Occupy Wall Street: How the Government Keeps Failing

Just when I thought that the government cannot make this situation any worse, I discover that I'm wrong.

This past week, government officials around the country began to "evict" Occupy protester from their protesting sites.  Now, if I assume that there is a valid reason for these eviction, then I would expect that the various government officials would evict these people by the light of day, allowing the press to record the proceedings.  I would expect the protesters would be given enough time and warning to remove their possessions in an orderly fashion.  And unless the protesters began to violently react, I would also expect close to no arrests.

Did any of this happen?

No!

The government officials crept through the night like bandits and thieves, like mafia enforcers who wish to avoid the eye of the public.  Police men showed up in riot gear, despite the fact that all of the violence so far was initialed by the police.  Tear gas and rubber bullets flew, creating war on our own streets.  Against our own citizens, who want nothing more than for the current government to listen to the people.  They want Congress to stop practicing taxation without representation, to stop representing the wealthy elite who consider themselves about "We the people" and to represent everyone.  They want the laws currently on the books to be enforced, for the wealthy who have been breaking the laws with impunity to be brought to justice.  Stop allowing a small group of business to be virtual monopolies, controlling the entire American economy yet having no responsibility to match their power.

The government failed the American people years ago, when they allowed the wealthy elite to dictate the votes of Congress.  They failed the American people when they bailed out the bank and car companies, citing that these organizations were "too big to fail" but not enforcing the monopoly laws on such companies.  They failed the American people by passing laws that allowed corporations to be a "person" in the eyes of the law, gaining all of the privileges and none of the responsibilities.  They failed the American people by allowing for-profit universities to take money for student loans and not give a decent education in return.  They failed the American people by using the debt ceiling to get personal legislation passed, putting party politics above the entire country.  They failed the American people by faking a "war on terror" and then doing nothing useful to stop terrorists.  Instead, they removed more and more of the rights of Americans until we have the situation of today.

American citizens getting arrested for practicing their right to protest.  A right guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.  A right inherent to the American Dream.

Now, the government fails us again, arresting not only the protesters but the media.  Anyone who has a camera or a video recorder is at risk for being arrested, not for breaking any particular law but for reporting the truth.  For recording what the government is doing, and letting the world see how democracy and the American Way of Life is dying.

My Halloween Mission: Success!!!

Mission accomplished!!!

Okay, let me back up a bit.  This weekend, I discussed my Halloween mission with my dear husband, who pointed out that homemade cookies would turn into homemade cookie dust in a trick-or-treat bag.  So, I decided to give away homemade cookies to kids who wanted to eat one immediately, and give away candy for their goody bag.

This afternoon, I whipped out my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and a bag of Toll House chocolate chips.  Following the recipe on the bag, I made a double batch of cookie dough.  After the first batch of cookies expanded too much, I changed the baking method to create cookie bars.

Then, I waited.  Usually, we have a small horde of preschoolers show up between 4:00pm and 5:00pm, dressed up as ladybugs and firefighters and accompanied by their moms.  Today, no one showed.  Not one single kid knocked on our door between 4:00pm and 6:00pm.  If fact, it was almost 7:00pm before we got the very first trick-or-treaters for the night.

However, once we had trick-or-treaters, everything went smoothly.  We gave out homemade chocolate chip cookies to the trick-or-treaters to eat now (with permission from the parents for the wee ones), as well as giving out candy to take home for later.  Not only did we run out of cookies, but a friend of my son who was not going trick-or-treating called us, asking if we still had cookies left.  He was going out to trick-or-treat at our house, just to get a cookie!

No one called the cops.  No one accused us of attempting to poison their children.  And all the children enjoyed the cookies.  In fact, given the feedback we've gotten so far, I think we may make this a new Halloween tradition.

American Society: We're All In This Together, Folks

Imagine that you live in an apartment with several roommates.  You divide up the rent, the water bill, the electric bill, phone bill, ....  You don't measure how long each individual takes in the shower, or how much television any person watches.  Everyone just pitches in to pay for the apartment and amenities.  If you're lucky, your roommates will even tide you over on the bills when your car breaks down and you need to spend an extra $1,000 to fix it.

That's what we are, the American people.  We are roommates, all living in one big apartment called the United States of America.  Instead of rent and bills, we pay taxes to cover living expenses, such as the police, firefighters, public libraries, and schools.  Our living expenses also include maintenance of items previous generations "purchased", such a public roads and public parks.  When someone has  a "bad month", that means that they live under the poverty line, we help them out with the expenses.  Those who have extra pitch in more.

Why?

Because we are all in this together.  United, we stood for over 200 years.  But unless people stop being so greedy, and putting their own wants ahead of society, then we will be divided and we will fall.