I support the Occupy NS movement in principle, however, I think there are more effective strategies for citizens to effect institutional and legal change in this country. For holding this point of view I have been called “Jaded, Apathetic and Cynical”. Occupy does not have a monopoly on concerns with the growing inequalities in western society and the imagining of alternative realities. “To Occupy or not to Occupy?”–why impose such a narrow and dichotomous question? My thoughts: challenge the legal status of corporations as “People”: take away their limited liability. This would transcend most of the concerns expressed by the Occupy movement. It’s a long battle that would require patience, expertise, fund raising, collaboration, hard work and courage. “Between ideas of right doing and wrong doing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” – Rumi. —A Supporter in Principle: But I’m Not Camping
This article appears in Nov 10-16, 2011.
But some of them have iPhones in their campgrounds!
The presence of an iPhone is a sure sign of wealth and affluence.
Next, someone will claim they all use Grey Poupon…
i’m sure these kids weren’t thinking about the “consequences” as the cop said. i bet their adrenalin was thru the roof http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article…
Blah blah blah. Those protesters can start by getting rid of anything they own that was made by a corporation that makes money, closing their bank accounts, and disappearing into the forest to live in trees.
Interesting that you should bring this up, OB.
Here’s the thing: this would be a terrible thing for our economy as we currently know it. Not that we’re in awesome shape, but still.
Why?
Without limited liability, who would be on the hook for a decision that went awry? The business owner. That’s all fine and dandy if you’re talking about some big corporation that does despicable things (because they can get away with it, mind you)….but the little guy would be ruined.
Say bye-bye to small and medium-sized businesses because no one in their right mind would ever go into business if this were the case!!
Unless, of course, that is the point – for the small business model to be eradicated in favour of co-ops.
I do not think this is the answer. The issue isn’t limited liability; it’s that the regulations that are in place are either toothless or unenforced.
By definition, capitalism isn’t evil – crony capitalism, however, is.
Exactly, kelifax. The occupy crowd has projected a myth that it is the undertaxed ‘corporation’ that is the anti-christ of our problems.
Seldom do they ever point out that it is extremely cheap to incorporate in Canada. Staples.com will do it for you for less than $1000. Which means that almost every small business that is starting to make a go of it….you know, the kind of business that employs about dozen people or less…..every one of them has atleast considered incorporating, many have.
I’m sick of this stereo type that keeps getting projected by the left wing church of hate. You guys can’t go after the big bad corporations without destroying the little guys that have put their entire life into a business that supports their family and supports other’s as well.
The world has already experimented with the crap that the occupiers are spewing, and it doesn’t fucking work. Canada already has the best system, if you don’t like it, then FUCK OFF!
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If you don’t like it, THEN FUCK OFF!
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No shit, GV! The system should be preserved in it’s exact state as it was when tge country came together in 1865!
If only there was some process in place, where every cerain number of years the people of this country could make their voices heard, *as a group*, to change or bring about change in the things that tey are concerned about…
Mmm. Wonder…
nice original post. adding the ‘people’ term to corporations seems good in theory, but as for realistic feasibility I’m not sure. I think there would be legal chaos with redundant lawsuits coming up everywhere.
these people complain about 1% of society holding the majority of the wealth. perhaps there is some validity to that. but when I overhear an occupier saying to a McDonald’s employee that she is one of these 1%, I realize that in general occupiers are among the dumbest 1% of people out there. that’s my complaint. take a fucking bath, and read a book about basic economics.
wheelie, left wing economics is never about change. They generally stand in the way of change. If you want to promote change, you have to step out of the way and let the next generation of entrepreneurs inovate. Who are these entrepreneurs? they aren’t embittered unionists and self employed loners, they are the kind of people that incorporate and create businesses that provide employment for a dozen families.
Occupy needs a super pac before they’ll get anywhere.
once the unlimited funds start to roll in, they’ll be hittin the politico’s where it hurts…..
the ol’ bottom line.
as if that’d ever happen anyways…
I’m not alking about left/right, GV.
I’m talking about “if you don’t like it, Fuck off”. The country is in a constant state of change. People get to influence that with votes, even the people we don’t like.
The left scares me just as much as the right does, for many of the same reasons- a self assuredness that *they* are the only ones who know what’s right.
Wp
I hear that as a gesture of conciliation, HRM Council has permitted Occupy NS to enter a float in this weekend’s Parade:
http://www.joe-ks.com/archives_mar2007/Mex…
that was better than the prototype they came up with…
see, they all couldn’t agree on a concept so they had to take the ‘most popular one’.
http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/0…
exactly.
And sebastian is right. I would do that too if canada would let me. I tried once. It went poorly.
Have you not listened after all these years?
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.
I really could not make it any simpler than that.
And did you not know that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil?