I am not a photographer so on occasions like this I go full auto on the camera so I can keep my mind on what is going on around me and think about how to capture it. I went by myself and had only the intention of capturing images of what was happening, I did have some trepidation but I am the sort to “just do it” I have heard a lot about this “movement”, all kinds of mixed messages about its origin and purpose. After going there and speaking with the people in the movement I have more questions than answers...
Here is what happened on my visit
As I approached this was my first shot. It was later that I realized the three on the bench were smoking.
I stepped back and caught the sign at the gate. That made me look up citizen …
1
: an inhabitant of a city or town; especially: one entitled to the rights and privileges of a freeman
2
a: a member of a state b: a native or naturalized person who owes allegiance to a government and is entitled to protection from it
3
: a civilian as distinguished from a specialized servant of the state
This sign was just beyond the gate sign. This is part of the confusion for me … what is the Veterans for Peace organization doing here?
I started to walk the perimeter to get a feel and was greeted by this mess. If you look close the boys are still smoking in the background, no doubt for medicinal purposes because that is legal here in Maine..
99% …?
The medical tent, it was right up against the mess hall in the next shot.
The mess hall ...stainless sink? They should use it. This is also where you can get the propaganda stencil for your tent.
This friendly person was passing out soup and asked if I would like to partake … I thanked him and declined politely
This is the “Ohm Dome” The Spiritual Healing Center
If you look close to the left of the door behind the drums is another Veterans for Peace sign. Did they fund and build the Ohm Dome?
A sign in the crossroads of the walkways named by the occupants as Intently Awesome Avenue, Boulevard of Dreams and Donation Alley.
This is Randy Santa Cruz the camp cook and head organizer. He saw my conversation with the other gentlemen and joined us. He is very friendly and told me he is an out of work ex-marine from Connecticut on unemployment. He did not directly tell me why he is in Maine. I did point blank ask him where the money is coming from to run his kitchen. His silence was diffused by his fellow ex-marine who pulled out three bucks and handed it to Randy and told me that is how it is being done.
This fellow who's name I got but forgot (sorry} was the one to approach me and asked what I thought. I told him that I did not think much of it. He told me these folks have been put here by the system and that they have no where to go and no hope for employment. I told him I did not think much of their tactics and they already have the tools to get what they want. He asked what I meant and I told him he has his vote. He became very animated and told me the vote counts for nothing and the entire system is rigged and there is no hope for a fair vote and the entire system has to be overtaken to effect change. The conversation then went to Prescott Bush and the conspiracy of his son and grandson becoming presidents. When Randy came over and told us he was an ex-marine this fellow said he was also an ex-marine and they Semper Fi'ed each other … so what are these ex-marines flying Veterans for Peace flags doing? I thanked them both for talking with me and continued
Yeah right Drama Free Zone … the whole thing is a drama show.
Relaxing after some hot soup
At this point I had seen and heard enough to know I was only seeing the tip of the ice burg. What are a group of ex-military folks doing organizing and inciting our homeless, idealist and some unfortunate folks in our parks? Who is feeding these folks 3 squares a day? Who is paying for water, electricity and those outhouses? Will they be allowed to start fires? Who will supply the wood? What will these unwitting easily persuaded minions be used to do? What is the mission? I thought this was just a group of idealist young folks railing against corporations but it is much more than that. There should be police on site and the city should conduct health inspections as well. In these hard times we should not have to afford the expense to police these encampments not to mention the hurt and drain they are putting on local merchants.
These folks have forgotten that they have the ability to aspire in our free country. They have the freedom in this country to do as Bill Gates did and create enormous wealth by building a corporation and profiting from it and then devote their lives to giving it away like Mr. Gates is doing … not to mention a trust that will continue to benefit people as long as it is run properly. Instead the folks in this camp are being fed a steady diet of “you are oppressed” “your vote does not count” “you are a victim” “the one percent have taken what is yours” … no good can come of that.
I may go back when it snows and I will ask more questions.
