Brown obviously still lives inside of you.
God bless you, sir.

irish19| 10.11.11 @ 11:33PM

Fair winds and following seas.

nister| 10.11.11 @ 8:42AM

Notice the bottom of the article? "Please consider making a contribution."

Where's that Nelson Muntz kid?

Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 10.11.11 @ 8:59AM

I love this Occupy Wall Street movement!! With its Anti-Corporate, anti-work, anti-American messages of give me mine, because I don't have what you have. It's made up of the best of the best; lazy-whiners, complainers, Communist, and now the big bad scary Unions. And with everyday that passes, with every interview they give, with every demand they make, they are forcing the remaining fence sitters to choose sides in the upcoming elections. And I've got bad news for them, the fence sitters are falling to the Right, in droves!! The Left did this before, in 1968, and it worked out really well for them (Nixon got elected), as I expect it will again next year (A.B.O.). The Left never learn, but that's only because they're too stupid to learn!! Keep crapping on Cop cars Commies, it sells really well in middle America!! I think they think that their winning this battle, and maybe that's true, but I've got more bad news for them, they're losing the War!!

Melvin| 10.11.11 @ 9:03AM

My Daughter-in-law is a certified CPA working for a high powered company in Virginia. She graduated from ECU and landed this job right after she graduated.
There are jobs out there for college graduates and due to the world economically getting smaller many of our graduates are having to compete with foreign graduates right here in this Country.
The main problem is that many degrees that students graduate with are absolutely worthless. Example: Journalism, Human resources, Literature, Art, English and there are many more.
Many of these jobs have reached a saturation point. There wasn't that many openings to begin with, and the turnover isn't that great either.
One very, very smart man of whom his name escapes me once said, "College graduates need to take two degree programs, one for them, and one to make a living with."
The company I work for hired two young men out of ECU and they have been a tremendous asset to our company whose average age is 40 something. The thing is these two graduates had the skills that our company was looking for.
Not too many graduates getting hired in the HVAC field with English degrees.
I really would like to think that we need people with English Degrees somewhere, but it just doesn't do a very good job of paying the bills.

Bill| 10.11.11 @ 9:08AM

Why would you post a photo of Will Geer as the preface to this comment? He was a card-carrying member of the CPUSA during Stalinist times.

Jivebomber| 10.11.11 @ 12:10PM

Bill, I thought the same thing when I saw that old commie Will Geer, but then I figured it was just Goldstein's way of of testing our irony awareness level!
(The occupiers/squatters on Wall Street no doubt had the likes of Comrade Geer for a grandfather anyway,)

Skippy| 10.11.11 @ 3:31PM

Geer is the go-to Grandpa from Central Casting.
Just drove Topanga Canyon past his commune.
It's as dead as he is.

Louis Jenkins| 10.11.11 @ 9:15AM

As far as Cain states, I cannot help but agree with the man. No one in this world owes you a job. It is totally out of line to show up for a job interview ladden with "body art" and "body ornamentation." I dare say a lot of these people are the same. I won't hire them and likely no one else will. So why are they protesting? They've made their choices, and the employers are making their's. Yes, the choices one makes may have bearing on the future, even though they may be good at heart, they adorned themselves to the point they can only work at the circus.

Anthony M| 10.11.11 @ 7:27PM

But where would Cain be without affirmative action? He basically had his whole career handed to him. No one, I repeat, no one, rises up the corporate ladder that quickly. I'll grant that he did well with all they handed him, but what exactly did he do on his own?

chuck| 10.11.11 @ 11:19PM

This is what is so bad about Affirmative Action. Any time a black man succeeds, it is automatically attributed to Affirmative Action.
BTW, I believe Cain succeeded by his own hard work. No one "hands" anyone a CEO position.

Your an ass, Anthony M

qrstuv| 10.12.11 @ 8:19PM

If you think this of Cain, I'm sure you think it of Obama & Moochelle too, right?

PattyMor| 10.11.11 @ 9:23AM

Why don't these paracites blame congress, Bill Clinton, and Cuomo for the financial collapse? They revved up Fannie and Freddie under the guise of "fairness". Just what is fair about commanding banks to lend money to people who can't pay it back.

Then there is President Downgrade, President let's regulate everything out of existence, and President let's print money until its worthless. And President let's keep everyone on unemployment benefits long enough to make them unemployable. And President who will not give drilling permits and will not let the drillers drill in the Gulf. While at the same time, he gives money to Brasil, Mexico and others to develop their oil industries.

And the President who rails against big (fill in the blank) all the while he's raking in the dough from these very same people to fund his reelection campaign.

Then there is the President of the University who charges $50,000 (or more) per semester to pump out degrees in women studies, black studies, and grievance studies? And many of these universities have endowments in the Billions of Dollars. Why do they need tuiton this high?
What about the bloated bureaucracies these Universities employ?

PolishKnight| 10.11.11 @ 9:24AM

I often debate socialists and one of the things I say to shock them is that socialism doesn't work because humanity NEEDS to literally "earn" a living. It's part of our DNA and makeup.

Consider Melvin's daughter: She earns a living but what is the likelihood she'll marry a man who doesn't earn his? A welfare state largely only supports women with children and these families largely produce anti-social offspring. Just as during the great depression, "men" need work but with one key difference: the protestors on Wall Street and DC aren't necessarily looking for work. Some are looking for free healthcare. Or free daycare. etc. But this won't help the men one bit (although they're too dumb to know it.) This is why "shovel ready" jobs, mostly for men, were created during the great depression: It's what society wanted and NEEDED. Today, the welfare state takes a higher priority.

Yes, it may be fun to thumb our noses at the unwashed, dirty commie protestors and laugh at their hypocrisy but keep in mind that they are a powerful force to be reckoned with due to their powerful influence in government, academia, and even corporate America. They won't get what they want or dream for but they will "win" politically in the long run unless something changes. That means facing our own hard, personal truths.

Jennifer| 10.11.11 @ 2:51PM

You said it. You have to be careful a mob. Especially one that's being managed at the top by the ivory-tower intellectuals and the labor unions. That's what turned Eastern Europe into a totalitarian dictatorship for almost a hundred years. These people don't want to work, they just want everyone who does to pay for them.

PolishKnight| 10.11.11 @ 2:57PM

I daresay that this mob isn't being run by the labor unions. The labor unions are merely useful voters to get the elite into office. In eastern European socialism, the voters were superfluous (merely a show to please marxists in the West).

The Bolsheveks weren't ivory tower intellectuals either. They were ruthless revolutionaries who didn't mind getting drenched in blood and stopped at nothing to get and retain power. Later, universities in the former USSR put out top intellectual talent (and still do) but promotions and success were determined by political fortunes and wiles, not sheer intellectual merit.

And that's similar to today, at least, where professors get tenure by supporting global warming or a research grant for being Chelsea Clinton's former roommates' sister. In the former USSR, you didn't get too far up the ladder without knowing someone.

Augusta| 10.11.11 @ 9:50AM

Democrats feel it's 'heartless' to hold these malcontents responsible for their own ineptitude and indigence. Apparently the left believes its vapid program of fostering ignorance and an entitlement mindset is working really well. What most of these kids need is a judicious slap in the mouth. They're not unemployed coal miners, nor holocaust survivors. They haven't lived through Jim Crow, or endured the horrors of war. They're the pampered parasites of socialists' fancy; the byproduct of decades of left wing indoctrination and easy living made possible by the hard work and sacrifice of people much nobler than themselves. They are a monument to apathy and a stark reminder of what goes wrong when we allow leftist values to fester the culture. These kids are our shame - we failed them by handing them over to the left to be nurtured in nihilism.

PolishKnight| 10.11.11 @ 10:35AM

Democrats have no real "heart." Consider the way they threw under the bus working class white males who had supported socialism and unions 100 years ago. They view people as useful fools to protect their party and maintain their crony list. Nothing more.

Indeed, if the left including the protestors wanted to really "shake things up", they'd go after the leadership of the Democrat party.

I'm reminded of the old Josef Stalin building in Moscow that's now luxury apartments. They had elevators in the front AND back of the units so that the KGB could pick up party members in the middle of the night for interrogation and execution.

PolishKnight| 10.11.11 @ 10:47AM

"They haven't lived through Jim Crow"

Just a thought: Most of them have and they have been taught to love it. When a heterosexual white male socialist gripes about not having a job, I tell them that the American socialists, and even increasingly the European socialists, see now problems with them being tossed out into the cold.

Peppermint Tea| 10.11.11 @ 10:26AM

Augusta, that was an interesting term, "nutured in nihilism." It seems that they are now "flowering in nihilism," and that nihilism is their reward.
My sister-in-law recommended the weare99 website where you can read scores of stories of twenty-somethings that are in debt, single, and barely employed, if at all. Perhaps they should wake up to the truth that "nothing really matters" is self defeating.
Herman Cain is right, let them get a job. The least they could do is borrow a camera and make a documentary of their narcissism.

Petronius| 10.11.11 @ 10:30AM

Thank you all. You've got it covered. I'm taking the rest of the day off.

Drunken Sailor| 10.11.11 @ 10:55AM

Three things my boys heard from me early and often in life.
1. The world doesn't owe you squat
2. Life isn't fair so stop whining about it.
3. Pull your pants up and quit dressing like a slob. It may not be right, but people will judge you on how you look and carry yourself. Dress like a slug or slob and you shouldn't expect to be taken seriously in life.

I hope they listen and later in life realize how important those little lessons are to pass on.

Gary| 10.11.11 @ 11:33AM

Amen brother!

Gary| 10.11.11 @ 11:32AM

I, as a real estate attorney in the eighties lost two jobs due to the S and L fiasco, one due to the feds taking over the bank out firm worked for. I had to scrounge, do piecemeal work, my wife worked, and I finally found permanent employment in litigation, a whole new career for me in my forties, and a 60 mile one way commute untill I retired. It was tough but I had to do it, and not sit around bitching about the unfairness of it all and demonstrating like these whiners are doing now. Grow up, get a job, quit blaming others for your misfortune, and if you wait for government to solve your problems you have a long, long, wait.

Dmac| 10.11.11 @ 11:53AM

While most of us here seem to have the attitude of todays kids are lazy and the education they are getting is worthless we have to ask ourselves a few questions.
Whose generation decided it was okay to ship all the manufacturing jobs overseas leaving very few and mostly low paying manual jobs in this country?

Whose generation set up the education system that todays kids must deal with?

Whose generation allowed American business to keep all foreign made profits without paying taxes?

Whose generation changed the laws to allow you to sell a stock the same day you bought it?

Whose generation made it legal to have offshore bank accounts?

Lets quit blaming the kids, we are the adults and we have set them up for failure. Our parents and grandparents went through the depression and fought a two front war in WWII. We were the recipients of what they left to us. What are we leaving for our kids? Time to face some truths people, times have changed. We have a global economy and Wall Street has decided American's are not needed for employment. Wall Streeet's greed is out of hand.
While we may be able to deal with a corrupt government, we can not deal with both a corrupt government and business enviroment. Wall Street needs some guidance and that guidance should lead them to employing American with fair wages and benefits.
A television is not cheaper when it comes from a foreign source. Nothing is. Remeber when you buy that foreign stuff to add the cost of an un-employment check, incresed hospital cost as we subsidize to cover the person that got laid off, the cost of Welfare or foodstamps. No, we don't save by buying foreign mad products, but corprations make huge profits from it. They don't have to pay a decent wage or benefits.
Lets get real, why do you thing we have "free trade" instead of "fair trade"? Because American corporations want it that way. If they didn't it wouldn;t be happening. Just think about that!

Drunken Sailor| 10.11.11 @ 12:08PM

"Whose generation "

That is only part of the question. What ideology set them up for failure should be the rest of the question.

Dmac| 10.11.11 @ 1:49PM

Hmm, I guess it would be the one that our very own government kept shoving down our throat about study hard, work hard and play by the rules, that is unless you a major stockholder in an American Corporation, a Banker, or a stockbroker, all of whom have had free reign to lie about everything from the value of their companies to what they are doing with the TARP money they received.

Drunken Sailor| 10.11.11 @ 2:12PM

Your not being serious or digging deep enough. For the most party one party allowed most of these issues. Both parties are guilty to a degree but it was the liberal ideology that hurt us the most. We have not had a conservative goverment in a long time.

DaveD| 10.11.11 @ 2:52PM

Oh gosh, where to start ...

Which political ideology says there IS such as a thing as a free lunch?

Which political ideology pushes self esteem in education as opposed to self reliance and knowledge?

Which political ideology says it's never your fault it's always the fault of somebody else?

Which political ideology continues to make it more and more difficult for business to operate in the U.S. pushing companies to move their operations overseas?

Which political ideology believes that the Federal government can fix whatever is wrong, from flush toilets to ingrown toenails?

It's time to point the finger in the right direction, and it's not pointed at big evil corporations. The problem is liberalism.

Drunken Sailor| 10.11.11 @ 4:28PM

We have a winner!!!

Spambalaya| 10.11.11 @ 1:30PM

Strange choice of art for the homepage link to this article, since Grandpa Walton would've been a staunch Roosevelt supporter. Just sayin'.

Skippy| 10.11.11 @ 3:42PM

Irony is lost on some of these guys.

Michael| 10.11.11 @ 2:35PM

It's doesn't? Then why does the world keep talking (or nagging) about "The Work Ethic"?

Seapuss| 10.11.11 @ 2:44PM

The "Occupy Wall Street" movement should be renamed the "TWOMAL" movement. "The World Owes Me A Living" seems to be their main message.

swan song| 10.11.11 @ 2:46PM

Today's kids lazy, Dmac? How many do you know who mowed lawns to pay for the iphone in the pocket? Unremitting whining is the way you do it..
Wired up with all their accoutrement, they and and 9 friends to go to the mall, bop along, ten abreast, impeding foot traffic. I asked a friend's high school daughter why they did this. She said, "Because they can." with an approving smirk. I speak of Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo. Not a slum area.

If I asked one of these pubescent punks to make way for me to get through, the reply would be, "What's your problem lady, we're just walking."

Then these pampered high schoolers slouch their way through college, taking the easiest courses they can to get that B.A.

If I owned a business and had so much money I would not shut the cash register drawer, I would not hire a one of them. Attitude is all they bring to the table - the same attitude they were using four years ago, blocking traffic in the mall.

Look, I am only judging the ones who are there, And the are there in daily droves. Surly kids who walk against the traffic light, daring you to tap your horn and point at the signal to remind them.

Occam's Tool is a psychiatrist, perhaps he can tell us why we have a generation into self mutilation. Tongue studs do nothing to enhance elocution. How can unemployed possibly work into their budget $100 an hour tattoo service? I don't know if it still exists, but the state once had a "welfare" program entitling those who wanted tattoo removal in order to make themselves employable, to get it done free (on the state). Now it is so prevalent, the freak is the one with a pristine epidermis.

I saw a young - around 18 -man in my supermarket recently. Nice looking, dressed well until you noticed his weird ears. He had black discs in the pierced and stretch lobes. The discs were at least the size of a quarter, perhaps larger. Who has had the major hand in limiting this fellow's field of employment? Ubangi ears may be a look that doesn't play in most serious work environments. Should he ever decide they were a mistake, what do you do with those elongated lobes with big holes in them? Maybe there is a state funded plastic surgery for that, too.

Thinking I might be a generation too removed from what is OK today, I asked my adult son, who has two young adult sons, how he would look on his sons if they leaned toward body art. He gave me a conspiratorial grin and said, "They don't and they won't." I then asked him if he would hire anyone festooned with dragons and stars and lightning bolts. He said, "If they show, no. If they can be covered and stay covered, I might." He said it would offend his customers and he is not into biting the hand that feeds him.

So that element of society will all have to be sous chefs or work where clientele are all tattooed, too, until the un-tattooed die off. Meanwhile, who narrowed the field for them? I can hear it now, "Are you denying me my right of self-expression?" No, you just can't express yourself in my establishment with your dreadlocks, eyebrow rings and your fingers spelling out EVIL above your knuckles.

If you prepare your child for the road, you enable him to walk it alone.

If you prepare the road for your child, you are in for a lifetime of roadwork ahead.

I am not sure I could explain this difficult concept to the park dwellers in NYC. Or their parents.

How about. "As ye sow, so shall ye reap."?

Appleby has put it more succinctly with her Day Care Grads label.

Jennifer| 10.11.11 @ 2:47PM

Bravo. I have probably filled out more job applications than these whiners combined. And the odd thing is, I've always managed to find work. Is it always work I *like*? No. Is it what I think I "deserve", having an MA and 'done the right thing' (more than they have, as I also listened when told not to smoke, drink while underage, do drugs, and screw around)? No. But it's work and they pay me money. Herman Cain's right--get off your butt and take whatever job you can get and work. They should just disperse and be grateful no one's tear gassed their pathetic behinds yet.

Stefan Stackhouse| 10.11.11 @ 2:50PM

I would imagine that if any college graduate would dress and groom appropriately for a job interview, print up a batch of resumes, and then start going from office to office in NYC telling people that he is not part of that lot down there on the streets, he/she actually wants to work, they might actually land a job eventually.

JLSpyder| 10.11.11 @ 3:31PM

I bet you'd be right!

Tom Bruner| 10.11.11 @ 3:31PM

How would one describe the time spent in Zuccotti Park on a resume or job application?

