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Open Letter to the People of the Occupy Movement
by Sean Gangol
[email protected]

Special to L. Neil Smith's The Libertarian Enterprise

I don't how many of you guys are still out there occupying all the major cities to protest the great injustices of what you guys call corporate greed, but I feel it's time to try and put things in perspective. For months you guys have been sitting on your butts, complaining about how unfair life is, while demanding more free rides from the government. Your movement has complained about the lack of jobs and has demanded the government pay off the loans owed by college graduates. Before I give you guys a cold dose of reality, I want you all to know that I understand your frustrations. I am also a college graduate and for the past four years I have had trouble finding a full-time job, which has forced me to take a series of part-time and temporary jobs (until recently). I also have a debt from the loans that I took out for my own education.

The difference between your movement and myself is that I am actually trying to improve my situation, while you guys are sitting in the street bellyaching about the unfairness of the world. You don't see me demanding the government to pay off my loans. Unlike you guys, I know I will eventually have to pay off my loans because I signed a contract with my lender. Like me, you guys also signed an agreement. Unless somebody put a gun to your head (highly unlikely), you are bound by that agreement. For people who claim that they want to go out into the real world, you guys don't seem to want to deal with the realities of it. In the real world they actually expect you to hold up your end of the bargain. If you expect the government to pay off of your college loans, you may as well ask them to pay your rent or the bill on the credit card you used to buy pizza for everyone in your dorm. That is not how the world works people.

This makes me think that you guys have been sheltered all your lives from reality. When you guys were kids, were you in those soccer leagues where everybody got a trophy? Did you go to one of those schools that were more interested in preserving your self-esteem, then preparing you for the real world? Well guess what? The real world is harsh. It doesn't care about fairness or self-esteem.

It is also worth noting that for people who moan and groan about the lack of job opportunities, I have yet to see any of you occupy a job fair. For that matter, why don't you use one of those i-phones or i-gadgets for job networking? I can't guarantee anything will come of it, but it is much more productive then camping in the middle of the street and singing kombya. I hate to sound like your parents, but sitting on your ass isn't how you get things done (unless you work in the public sector).

Now for all those wannabe anarchists out there who are only using this movement as an excuse to cause destruction and mayhem, I having nothing but absolute contempt for your kind. You guys have shown nothing but disregard for both public and private property and then act surprised when you get dragged away by the police. Alright, I will be fair. On more then one occasion the police have responded with excessive force. One such example was the protest held at UC Davis, where protesters were practically hosed down with pepper spray for doing nothing more then just sitting on the ground. There have also been cases where reporters have fallen victim to police beatings. As a believer in the Zero Aggression Principle, I have to condemn the cases of unnecessary use of force. Though you should understand why you have been met with hostility by members of law enforcement and why you are not welcomed in their cities.

I have also noticed that there are people in the Occupy protests who are advocates of Ron Paul and support libertarian ideas. For those who truly believe in individual liberty, I would strongly advise you to distance yourselves from these Occupytards (yes I made it up). It is true that we libertarians have at least on thing in common with the Occupy movements. We both oppose corporate bailouts and just about every other form of crony capitalism. There is just one little problem. The Occupy people don't know the difference between free market capitalism and crony capitalism (also known as corporatism). To them the same system that gave them i-pods, i-phones, i-pads and just about every other modern gadget that they have maxed their parents' credit cards with, is inherently evil. This is why I found it ironic that the protesters took the time to have a candle light vigil for Steve Jobs, the very man who would been called a robber baron if he had existed in the same time period as John Rockefeller. The system that they advocate would be more likely to give us mile long lines for eggs and toilet paper, then i-pads.

I wouldn't bother trying to convert these clueless imbeciles either. They have no understanding of how the world works and they probably don't want to know. Protesting with these idiots makes as about much sense as German Jews marching with the Nazi Party or feminists marching with the National Rapist Committee (yes, I made it up).

Instead of sharing the floor with these Occupy fools, you may consider forming your own movement. Ever since the Tea Parties disappeared off the face of the earth, we have been in serious need of a freedom movement.

As for the rest of the movement, I have only this to say: get a life you lazy, ignorant, pathetic candyasses. I suggest that you try harder at finding a job or at least find something legitimate to complain about. How about the government treating our Constitution like their own personal wad of toilet paper? What about our government having the power to imprison somebody indefinitely without due process? Stop expecting everything to be handed to you. Ever heard the praise "nothing in life is free"? The government is not your family. They don't care about your well being. Whenever the government gives you something, they always expect your total submission in return. Thomas Jefferson said it best, "A government with the power to give you everything you want has the power to take it away."

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