Columnists, COLUMNS--FEATURE SPOT, Opinion, Scot Beard
 By  Scot Beard Published 
8:00 am Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Only the idiots are Occupying Wall Street

For several weeks now the Occupy Wall Street protests have made headlines across the nation and throughout the world.

The movement has grown in popularity with Occupy events in cities throughout the United States and a few have popped up in Europe.

While I have no problem with people peacefully protesting, even if they are protesting against something I support, I do have a problem with people gathering and protesting with no idea of what they are protesting or how they can change the things they are protesting.

The Occupy protesters are a great example of this. There is not a main objective to the protests other than to say Wall Street is the cause of America’s problems.

Is there a specific item they would like to change such as banking regulations? No. Do they want Congress to enact laws to help reduce the unemployment rate? Nope.

These appear to be a group of people who want to protest for the sake of protesting.

An interviewer asked one protester what he was protesting. The man’s response was, “Uh, um. I’m protesting, um, uh…I can’t do this, I’m sorry. I just hope to get our voices heard.”

Somebody should tell that guy that he might have better luck getting his voice heard if he could first come up with a legitimate concern and then find a way to articulate it in a clear and precise way.

That might be asking a little much. The interviewer later asked if the guy had tried to have sex during the protests. He said yes. The interviewer also asked him if it was more important to smoke marijuana or to get a job. “Getting a job so I can buy the weed,” the man said.

A different protester also had problems telling people what his hopes for the protests were. When asked why he was participating in the protests he responded, “I want to show awareness and explain why we are here and get other people to think about it.”

Did you catch that? He was asked why he was there and he said he wanted to “explain why we are here.” He had a golden opportunity to explain, but didn’t — or couldn’t because he only wanted to be part of the mob.

Even the protesters who know what they want don’t understand how the real world works. Another interviewer asked a young woman about employment and she said she would rather work for herself than work for a boss.

“I would rather make my own money,” she said. “I can control how much money I make when I make it.”

She also said there was a simple way of curing the nation’s economic ills.

“Abolish money,” she said. “We don’t need money to establish the good living. It is &%$#@^ up how we have to pay to live. There is enough food and supplies to go around for everybody. We should ration stuff out.”

Apparently she wants to live in a communist society. Perhaps she should ask the residents of Cuba, North Korea, China and the former Soviet Union how well that system of government has worked out for them.

As awful as her solution was to the economic problems, another protester — believe it or not — had a worse idea. She wanted people to “have the right to print their own money.”

Wow! How stupid can somebody be? Printing money without any backing leads to hyperinflation and makes money worthless.

Don’t believe me? Look at Germany after World War I.

Before World War I the Mark, the German unit of currency, had an exchange rate with the U.S. Dollar in which one dollar was worth 4.2 Marks. By 1923 the exchange rate changed to 4.2 trillion Marks were worth one dollar.

Yes the United States is having serious problems, but there are not simple solutions to these issues.

While I support people protesting in order to influence change, I do have a problem with those people not understanding how the system works and calling the system corrupt.

Just because they are either too ignorant to understand relatively simple economic principles or too lazy to learn about them does not give them the right to dumb down America in order to get the things they want. When that happens, nobody is helped and everyone suffers.

Perhaps the protesters would be better off spending time occupying a classroom before they make their way to Wall Street.

Also on Franklin County Times
Watermelon Winners 2026
B: WATERMELON FESTIVAL, Franklin County
Griffin Traylor 
August 20, 2026
MOST UNUSUAL   First place: Lorena Bonilla (Russellville)     BEST DRESSED   First place: Aymar Bonilla (Russellville)   Second place: Candy Owens (La...
Byrd’s final song a fitting tribute
News, Russellville, Z - News Main
By Brady Petree 
August 19, 2026
RUSSELLVILLE — When organizers landed country music star Tracy Byrd as the headline performer for the 45th annual Franklin County Watermelon Festival,...
Russellville graduate deported
Main, News, Russellville, ...
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
August 19, 2026
RUSSELLVILLE – A 19-year-old Russellville High School graduate was deported from the United States on Aug. 9, according to the Department of Homeland ...
Locomotive gets new paint at Railroad Park
Main, News, Red Bay, ...
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
August 19, 2026
RED BAY — The 1923 steam locomotive at the Railroad Park is getting a new paint job as work on a concrete pad, lighting and other features continues. ...
RMS kicks off character program
News, Russellville
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
August 19, 2026
RUSSSELLVILLE – Liberty Learning Foundation programs at Russellville Middle School now extend through all three grade levels with sixth graders studyi...
Major hire
High School Sports, Russellville Golden Tigers, Sports
RUSSELLVILLE GOLDEN TIGERS
RUSSELLVILLE LOOKS TO RIDE HIGGINS’ BOOST
By Matt St. Charles Sports Writer 
August 19, 2026
It was going to take a great opportunity for Darrell Higgins to leave Mars Hill at the end of last season. He’d been there for 10 years, coaching the ...
Obituaries
Obituaries
August 19, 2026
  John Wayne Terry Aug. 12, 2026   John Wayne Terry, 68, of Russellville, passed away Aug. 12. Visitation took place at Spry Memorial Chapel Aug. 18 f...
Still on the hunt
High School Sports, Red Bay Tigers, Sports
RED BAY TIGERS
By A. Stacy Long Sports Writer 
August 19, 2026
After enjoying a major year-over-year leap, Red Bay football instead took a step back over the offseason. Oh, my, boys basketball and baseball, what e...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *