Is The Occupy Wall Street Movement What America Needs?
A Shift in Thinking
It is hard to believe it has been one year since the Occupy Wall Street campaign began. The Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011-2012 made headlines and on many facets divided a nation. This division most notably concerned the idea of the minority that have actual monetary wealth and perceived power compared to the majority, which on the surface, do not; the impoverished 99% vs. the high rolling 1%. Frankly it was disgusting to watch a large portion of our nation embrace the idea that hard work, ingenuity, sacrifice, learned failure and creativity are not worthwhile achievements. It saddened me to discover, as major news agencies reported, that nearly half the nation feels they are owed something by our government and those that earn a higher wage than they do.
Work: a Four Letter Word
Why is it, those that have worked hard to become successful (by worldly standards) are vilified? What has changed in our society that we curse those people that have persevered and achieved some level of personal greatness outside of Hollywood? I have always been taught to do your best regardless the task at hand. I must say, that has not been easy. There have been some jobs in which I needed to remind myself daily to not become lazy, to not cut corners, to do my best even though no one was watching and I felt the task was beneath my ability or was just plain old boring. Perhaps this conviction stems from a deeper truth that has been tossed aside by our nation. Even when I had to rely on worker’s compensation for a debilitating injury, it felt wrong to be paid to essentially sit at home. Well, I confess, the first couple weeks it felt like a vacation, but that soon passed when the pain medication was gone and it was replaced by the Occupy Wall Street prescription. This new persona left me feeling depressed, lazy and discontent. Contrary to popular belief, work was the answer.
I may be a CEO now and thus by default lumped into the 1%, irregardless of my actual financial standing, but a few short years ago I was unemployed. My extended time being on worker’s compensation ultimately left me unemployed. Prior to this, I was under employed and dreamed of striking it rich. I started entertaining many the same thoughts as the Occupy Wall Street crowd as I struggled to make ends meet and make sense of how a college graduate (Magna Cum Laud) could be earning the same wage as a high school dropout. In my burgeon laziness I expected and perhaps demanded a “Kings Harvest” with minimal effort. It was my right, after all, it was not my fault I was now unemployed! The self-fulfilling downward spiral was depressingly alluring. But I couldn’t shake the ever fading voice in my head, “there had to be a better way.” I needed to change my thinking.
“What changed?” you might ask. Well, let me start by framing my belief system by referencing a couple of proverbs or wise sayings: All cats love fish but fear to wet their paws…The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over yet expecting different results…Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
Debilitating Fear
I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and realized I was the only one with the power to effectively bring about a genuine change to my situation. I was determined to make something of myself; to allow myself to feel proud again. To feel satisfied rather than depressed. To feel like I could contribute to the family instead of relying on my wife to be the primary bread winner. I needed to stop blaming others for my failures and current social economic status. I needed to stand up and act! Great thoughts, right? But up until this point nothing has changed, they are just empty thoughts!
The hardest part in any decision is actually getting up the nerve to start! The fear of failure for me was overwhelming and almost self-defeating. The security of having at least a small pay check and miserable job was better than possibly no pay check and a “career”. The realization that I was giving up 8 hour work days and overtime for 10, 12 and, 16 hour days sometimes without pay was tiring just thinking about it! The fear of failure was stifling. FEAR is what prevented me from taking action in the past. FEAR is what paralyzed me and reinforced my dependence on the “hand out” mentality. FEAR nearly became my downfall!
The Payoff!
Fast forward several years…Impact Battery today is a successful small business with 4 full time salaries, a strong national online presence working with a host of professional systems integration, development teams and business betterment experts. Has it been smooth sailing? No. Have I made real money choices? Yes. Have I made some awful choices that impacted sales negatively? Yes. Have I thought about quitting? Yes. Have I felt depressed and inadequate and a failure at certain points? Yes, yes, and yes. Has it been worth it? Absolutely! Would I do it again? In A Heart Beat!
The feeling of accomplishment is addictive. Having a sense of purpose propels me forward. Contributing to society in a positive and constructive manner is a great feeling. Learning from my mistakes is humbling. Knowing that mine and my employees’ yearly raise (or lack thereof) is directly tied to how well I can execute our business strategy is sobering. Life is no longer about only me and what I can get out of this world. It is no longer about what it owes me. It now includes what I can give back—what I can contribute. It’s about bettering myself and those around me; freely sharing the resources at my disposal with those that desire the same.
I would consider myself part of the 99%—the 99% that desire the best and have the ability to work hard and achieve success. I don’t think that the majority of Americans truly want to be a slave to the government and its free handouts. I don’t think we truly desire redistributed entitlements or really understand the implications of such practices. That thinking comes from desperation, fear and a detached reality. It pits classes of people against each other and pushes citizens deeper into poverty and dependence. Teaching a man to fish is far more rewarding and productive than handing him a fish day after day after day. Deep down inside, I think Americans long for a better life, just like I did, and are simply hamstrung with fear and know no better than to wallow in self-pity. This depressing self-pity then starts demanding a “King’s Dinner” as a way to mask over the sorrow of failure and provide temporary relief to the sadness. I get it, I was there! But the question is, “When will we collectively stand up and say enough! “? When will we take personal responsibility and make a change? When will we face our fears to start down the path of our full potential?
At Impact Battery we are not perfect. We make mistakes. But we acknowledge them and strive to not make the same mistake twice. We enjoy challenging our team to continually find ways to become more efficient and create a better work flow. We understand that work is a necessary component of life to put food on the table. We recognize the importance of giving back the first fruits of our labor to charities our customers select and we fundamentally agree with. When the focus is no longer about self and shifts to how we can make life better for those around us, you will begin to experience true freedom and joy devoid of fear and trepidation. Taking responsibility for ones actions, desiring change and acting on those desires is essential to achieving something greater. It takes discipline. It takes work. The only person that owes you something is yourself—not your neighbor, not some multi-national business, and not your government! It is up to you, go and make a positive difference in your world!
Conventional wisdom states that one should never argue with a crazy person.
If you truly believe that your quote "I do not know anything" and my quote referring to the Occupy Wall Street movement as "a group that he obviously knows very little about" are the same in meaning and intent, then I have no reason to continue this conversation.
For an objective view and forum for different perspective, try listening to NPR before it's de-funded. Meanwhile I suggest you stick to batteries.
You appear articulate but your ability and/or willingness to reason and participate in a meaningful discussion is clouded. Why would you "quote" something I did not say ?
Is that a tactic you acquired from your information source ? You also state that those in disagreement mostly follow party lines, while I read mostly well reasoned references to societal change. Take a second look at the posts and see if you agree. If not I propose that the intent and purpose of your information source has been achieved and your delusion is thorough and complete. The idle aristocracy has another minion to serve their purpose.
No animosity intended, only pity for you and society.
Best Wishes,
Chris
PS - I love the tag in the Captcha window : "Stop Spam, Read Books"
My disillusionary response is a as follows:
RE Quotes. Here is your statement "...without imposing the opposite attributes on a group that he obviously knows very little about..."
Here is my quote "...I would not encourage making blanket statements and assumptions that I “do not know anything” because it sounds to much like a liberal cliche tag line when alternative thinking is presented." I think my paraphrase of "do not know anything" correctly articulates and is in tune with the intent of your comment "he obviously knows very little" but indeed was not a direct word for word quote.
Rather than trading blows in an arousing game of political banter. I will leave our discussion with this, I will never convince you to become or think like a conservative and you will never convince me to become or think like a liberal. It would be like a Muslim trying to convert a Christian. We think differently. We approach the world from different ideals. I would rather leave with the scripted insults being hurled my direction and let you continue to believe I (we) are closed minded minions without ability to think rationally.
Actually I would love to hear you thoughts regarding this post:http://m2impactbattery.iverveinc.com/migration225/blog/2012/10/what-trouble-in-libya-americans-are-ok-with-being-lied-to/
Darren's point about initiative, ambition and effort, with a modicum of aptitude and skill resulting in success is a universal, if not banal concept. It is not exclusive to one ideology or political party. If he expressed his story as a personal experience, without imposing the opposite attributes on a group that he obviously knows very little about, it would probably have been better received.
Since your comment was directly more towards me rather than George, I thought I might reply. Hope that's OK. I think your point is very valid and when not generalizing is very true. However, my main point of observation with the Occupy crowd and my experience, is that their is a strong undercurrent of people within those ranks that simply want free stuff. They have no work ethic, no motivation and no desire to take it upon themselves and truly contribute to society. When you break it down further the majority happen to be Obama supporters. So as a conservative looking from the outside in, I would say it is a fair analysis.
If we step out further from the Occupy crowd I would propose that by and large as a society, we have begun to lose our ambition, initiative, desire, etc. This shift in thinking is noticeable on both sides of the ideologue. I had a business owner tell me the other day that they were looking to fill a position and had hundreds of applicants--more than ever before even for an entry level position. Most of the applicants were unwilling to pitch in and clean the restroom or even the shop. It was beneath them. He was looking for someone that would be a team player and help out when the primary person responsible for such tasks was not available. So out of several hundred applicants he found less than a dozen that passed that simple test.
The majority of those who have posted or called tend to agree with this analysis, but I am fully aware their are a portion of readers that may disagree for various reasons. Of those that disagree, most seem to stick to party lines and desire to defend ideological positions rather than reference societal change. To that end those that tend to agree follow similar traits; it's human nature to do so. But I thank you for referencing this point. My opinion of the Occupy crowd was derived from the media coverage. If it is off base feel free to blame them (they screw up often) but I would not encourage making blanket statements and assumptions that I "do not know anything" because it sounds to much like a liberal cliche tag line when alternative thinking is presented. You sound like an educated man, so I am surprised to hear such banter.
===============================
> On Sep 29, 2012, at 11:14 PM, John wrote:
>
>> http://m2impactbattery.iverveinc.com/migration225/blog/2012/09/is-the-occupy-wall-street-movement-what-america-needs/
=============================================
On 9/30/2012 8:31 AM, $$$$$$$$$$ wrote:
> Only a tiny percentage of the 1% got where they are by innovation and hard work. The vast majority got there by inheriting money, connections or both. Your editorialist conveniently ignores this fact.
>
> Spend some time studying history and you will see, over and over again, societies destroyed by revolution after allowing all the wealth to collect at the top in the hands of a few. The Arab Spring offers current examples. You can see the same back as far as Sparta, Athens and Rome.
>
> Regardless of whether one justifies the aggregation of the wealth as "fair" or not, the end result is the destruction of the society.
>
==========================
My reply:
Nearly 40 years ago I read a very thick paperback called "The Rich and the Superrich," by a Columbia economics professor. I did not finish it because it got into detailed professor-ese and was very depressing. His point, then, as well as now, is that only about 500 families actually control this country. Most of these by inherited wealth. Among them are the DuPonts, the Mellons, the Kennedys, the Rockefellers, etc.
The scions of these families were generally hard-scrabble guys who earned their money, often by methods we would not approve of. However, their heirs, generally, manage to control the country by politics, control of corporations, and their tax-exempt foundations. You do not have to totally own a company to control it. Maybe 30% of the stock is sufficient. You take your excess money, and in what appears to be the public good, control the distribution of that money without paying taxes on the investments. (and everyone thinks you are such a great person. - Bill Gates comes to mind.) This group of people doesn't have to worry about economic times, unless their heirs are really stupid and lose their money.)
Those in lesser income brackets, such as the author of the article quoted, are really not much better than the rest of us. In really severe times, he could go broke again. But he is willing to work hard and make money, and provide jobs. He willing chose to get off the system and get back to work. He is not one of the one percent. He has little input to control his destiny. Even that Facebook turkey, Zuckerberg (?), although extremely wealthy, is learning a lesson in economics.
However, there ARE a fairly large group of people (and I am not talking about any minority group, but whites that I have met) that are just bone headed and make decisions that put them on the bottom of the economic ladder. I have also heard stories from students who are working mightily to get out of those circumstances and away from their bone headed families.
One student I talked to personally, has a family on welfare, (her family wanted to sign her up), but she did not choose that path and was recently the top graduate in Engineering at UAH. Another, who did poorly in HS, somehow made his way to NACC, and is the only real genius I ever met. As an undergrad at UAH, he was teaching math classes. Others are not so gifted intellectually, but are working hard to stay out of the dependency system.
I CAN go on and on.
So, there are the ruling classes, and then there are those who have succeeded by hard work. It is these people who are pissed-off at the welfare queens (of all genders and races). I assume you are familiar with the recent youtube video about the Cleveland woman who was screaming about her Obama-phone (and by extension, Obama's stash.)
You, my friend, are one of us, unless you are related to the magnificent 500.
There always remains the opportunity to delay the certain decline of our nation. I hope we can do so in our time.
You guys are correct, I am not what I would call rich and can very easily lose everything that was created a few short years ago. I am however, way better off than a few years ago and am wealthy beyond measure when you account for spiritual, social, and emotional aspects of life. Sorry to go religious on you, but all credit and glory goes to my heavenly Father. I believe he is the provider of all things and he started with planting the idea in my head. I just had to listen, trust and act upon this idea utilizing the God given talents He has provided and is providing each and every day.
...and no I am not a part of the so called 500, but is it a bad thing to strive for such success and influence?