To answer part of your confusion, the 99% stands for the majority of the income earners where as the other 1% represents the top earners who get their way with corporate greed. When was the last time you listened to political talk? The top 1% have big tax cuts and tax loop holes yet if they paid their fair share, out national debt would be cut in half! There's no reason for them to have such a HUGE tax break. Some of the big companies even get a tax refund. Where is that fair. How about all the tax breaks to those companies who shut down in America and ship the jobs over seas?! Who's working now? I want you to remember back in time to say the 50's or 40's, when a company did well, there was profit sharing. ALL the workers benefited! Today the CEO's take that profit and bank it. They don't create jobs and they certainly don't spend it putting money back into the system. Have you looked at the record profits the big oil companies are making lately? Answer this, if it is so profitable to be in the oil industry, why are we paying so much at the pump?! Big oil also has tax breaks. Why? Maybe they can't afford to drill right, LMAO!! And as far as our vote goes, Obama has been the only president whom is keeping, or at least trying to keep his campaign promises, but the republicans keep blocking him. Lets take that JOBS BILL Obama came up with. Public pole put it in 72% favor and that includes Democrat, Undecided AND Republican, but 100% of the Republican's voted NO on the Jobs Bill. Government doesn't do what the people want anymore. They take campaign donations to get re-elected then do those donators a 'favor' by changing the laws to make those companies more money. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Middle class is shrinking into the poor. What every happened to a government of the people, by the people and for the people?! The free world doesn't exist anymore. Every turn we take there's a new law taking away another freedom. We only live in the illusion of freedom! Think about it ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your photos and opinions. I'm not sure how much I agree with you on some of what you've posted, but the important thing is that your photos and words give me insight and understanding into your opinions as you've formed them. You've captured the scene and depicted your reactions well, which is after all, the point of a blog. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI don't think much of these folks because they're not what they seem, and I doubt seriously many of them are actually Marines.
ReplyDeleteGood photos. Like you, I question the whole scene. Then again, I am fortunate enough to not have fallen on hard times. I fear all of this may in fact be the tip of the iceberg...
ReplyDeleteThank you for this inside view! Well done.
Oh my ..Interesting look at a confused group with a confused cash and carry load of rationals as to what in the heck they are up to.
ReplyDeleteIt is a fact that George Soros (sp?) and left leaning to communist forces are funding the movement and big unions are as well..The pawns are the 1% who are in the parks doing their bidding. Here in Canada where there is socialized medicine and a welfare state there are people "occupying " our cities. Their reasons are even more confused but the backers the same.
These people appear to be upset they are not getting the money and power that the rich have.It is in the end an attempt to grab for money and control they do not have and will not work themselves to gain ..ala Steve Jobs etc ect in the 1% they hate. The 1%ers in the parks and the 1% rich they are railing against have similarities. Its all about the money and power.
The larger manipulators of the flocks of sheep in the park see a way to use these pawns as a means to collapsing the system..and their ticket to taking the control and $$$. George Soros and Van Jones are all over that and have openly suggested what they are attempting..
What is sad is the "answer" that the pawns have been sold as a cure all to all the woes of the system is simply taking from the rich their coin and power ..and giving it to the people. Unfortunately you could tax and pillage all the rich and still not clear the debt the nation has wracked up trying to appease the 99%. Left leaning states and cities in America have been devastated by this thinking ..Check out Detroit ah while you are at it ..check out Europe.
Disaster looms for America if the 1% in the park gain power as the forces behind them desire. There will be nothing peaceful about it. Every leftist movement that tore down the system before it ended up in millions dead. Check out the French, Russian ,Chinese etc " revolutions" Some of the planners in the sixties saw the need for killing off millions of those in America who would not agree to their vision of utopia ..you know for the good of the people.
Somme of those same people are backing the present "occupy " flocks.
Next summer and beyond will tell what becomes of this drive for money and power by the 1% ers. .
Great article. To comment on the first Anonymous commenter, I agree that 99% of the people are placed in a position of submission to the remaining 1% in todays current system, but I think that the 1% group is confused by you and these protesters. You see, the richest people have wealth and power by merit: they have proven to be very skilled at managing capital and provide people with what they need and want. Them having a lot of money to invest and more power than Average Joe can't possible be a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteInstead, the real 1% is the government class, that is the elected politicians and their agents. This is an organization that produces nothing, but gets every penny they have by coercing it from their subject, the 99%, and even that isn't enough, they still have to go and borrow more money than imaginable to fund their agenda, using the 99% as collateral. They have so awesome powers to dominate peoples lives that ancient kings would kill to have just a fraction of it. And from what merit do they get the right to dictate peoples lives, coerce them from their wealth and use violent force as a tool to get their will? The merit is their ability to fool people into voting for them, nothing else. How is that done? By promising certain numerically large groups of people that once in office they will take someone else's money and give to them.
So there you have it: Is it better to be led by people without any kind of qualifications on how to run even a small business and who has used deceit to achieve their position or by people with a proven track record of providing people with what they want, when they want it at the best possible price?
I'm quite surprised that anybody would still believe the myth that everybody has the opportunity to create what they want in our country. In my mind, people that protest against inequality and social injustice are true patriots. Those who are silent and pretend that we all receive equal opportunity and treatment are sadly naive.
ReplyDeleteWhy wouldn't they be marines? Because marines don't protest against the system? Because they're so well taken care of? Let's be a little more nuanced and realistic...or call it tolerant if you want.
No, the government and corporate union screws all of us---- including the military. Folks this is just the first warning shot across the bow, over the next few decades we will see a French Revolution like uprising, and frankly, we need it. Someone has to end plutocracy, whatever it takes.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the +40%? Those who, at the end of each tax season, pay 0% Federal Income Tax (don't believe me, consult the IRS and other official trackers of these facts). Among these so-called 99%, are those 40% who pay ZERO Federal Tax (ie. either don't have withheld OR get all they pay and, in the case of earned income credit, a chunk of what someone ELSE paid, as well!).
ReplyDeleteInteresting to talk about 'fairness', 'justice', and 'equality' while OVER 40% of our eligible federal tax payers pay NOTHING in the way of Federal Income Tax. Shaking an angry fist at "those who don't pay their FAIR SHARE". Wake up and smell the socialism and the hypocrisy. It's an interesting smell. And in the case of a number of 'occupy' sites, it smells a bit like weed, too. ;-)
Glad to see that you Canadians seem to be more civilized :) My main problem is with the campus police response wrt pepper spray, which has been happening across the country. It's been reported that DHS had a role to play in this vicious response---- as if giving us the Patriot Act wasn't bad enough? Who are the real terrorists we are supposed to "fear?" I say it's those in government who are slowly abridging our personal rights and destroying our constitution by playing upon peoples' fears. We need more people like Assange, who would expose them for the liars and hypocrites that they are. I guess they haven't heard of Ben Franklin and his famous quote "Those who would sacrifice freedom for security, deserve neither." (Paraphrasing here.) I think it's pathetic that these goons would be more concerned with protesters than pedophiles who hurt our children, shows you where the priorities really are. And it also shows that government and lobbyists for wall street are afraid of what they are seeing. Good! That's the way it's supposed to be. The government should fear the people, not the other way around.
ReplyDeleteThe Occupy movement has their collective hearts in the right place, they just need a visionary, a leader, to guide them. They need to formulate a plan with realizable short term goals and a road map for future long term goals. Small steps lead to big leaps!
Better weed than some antidepressant created by the pharmaceutical industry that muddles one's mind and is just a way to make more money for corrupt Pharma.
ReplyDeleteAnd I dont advocate the use of any drugs, but better pot than the most abused drug in America---- prescription antidepressants, that muddle one's mind and the sole purpose of which is to be a cash cow for a corrupt industry.
ReplyDeleteWhen you have a job, a warm bed, a full stomach, and your family and children are in good health and are well provided, it is easy to talk about going out there and making it like Bill Gate.....or other such nonsense. Not everyone is born equal, with equal talents or equal abilities...or equal luck. You seem to have lost all sight of that fact...and it is a fact.
ReplyDeleteYou remind me of a turtle up on top of a fence post that is proclaiming his superiority.....but most of us in the 99% know that he didn't get up on top of that fence post all by himself.
Rupert
Of course everyone has a right to protest. I made my strong feelings be known on his page. I cant stand it when people defend an unfair status quo, and yet I live in an upper middle class home on Long Island---- but I know how divisive the issue of class has become in our society, and like I said, history will repeat itself when it all comes to a head..... that is what those in power fear and that is exactly what they wont be able to stop, as a matter of fact, their actions will just accelerate it. It's for the best.....
ReplyDeleteAnd the power of "voting" is for those who still believe we live in a free society--- we dont. More plutocracy than anything else when you analyze who wins and who gets put on regulatory agencies like the FDA and USDA, amongst others.
The Occupy movement is becoming more widespread--- and govt/corporate lobby is screwing up big time if they can control it with fear tactics..... they are just fanning the flames and the people will rise up and make it known that in a truly free society it is the govt who must fear the people not the other way around.
ReplyDeleteBTW I am a liberal and I not agree with BO either (and I know many liberals who are against him also)---- he is a hypocrite who does not keep his promises (repealing the Patriot Act, putting people with powerful corporate agendas to head regulatory agencies--- like people from Monsanto working at the USDA or a Merck board member working for the FDA).... the fact is BO is a failure because he did not have the guts to do what needed to be done. And now he's trying to pass legislation where laptops can be seized at the border to search for copyrighted content? I mean really? Hollywood must be bankrolling him (no surprises there.) Lots of lobbyists in the Pharma and Agricultural industry have him on the take also. I dont believe in either political party, I'm going to have to agree with George Washington on this.
ReplyDeleteJust figured out how to make a comment I am about clerically ignorant But thanks for every thing your new friend and Stephaney's friend Tim thatcat2004 any way cool page and thanks for keeping company with me for a day......Ps. nice pictures' got a camera maybe you can teach me how to use it Nikon D50 ?