Yes, these days not having a job is not entirely one's own fault as the reference suggests, but this has not always been the case. In the Depression, you could always sell apples on the side of the road, but now you'd be fined and have your apples seized for failure to obtain a business license. The atmosphere has changed, and it is toxic to the formation of capital at the lowest levels.

I suspect that the Occupiers, by and large, were either raised by, or were themselves, people who spent too much time reading the Desiderata (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desiderata) , especially the part about "you have a right to be here", and not so much with the portmanteau Deteriorata (http://plodplod.blogspot.com/2006/07/deteriorata.html), in particular the part about "...despite the changing fortunes of time, there is always a big future in computer maintenance."

D Roamer | 10.11.11 @ 3:40PM

Hopefully those "campers" at Wall Street and across the nation are a small minority of our kids. My information about them is that they are paid or professional protestors, probably don't have any idea of what happens at the "street".
I have a niece and a nephew, 23 and 24 serving their first hitch in the Navy. After high school and one year in college and living at home, till they had to get out, they joined up. One has started a family and the other will share buying a condo in San Diego. It took the awakening when shoved out the door. We love our kids, but the tough love is needed at times. Just a thought.

Erica Brigid| 10.11.11 @ 3:44PM

Dmac sums it up better than I do. I just want to add two points.

1) Notice how the pro-corporate welfare posters talk about their grandparents who made it through the Depression, but never say a word about how they made it through the recessions of their own times? I have the feeling they never had to do real work, or they would speak of it with pride.

2) Notice how not a single "small business" owner who claims to be making $250,000 a year (about four times the income of a typical small business owner) ever told the public what kind of business he is in? (Joe the Plumber was an obvious Fox News setup, just look at how professionally the video was made)

Virgil Cain| 10.14.11 @ 5:35PM

Erica, great comment! I couldn't agree more. I'm also very, very tired of the baby boom generation lecturing us. They absolutely destoyed the nation they inheritied like a swam of locusts on a summer wheat field. They need to clam up and let the following generations straighted out this mess, if it can be.

Erica Brigid| 10.11.11 @ 3:55PM

To the Occupy Wall Street protesters I offer this suggestion:

Start your own businesses. It's the only kind of opportunity available to you in a recession. You already have your education and your talents. Everything else cost a lot less.

And to the smartasses who call themselves "conservatives" yet scorn the most basic ethics of the American Heartland, I remind you:
Steve Jobs was a Hippie. It was the Hippie idea that led him to create Apple. And he remained a Hippie to the very end.

Skippy| 10.11.11 @ 7:03PM

That Hippie eliminated all Apple philanthropy in 1997 when he was rehired.
They needed to become profitable, and his Hippieness dissolved in the face of poor profits.
They give away no money even to this day.
He was a Big Corporate Zillionaire; the kind OWS losers despise...unless they make groovy products.
Try again, sweetie.

Spambalaya| 10.12.11 @ 10:33AM

What does his corporate philanthropy have to do with Erica's point? I despise corporate philanthropy as a rule, since it usurps the role of the individual to decide which causes to support and replaces it with the judgment of a few corporate bigwigs. Corporations should be in the business of generating profits for the shareholders, and the shareholders can then decide how to direct those profits as they see fit individually.

As for Apple, Jobs created one of the most (if not the most) successful companies ever. His enterprise created massive wealth, generated billions in profit and revolutionized the world. Not bad for a hippie.

Virgil Cain| 10.14.11 @ 5:31PM

Agree 100%, Erica. And would add something else. Company's must stop relying on banks to finance them. They must again pay for their growth through their profits. The stock trading game is an evil sham. Companies should be devoted to their business and their people, not stockholders.

A Person| 10.11.11 @ 4:22PM

You are right. The world does not owe anyone anything. The law of nature says that you take what you need. If the means to work to provide food for yourself are not available, you take the food out of someone else's mouth. You fight to the death to survive. If the economic conditions which keep the majority of Americans impoverished are not improved, you can expect the protesters to fight you to the death for food, water and the right to mate. Is that what you prefer?

Skippy| 10.11.11 @ 7:05PM

I'm ready for that.
Are you?

irish19| 10.11.11 @ 11:44PM

I certainly don't prefer it, but I'm ready if it happens.
Just sayin'.

Erica Brigid| 10.11.11 @ 4:55PM

"A Person"
That is exactly what the so-called "conservatives" (CINOs) of today believe in, the I-got-mine-and-screw-you mindset. It wasn't this kind of people who established America as the land of opportunity. They were the ones who got rich under the wing of Britain while frontier farmers went deeper and deeper in debt to them. They weren't the pioneers who opened up the West (still the most free land in America) They were the ones who peddled snake oil, and got rich by knowing when to get out of town. And today they are the ones who buy up family farms and hire Mexicans to work them, and buy up family businesses and ship the jobs to China.

America did not become such a wealthy country through con rtits and hedge funders who took it from recession to recession. The America that got rich across the board got that way because of people helping each other succeed, so that everyone would prosper, not through cutthroat competition where 1% make money by looting the other 99% -- you can't run a company that way and stay in business without the eventual govt bailout.

qrstuv| 10.12.11 @ 8:23PM

So you know what "real" conservatives believe, do you?

Tip for you: economics is not a zero sum game. You may have to think about that a while.

A long, long while.

MarkM| 10.22.11 @ 10:29AM

Um ... the hedge fund game is nothing new. Neither is financial panics. America got rich because individuals were free to pursue their dream. Whether that dream was railroads, oil exploration, steel making, retail, etc., people were free to pursue their dreams and free to fail. Cutthroat competition got the railroads built. Cutthroat competition was the name of the game in the auto industry until 3 clear winners emerged. Free to get rich, free to go broke, free to try again ... google "GTT" or "Gone to Texas" if you still doubt. Or take a look at the life of Andrew Carnagie, Mellon, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt and the other so-called "robber barons". (Their Gilded Age ended with the panic of 1893 - which should sound familiar.) Richard Warren Sears, Ford - the list goes on and on. The 1% made money by producing stuff for the other 99% ... and that really has not changed. Fortunes decline, new fortunes arise. The opportunity to suceed or fail matters.

Bill A | 10.11.11 @ 5:50PM

I would hazard a guess that not too many of these protesters have or had grandparents in their lives on a regular basis. I was fortunate to grow up with four and they were around all the time. The oldest person in most children's lives on a day to day basis these days is their parents. The lessons that I learned from four grandparents were priceless.

Syd Chaden| 10.11.11 @ 6:55PM

America is no longer the land of opportunity. In fact, anyone who advocates equal opportunity today risks being castigated as a racist or a bigot. That is primarily because two races, the African-Americans and the Hispanic-Americans, haven’t prospered as much as the white race. No one seems to notice that they also have not prospered as much as the Americans of Oriental heritage.
Economic statistics definitely show that the population of white Americans and Oriental Americans have prospered to a greater extent than the African-Americans and the Hispanics. That means that, regardless of whether or not the opportunity for the races may have been equal, the results have not been. Similarly, the results for older folks, who have worked and earned longer than younger folks, may exceed those for the younger folks. The current protests of inequality pertain to unequal results, not unequal opportunity. Protestors now claim that their American and human rights guarantee that they should have equal results. The fact that the efforts, skills, education, family culture, work ethics, and even legal residency may differ is now deemed to be a bigoted, racist irrelevant argument.
It is effort and achievement that are rewarded by opportunity. Labor unions, established to improve working conditions and compensation, now seek equality of results, regardless of differences in effort and achievement. Opportunity rewards effort and achievement with success. The reward for equal results, irrespective of effort and achievement, is, at best, mediocrity. It is opportunity, and the reward of effort and achievement that made America’s greatness possible.

Skippy| 10.11.11 @ 7:18PM

We are told America's greatest sin from its past is racism.
Turns out it's the weapon of choice for the non-whites among us.
Who'd'a thunk?!

cheryl | 10.11.11 @ 10:51PM

No, the world does not owe anyone a living, but there are those who would prosper at the expense of others and only take care of themselves and bring down the system from self serving interests and greed. Why are the banks collapsing? Why are there so few jobs and so many people out of work? Why do so many corpoarations make huge profits and pay none or little tax? BOA is now charging $5/month to use your debit card. They say it is their right to make a profit. At whose expense and what service are you getting for this cost for a card they encouraged you to get and use, for free? Promises, promises, all broken. Where did the money disappear? Hedgefund brokers making millions on pipe dreams with nothing to substantiate the transactions? Who gave out mortgages so willy nilly to people unqualified to bear these mortgages? Not only do I now understand the rational of all that has gone on, all I know is that those Enron people made more than big bucks and all their employees who worked very hard at their jobs were left in the dust. No the world doesn't owe you a living, but there are those out there who who don't give a damn about you or your family as they foreclose on your homes, lay you off without a bat of an eyelash.

tonypal| 10.12.11 @ 1:26PM

Cheryl, you make some interesting points. However, you're completely off the mark with most of your complaints.

For example, you ask "Who gave out mortgages so willy nilly to people unqualified to bear these mortgages?" The better question would be why were those mortgages given to those people in the first place. It's a long answer, so I will try to condense it best as I can. The fault lies with the federal government. Recall that over the past 15 years or so, Congress has pressed lenders to make loans for the express purpose of encouraging home ownership. Concurrently, Congress created such entities as Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae is a mortgage backed security you invest in much the same way you invest in a mutual fund.

Under federal law, Fannie Mae is required to purchase mortgages in the secondary mortgage market. This has the effect of offering lenders a guarantee against any loans they write. At the same time, Congress is holding hearings on home ownership and browbeating lenders into making loans they might not ordinarily approve.

So when you put 2 and 2 together, what you have is a perfect storm so to speak that was destined to lay waste to the housing market. Congress coercing banks into making bad loans while simultaneously creating an entity that buys up the bad loans. Please tell me what the lenders were supposed to do in that situation. What would you have done if you were in charge of the lending department at a large bank?

What exactly would you do to rectify the situation as it stands? If you can prove malfeasance on the part of anyone on Wall Street, then I'm with you when it comes to prosecuting those who committed crimes. But what are you going to do about the federal government? I'm not sure of your politics. If you're a liberal, does it occur to you that placing your faith in men like Barack Obama and Barney Frank is a bit misguided? Where is the evidence that the President or anyone else in Congress has the foggiest idea what the hell they're doing? Barney Frank, the man most responsible for all the problems I laid out, is the co-author of Dodd/Frank, a law that is absolutely crippling the mortgage industry. I'm a real estate attorney and let me tell you that under the current law, it is nearly impossible to get a loan unless you have perfect credit. It was the federal government that destroyed the housing market and it is the federal government that stands in the way of recovery.

Brian| 10.11.11 @ 10:53PM

The world don't owe you anything. Unless you are a leftwing corporation like GE/MSNBC in which case the Repubs fall all over themselves to give them $5 billion a year.

Spambalaya| 10.12.11 @ 10:37AM

Let's not forget the $8 billion to Exxon Mobil either.

qrstuv| 10.12.11 @ 8:25PM

I assume that this is a reference to letting Exxon pay the same tax rate as others.

Buck Ofama| 10.11.11 @ 11:03PM

"How's the world been treatin' you;
made your fortune yet?
The world ain't been treatin' me;
I PAY for what I get."
- "Hubbin' It" Bob Wills

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAQLam9mn2k

L0tech| 10.11.11 @ 11:24PM

I will agree that the world doesn't owe you a living, but disagree that the world doesn't owe you a job, fair pay, and the opportunity to excel. There are some, like 50k student guy, who will turn down an opportunity for some pansy-assed reason, but for every one of him, there are 10 who never got the job offer, hell, never got an interview, and deserved it more.

The downsides of marriage have far exceeded the benefits, and people have stopped marrying. Aren't we seeing the result of covnincing our youths that the American Dream is a farce?

tonypal| 10.12.11 @ 4:42PM

Lotech, the world owes you nothing. Period. You have to make your own way, or else live in your parent's basement like some of the trolls that show up here from time to time. If you have the good fortune to be born in this country, you have a God given right to equal opportunity. But since when are you owed a job and what the hell is fair pay?

POST American| 10.11.11 @ 11:44PM

"Understand, when you register anything
with the government, INCLUDING your
newborn, you may get some use for a while
--but, ultimately, they OWN you and can
do whatever they want with you. --ANYTHING--
In essense you are OWNED by a private
corporation that calls itself YOUR government.
And that means they can pump you full of shots n'
GMO food, and CHEM-trails --and tax you
even unto death. ---YOU ARE OWNED---
understant? ---DO YOU understand?"
-ALAN WATT
(yesterday's essential coverage)

--------------------ESSENTIAL------------------------

swan song| 10.12.11 @ 1:32AM

I "slow-roll" my TV, the better to read the imbecilic scrawlings on the signs. One said, ONE WORLD -ONE HUMANITY-ONE LOVE. Well, Wendell Wilkie already thought of One World and it didn't get him elected back in the forties. One Humanity? Explain. One Love ?- - when she has probably been laid by 35 different guys since she has been protesting

Another well thought out one was "SCREW UNPAID INTERNSHIPS" The bearer of that sign looked like he didn't have two brain cells to rub together. An internship is often a foot in the door. Why should a company pay a wage to someone who can't operate a stapler - - you are there to learn. Ask any doctor what he was paid while interning.

