This poignant video is what democracy is all about. Be proud that you're an American. Be proud that you live in a country where this can happen.
These people protesting are not our enemies, they are not terrorists. They are firefighters, teachers, chefs, soldiers, auto-workers, office employees, I mean, the list goes on. It is atrocious what these policemen are doing, beating and arresting people. By the end of the year some of those same cops are going to be out of a job. Is this how they repay those who are trying to help them? They should have arrested those damn crazy nut jobs we call the Tea Party, with their guns waving and shit. They were out protesting several months ago and no one did shit.
"I've been there around six times now. Two with a video camera, two with a still camera, and two just without a camera. Each experience has been unique - and I have to say - it makes it easier for me to have the camera - it gives me more focus there. But just getting lost in the crowd can be beauitful. I was there Friday night starting around 11pm and I believe there was the General Assembly going on - watching the process - they were organizing smaller groups - was beautiful - watching direct democracy in action." - Ed David
2 comments:
Amazing video and more outstandingly brave, brilliant and courageous people. I am so glad that this is happening. I only wish that I could be more of a part of it, instead of being just another storm trooper working for the dark side, but my family comes first before anything else. I truly need my job. Working as a personal banker for four years was fun, I'll admit it. The money was great and the experience of getting that sale and succeeding my goals was an unbelievably great feeling. But at the same time, I felt like I was selling loaded guns to children. Before Obama's Dodd-Frank legislation went into effect, banks got away with murder when it came to people financial lives. Yes, the teaser interest rate mortgages we're a trap for many, but by the time I got into the business the bank had already done its' best to stop offering them to protect itself from future financial losses. My strife was with the accounts I was in charge of selling, where a person that knew nothing of how bank accounts worked could easily find themselves paying hundreds of dollars in fees over years of not paying attention to their accounts or simply overspending a few dollars on a bill pay weekend. Yes, we had to give them disclosures on everything; tiny print jargon filled disclosures that even confused me at times, and I worked there. Yes, the bank would say, "It's their fault. They shouldn't have spent money they didn't have and they wouldn't be in the situation that they are in right now," and to an extent they were right, but at the same time when you give somebody a tool that doesn't know how to use it and all you have to give them is an instruction manual that might as well be in a foreign language, you're stacking the odds against them from the start and that is not fair at all. What hurt me the worst were the young students that had never had an account before and had no one to help educate them on it. My job was not to educate, my job was to sell as many accounts as possible and make the most money doing it. Yet I still went out of my way with every customer that was new to this to do my best to explain to them what to avoid doing and what could possibly happen. Sometimes I could take an hour just trying to help people understand that wanted to listen cause they still didn't completely get it. I can't begin to tell you how many times I got in trouble for that, but I always felt that if I could help avoid one more kid from coming into my office in tears because they overspent a few dollars on their account which ultimately lead to owing money that they couldn't pay, I could look back one day and see that I was trying to do some good in a career which ended up hurting so many people. Despite the hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees we could charge in one 24 period to one person, I was only allowed to give back one or two if any. My manager always did her best to help out all of our customers in need, but even she was forbidden from helping to much or face loosing money from her paycheck, or even her job. The bank has helped many people through charity work, donations as well as simply handling their money, but I truly believe to this day that it will never be enough for all the lives that they hurt or even destroyed. After four years I got tired of it. Tired of the pressure to get more and more and more because making your goals was never enough. Tired of explaining to customers how a computer glitch must have happened and that's why your account has changed and now has started charging you monthly fees. For one of the most powerful and technological banks in the world, that happened way too often.
Tired of explaining how you overspent too much and that's why you can't pay your rent now or feed your children because it's your fault, not mine, so I'm sorry but I can't help you out with that. Thanks and I hope that you have a great day. I was given the chance to try and begin a new career as a small business owner with my family, so I took the opportunity and went with them part time while going back to being a teller part time for now. I have no clue at this point where this venture will get me, but I have faith and hope for the best that all will go well and that, at the end of the day, I can still bring in the money to pay the bills and support my family, without making money at the possible expense of others. Granted, times are better now for many account holders, but only thanks to government regulation which the bank is always trying to repeal by supporting politicians and lobbyists that work for them. The days of overdraft fee landslides are done, so the bank now has to find other ways to make the money up. Granted, they are in the business of making money and they're not a non-profit organization, but are these new fees being established to keep business going or simply keep the pocket books of the guys at the top heavily filled? When making billions in the last quarter alone, are these new fees really necessary? A customer told me yesterday that all these fees would be the bank's ultimate downfall and, I quote, "You all are gonna get what's coming to you!" Who knows if she's right. With such a big bank not much is gonna stop it without a fight, but if the people at the top don't realize quick that this is the absolute worst time to start charging more then I truly expect them to end up losing a whole lot of business. It may not bring them down, but I'm sure it will hurt still. This time the government won't stop them from charging more, at least for right now, so the real question is will they do best by their customers by their own will alone, or will it be another "necessity" for the good of the business? Who knows at this point, we'll just have to wait and see. All I'm certain is that the people out protesting right now are doing everything they can to help the people of this country for the better. They're true heroes in my eyes, and even though I'm not in a position to be down there fighting along beside them, I still support their cause 100%. I wish them the best of luck and hope that they continue to attempt to bring much needed change to this country of ours. As great as it is, this country was built by the people, for the people and not for corporations and banks. I may work for the bank, but until they show that they really want to do better for their customers, I do not believe in them and I do not support them. God Bless America, the true place of opportunity.
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