Occupy This...

I've never been one for politics. Ever since I was little, I struggled with what "side" to be on. The problem is that I can see pros and cons in just about everything. For years I've tried to educate myself and pick a side. But what goes through my mind when I'm reading something is this is just one piece of the puzzle, and it's fashioned in a way to promote that point of view. That goes for all sides.

So when the whole Occupy Wall Street movement started, I knew my brain would be in for some major confusion. Corporate Greed is evil. There's a crap load of corruption going on all over the place, that much I'm sure of. But I just don't know that protesting helps anything. What is the purpose? To raise awareness, to bring the matter into the hands and minds of people, fine I get that. But what EXACTLY is supposed to change? Are corporate execs suddenly going to say, yep you're right, I make too much money. You have have a million of my 5 million salary. Are banks and credit card companies going to lower their bogus fees? No.

Here's my biggest issue with trying to pick a side. All any story being told out there is one person's account. As you're hearing the story, watching the video, you're seeing it the way they want you to see it. When I turned on the news this morning and saw the reports about the eviction of Occupy Wall Street, I immediately felt it was something that was bound to happen. They reported there were talks of protesters preventing the Stock Exchange from opening, blocking the bridges, trains, etc. So the police stepped in. Then i went over to Twitter and read a different point of view. The term "Media Blackout" was used frequently. This meaning things happened in the wee hours of the morning but the media was prevented from reporting what was really going down. So eventually the come to an agreed upon version of the "story", and report that. According to the other side, the cops trying to clear the park in the middle of the night on some stealth mission, does sound a little sketchy to me. Reports of unnecessary force abound on Twitter as well. Surely that is not right, but again, who is to say what really happens? Are some protestors going out of bounds? Are they provoking police? I'm pretty sure there is a lot of protocol that goes into any sort of police activity. Rarely do I think a cop would just start beating on a protestor. I have to believe that a lot of stuff happens before it gets to the point of force. But that's when the iPhones start rolling. Don't get me wrong, I certainly do believe there are cops out there who are hot heads and take the law into their own hands. But again, there is no way to EVER know this unless you are there to witness an event first hand. Everything and anything you see as told by someone else will never give you the truth. And that is my biggest issue. You have to be judge and jury on every facet of a situation. This is where I struggle, because my conscience and the distorted facts are always at odds.

I wish I knew how to really make change because I know things have to. But protesting is not the way. There needs to be an overall change of ideals in this country, and THAT is the only way things will start to even out. I have no idea how to make that happen though, so for now I will just stay in the middle, go to my corporate greed job, and enjoy the finer things in life.