Every time I turn around my dad tries to get me into some big discussion about politics so he can browbeat me with his views. Unfortunately, at some point I decided to form some opinions of my own so it becomes A BIG FRICKIN’ DEAL.
This whole Occupy Wall Street thing… I’ve actually been following the blogs, listening to people, etc. My dad just watches CNN. Like they don’t have a biased view at all. Hey Erin Burnett, it’s not such a secret that your fiance is a Wall Street guy. So you reporting on the situation seems like kind of a conflict of interest and I think if you were in any way cool you would back out on this story and let someone else handle it. I mean, when you marry the guy, you’ll actually be profiting off the misery of others.
Anyways, to my dad I just said that I think people have a right to be upset and that I can see why they would want to #OWS and try to get their feelings out there. I mean, if you’ve paid $$$ to go to college and get degrees, then you get out and you can’t even get a job at Starbucks… there’s a reason to be kind of pissed off. But all he wants to point out are the people that have spent whole generations on welfare and food stamps. (Which is a whole other issue and one that I fully agree needs to be rectified, but that wasn’t the point of our “discussion.”)
I mentioned that part of the reason people are occupying Wall Street rather than, say Washington, D.C., is because big businesses are the ones paying off Congress and the Senate to screw us over–can you say “earmarks? Lobbyists? Special interests?”
Plus we gave a bunch of companies big $$$ because they said they were in trouble and they didn’t want to lay off “150,000 workers.” So we gave them money to help them out, and some of them turned around, laid off 150,000 people, paid off their premium clients, then at the end of the year said their stocks have risen because they made a profit. I’m sorry, if you’ve accepted a gigantic handout, that’s not considered PROFIT. That’s CHARITY.
And the thing I believe about charity is that if someone helps you out, once you’re back on your feet you should give back to the community and to other people in need.
Which brings me to politicians that are oh-so-religious. If you’re a true Christian, then you should believe in the 10% rule–as in, 10% of all your wealth should be given back to the people around you. Otherwise you’re a hypocrite and should own up to that–at least if you were honest about being a jerk I could have some respect for that. But to try and lie right to my face… that’s something my 8 year old nephew does and he gets in trouble for it.
And when I see things about “1/4 children facing hunger in America,” well, I can see why people are so upset. Which leaves me confused about why some people aren’t upset, and I’m not talking about the people that are profiting off the situation. I’m talking about the people that are living in poverty and facing the possible end of their worlds.
Which is about when my dad started yelling his opinion at me, as though screaming in my face is going to make me change my views. Screaming at me just pisses me off, and since I was already pissed off…
