Occupy

[Cramulus]

it's all good! 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

My reply to you will be a pager at least Cram, but I can't do it right this moment.  I'll sit down when I get home and hammer it out.

I hope you'll also address the points that Cain made. Because right now I am failing to see how any thinking person could feel anything but insulted by the steaming pile of corporate dung she extruded from her mouth in that segment.

[Elder Iptuous]

I was thinking it would be pretty cool if, at a certain time and date, in a show of solidarity, American gun owners fired shots into the air.  A "shot heard round the world" so to speak.  I think it could be a very powerful message, but without the right "legalese" in the "call to action" it could go horribly wrong.

Sorry about all the commas and quotes.

Wow, THAT'S not a completely retarded idea for too many reasons to enumerate.

I think it's a great idea, if it's restricted to Texas and Phoenix.

How would we distinguish it from all the other shots in the air, though?

hold on.... it's 2:15. i gotta go shoot the Westminster quarters on the church bell with m'wheelguns. brb.

[Cramulus]

this thread sparked some thoughts, which I've posted here: http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php?topic=30438.0

[rong]

It was recently explained to me that I live in "the Texas of the Midwest"

[Elder Iptuous]

It was recently explained to me that I live in "the Texas of the Midwest"

Better than living in the midwest of Texas....
(that's what direction we point when we shoot into the air.)

[rong]

I would've expected the direction to be "up"

[Elder Iptuous]

We may be slightly off kilter in Texas, but we know enough not to shoot straight up.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

We may be slightly off kilter in Texas, but we know enough not to shoot straight up.

It's OK if the bullet hits someone else. 

[Doktor Howl]

We may be slightly off kilter in Texas, but we know enough not to shoot straight up.

And this is a fucking shame and a disgrace.

[The Rev]

We may be slightly off kilter in Texas, but we know enough not to shoot straight up.

And this is a fucking shame and a disgrace.

Shoot straight up, hand the gun to an enemy, walk away.

FFS, we have to teach you kids everything.

[Luna]

http://occupywallst.org/forum/proposed-list-of-demands-for-occupy-wall-st-moveme/

The proposed list of demands for Occupy Wall Street. (My opinion of "Let's protest, THEN decide what we're protesting FOR is withheld, for the sake of the children."

Includes:

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.

[Cain]

What's so stupid about that?  Apart from the fact it's unachievable.

The simple fact is, paying off debt is economically unproductive activity, in the long run.  When debt becomes unreasonably large, when people are being pushed into absolute povery to pay their debts, it is crushing potential and should be put aside.  The Third World spent decades paying off the debts of dictators, and look at those poor bastards.  Debt repayment turned Africa, one of the richest continents in the world in terms of resources, into an economic black hole in the global economy (corruption, by the same dictators taking out the loans, also contributed).

Athens became the city we know, the classical Athens of philosophy and democracy, precisely because the citizenry rose up, deposed their tyrants and their new leader, Solon, forgave all debts.  Within a couple of decades, Athenians were dominating the Aegean sea and many of their markets.

Debt relief would be a jolt in the arm to the global economy.

[Elder Iptuous]

yeah, i don't think that's a facepalm at all. i'm all for it.

[Luna]

Oh, I'd LOVE to have my debt wiped out, don't get me wrong.

However, I fail to see how getting all debt "on the planet" abolished will be accomplished.  As you said, Cain, unachievable.

Also, there's the bit where I believe that I DID borrow the fucking money, I need to pay it back.

Now...  Set it up so that all interest is on debt is capped at 5% so people have a chance to actually pay the money OWED instead of interest forever, and I'm all for it.  THAT I can see happening...  But we'll never see universal debt forgiveness.