The Wall Street Occupiers

So we saw this movement start as a small protest, which laughably showed up on the wrong street on the first day. These dedicated souls promised to be out there for a month, if needed, to make sure their message was heard. It was then that we witness the ultimate irony: unemployed moochers protesting Wall Street workers.

I ventured to their website the other day - at the time I visited, they had 756 backers. Also noticed that somehow 756 people raised $30, 507 for their cause. Where do 756 unemployed moochers get that kind of money? It comes out to about $40. 35 for each person and that's just average! Heck, I'm one of the "evil rich" and all I could afford to send Herman Cain was $25. Another lesson in irony for you - just how are anti-capitalistic people obtaining that kind of dough?

Have you seen some of these videos from the rally? A bunch of people chanting what another person says. Warning: There's 8 minutes of it. I couldn't last longer than 2 minutes. Have to hand it to them - I can stomach to listen to Obama longer than that. There's another one, thankfully shorter and the guys actually does articulate his argument well... Although, he goes off the beaten path to blame the bad economy on Fox News and Conservative Billionaires. (Hey, I said it was easier to listen to... but not by much.)

And now, released today, their list of "demands". I can barely contain my excitement. Unfortunately, I'll only be able to share some gems with you, as I cannot possibly do justice to the whole list.

"Demand One: Restoration of a living wage. ... Minimum wage must be raised to twenty dollars an hour". Yes... that will get us back to work. So now instead of a business being able to afford 10 employees, he has to cut down to less than half because he needs to pay them $20 an hour.

"Demand Two: Single Payer Healthcare System". Yeah, yeah, yeah... Seems like this is a staple on every whiney, moocher liberal's list these days. You aren't getting it and we're making sure of that.

"Demand three: Guaranteed living wage income regardless of employment."  There are just no words. You want to be paid for not doing a job? Really? And who's going to pay it - the "Evil rich" (most likely)?? There's not enough money to go around! Did these people get allowances as a kid without doing any work? (probably)

"Demand four: Free college education."   Well, if anyone needs it, they do. They need some kind of education.

Make sure you are sitting down for this one. This one is my favorite:
"Demand eleven: Immediate across the board debt forgiveness for all. Debt forgiveness of sovereign debt, commercial loans, home mortgages, home equity loans, credit card debt, student loans and personal loans now! All debt must be stricken from the "Books." World Bank Loans to all Nations, Bank to Bank Debt and all Bonds and Margin Call Debt in the stock market including all Derivatives or Credit Default Swaps, all 65 trillion dollars of them must also be stricken from the "Books." And I don't mean debt that is in default, I mean all debt on the entire planet period."
Wow, I can just tell that was written by an early 20-something, can't you? And yeah, we'll forgive your student loans. Just return your diplomas and give back all the things you learned.

But in all seriousness, those of us that went to college all have to pay for our education. How is it "fair" that you expect to get your debts forgiven when I had to pay for my schooling? Yes, college is expensive. That's life. I'm currently taking myself through flight school and paying is one of the worst parts. But if I walked in there and said that they should let me take free lessons, who is going to be there to teach me after the school goes under from lack of funds? Who will repair the planes when they need maintenance? How will we get gas in them to be able to get off the ground? These things cost money and no, I can't steal the money from an "evil rich" to pay for me. They don't want to go to flight school; I do. Therefore, it's my responsibility to pay for it. I don't expect them to take the knowledge from the textbooks and dump it into my head, and I don't expect them to dump money into my pockets. I need to pay for the services rendered. This is how the world works. Yes, it is hard - I know. But it will be worth it in the end. All of that hard work, all of that studying, all of that time and money put in will result in something that I'll be able to be proud of because I accomplished it. Think of "The Little Red Hen" story your Mom read you as a kid. She gathered all the materials, she spent all day in the kitchen, she baked and cleaned when everyone else was out having fun. When all was said and done, she was able to enjoy the pie that she put so much effort into making.

Hey, Moochers- I've got a solution for all of your asinine demands: GET A JOB. It'll solve all of them. Really, just look:

1) Living wage of $20 an hour. This one is easy. You go to school, get a degree, and get a job. You either work your way up in this job or work until a better opportunity comes along. Follow these easy steps and you will get $20 an hour one day.

2) Health care. Cut out the fancy cell phone, cable and other things you don't need. Use that money to purchase health insurance while you are young. Take care of yourself so you get the lowest rate possible. Then go back to #1 and get a decent job. After awhile, you can sign up for the company's health plan and pay even less than you are now. You might even be able to afford cable and Iphones again!

3) Guarantee yourself a living wage, regardless of employment. I don't care if you are working at McDonald's or on Wall Street. Live within your means and you will always have a "living wage". Budget, save, build your skills, do whatever you can to make sure you are living comfortably no matter where you work.

4) Free college education - we have it. It's called a library and it's fantastic. You can learn about everything that you've ever wanted to know and it doesn't cost you a dime (unless you return a book late).

Another way to learn skills for free - volunteer. They are so happy that people are willing to show up that they are willing to teach you anything.

11) With your spanking new job, snazzy new health insurance and free new skills you learned at the library and volunteering, you can now afford to pay back all of your student loans. Easy, right?

Moral of the story: Go out and earn your own money. Use your drive and enthusiasm towards getting a job and working hard at it, rather than wasting that energy on complaining about what others have that you don't. You can take all the money from me that you want and you will never be happy until you earn your own.