If osmosis is not in your mental makeup, then interning is not for you. Stay on the street carrying your sign.

Kat| 10.12.11 @ 2:20AM

More words from the wise:

The best helping hand you can have is at the end of your arm.

Erica Brigid| 10.12.11 @ 5:53AM

"cheryl" put it well. It's not "the world" that owes us a living. It is those who stole from the hard-working people who owe us, and in a just society they must pay. That is the message of the Wall Street protest: those who robbed the American People must pay Us back. But don't bother telling that to the CINOs (Conservatives In Name Only). They've got a major case of Stockholm Syndrome in the way they not only adore the robber barons but insist We The People owe them a living.

tonypal| 10.12.11 @ 1:43PM

That's great Erica. Now tell me why you don't seem to be concerned with an even greater thief. It's called the federal government and it's stealing money directly out of your pocket, my pocket and the pockets of people who aren't even born yet.

What you have to understand is that conservatives are just as concerned with crimes that may have been committed by Wall Street types. What you must also understand is that the democrat party is in bed with Wall Street to at least the same extent as the republican party. Most importantly, what I would love for you to realize is that the federal government has run up 10's of trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities that can never be paid by future generations.

What makes me and other conservatives deeply suspicious of the mob down on Wall Street and people such as yourself is that you never seem to be concerned with federal spending, which is truly out of control. I'd be curious to read a response from you that deals exclusively with what the federal government is doing. I'm not interested in which party is to blame. I would simply like you to show as much passion for dealing with crooks in Washington DC as you have for whatever is or isn't going on with Wall Street types. I await your response.

MarkM| 10.22.11 @ 1:53PM

Who stole from hard working people? How do you think Wall Street stole from them? Values go up, values go down - no theft there. People invested money in banks - and their deposits were protected. Houses got built, houses got bought, houses got sold. Each participant in the transactions were there of their own free will. Where is the "theft"? Investors purchased and sold assets. Some of the investors were right, some of the investors were wrong. The investors which were right received a return. The investors who were wrong got nothing back. . I believe the Gov't has eve recovered most of the monies lent to financial institutions under the TARP program.

Now - I am aware of some thefts, but they are mostly by the Federal Government, not Wall Street. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made guarantees backed by the Federal Gov't - i.e. backed by a claim to my tax dollars. The Federal Gov't really screwed the bondholders in the Chrystler restructuring. The Feds have been printing money, spending more than the taxes that are collected, and using inflation to steal from all of us. So remind me ... why are these protests aimed at Wall Street and not the Federal Gov't again?

POST American| 10.12.11 @ 6:09AM

---------------------FINAL WORD-----------------------

--and neither do the ordinary and the living
OWE the capstone USERERS funding,
---or even credibility...

--------EUGENICS is NO substitute for GOD-------

------------------------AMEN---------------------------

ShortNSweet| 10.12.11 @ 12:47PM

"THE WORLD DOES OWE YOU A LIVING!" was announced to me regularly, by my parents, and grandparents. It was sweet truth!!!

Great Article Mr. Goldstein!

johnnytango| 10.12.11 @ 3:25PM

Nice article. The "occupants" are a convenient device by which Obama and his minions can distract the voters from their abundant failures, and by which they can make nihilism trendy to brain-dead youth. The webmaster might have used a different granfatherly photo, inasmuch as Will Geer was a card-carrying communist.

swan song| 10.12.11 @ 4:22PM

It's a Dog Eat Dog Food world out there and no is cleaning up after the dogs.

Erica Brigid| 10.12.11 @ 11:09PM

tonypal:

Erica Brigid| 10.12.11 @ 11:13PM

tonypal,
Actually, I ignore the government. They're not the reason I can't get ripe peaches at the supermarket.

POST American| 10.13.11 @ 11:44PM

---------------------FINAL WORD-----------------------

-----And, again, neither should the people
be supporting USURY and USURERs ---esp.
towards the ends of Globalist TREASON
and world population EXTERMINATION
for their I.D.--all of ----------EUGENICS.

Sammie| 10.14.11 @ 1:24AM

And as OWS protesters are attacked via a sentimental yarn about the writer's grandpa, the Spectator extends it's hand asking for a donation. hehehe

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