OCCUPY WALL STREET

[Diavolo]

Originally Posted by greeneyedgrrl

thank you az. it is so hard for me... to hear my cousin spouting such hatred for people she has never met. it just baffles me how easily we (humans) can be duped into seeing each other as the enemy.

I am amazed by it myself. With a few exceptions here in Oakland, in particular, the OWS folks have been completely peaceful and all of the violence has been committed by the State.

Ask your cousin how many of her friends have lost their houses to the banks while they were working on a modification? My experience as an REO real estate broker is that while the bank is working on your modification they are "double tracking" the foreclosure. Meaning they are stringing you out and then "Bam!" they take your house. I didn't dream up derivatives. Did you? I didn't even dream up options, and while I understand the investment product, options are no more than legalized gambling. I said that in 2000 when I got my Series 7 license. This shit is legalized gambling. So when the OWS folks say the banks have been gambling with our money on our future, they are exactly right. Bank of America is so bloated that they could fail and it would take months for the rank and file to find out about it. Yet their executives still receive huge pay packages while the middle class shrinks away.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a capitalist for sure, but I believe in conducting business with a soul. Am I working towards the top 1%? You bet your ass. But I think you don't have to make every penny on every deal. You have to give back. A lot. Its the right thing to do. You help people who need help. And you operate with a conscience, not from a place of greed. Greed is still is one of the seven deadly sins. If every business person handled themselves in this manner this country would be out of this mess in a month.