Several incidents in the last few days have received media attention as "Occupy" protesters have been doused with pepper spray and evicted from tenement encampments at government locations.
Certainly, no sane person would argue that these people don't have the right to assemble and to protest peacefully. The problem here is that once you start camping out on City Halls doorstep, you are interfering with the rights of others to use public property. Also, these protesters have very twisted ideas about free speech. Like most demented liberals, you are free to speak, only if you agree with their political views/opinions. Local community activist Zuma Dogg found that out the hard way when he went down to Los Angeles City Hall and set up his microphone and tried to do some "free speech." He ended up getting attacked by an angry mob within one minute of starting his speech. Very interesting ideas about free speech they have down there.
The problem with these protesters is that they are all idiots.
It is not surprising that they don't understand basic economics, because most of them don't have a job.
They are actually protesting for more government interference in their lives. They want government to seize assets of the rich. They want government to dictate to corporations and take their money from them by force. They basically want the government to be the "Robin Hood" of the world. To steal from the rich and give to the poor.
The problem with this is...doing this will not achieve anything of positive value. Communist governments ran countries around the world for the last few decades. They dictated who would earn what, what products would be produced or sold, and at what price. In every case, they destroyed the economy and peoples ability to earn a living because they interfered in voluntary economic transactions between free people.
The OWS protesters could destroy all these corporations tomorrow. These corporations only exist because you willingly give them your money. Repeatedly. They give you a product you want at a price that you are willing to pay for it. They take your money in a voluntary transaction. The transaction happens because it is beneficial to both parties.
If you don't like what a corporation is doing to you, you can put them out of business tomorrow. Stop buying coffee at Starbucks. Don't ever go into a McDonalds again. Pull all your money out of Bank of America and put it into a local credit union. But let's be honest, the OWS protesters don't have the ability to get that project done. And they never will.
Government, on the other hand, is devoid or reasoning or common sense. Examples of government waste and abuse are legendary. Government interference in the market place only causes misery for all parties.
The protesters do have one legitimate complaint.
When large corporations make huge profits, they keep them. When large corporations have massive losses, they go whining and crying to the government that they need to have these losses socialized....to have the people pay for them.
This is a very dangerous idea that needs to be eliminated. Socializing failure with financial gain only creates a desire for more of it. People could start bankrupting their companies on purpose if they know there is a government handout waiting around the corner.
If the government had stayed out of private business, the housing market bubble would never have happened. Prices would not have soared astronomically because the artificial demand would not have existed. Now, it will take years for the real estate market to stabilize. The harm in this enormous industry has a ripple effect, as thousands of other housing-related businesses like construction get hammered with low demand.
If the OWS protesters had any brains at all, they would be protesting to get the government out of the free market...instead of trying to get them to control everything that happens in it.
