Sign of the times

I’ve been keeping tabs on the Occupy Wall Street movement mostly because I find the whole thing incredibly hilarious. But I also find it incredibly disturbing, a sign of the times, and an indicator of a rough future.

Before what’s going to be a rather sad discussion, I thought I’d both inform people what the whole Day of Rage ordeal is and give people something to lighten the mood.

Tweet about that corporate greed!

So here we have a group of people complaining about, well, money. Just about every video or picture I’ve seen involves people that don’t look like they’re starving or incredibly poor. That whole line in that video about tweeting about the corporate greed on the iPhone is very telling. They have iPhones… that require data packages around $30/month… and aren’t the cheapest things to buy.

I think of all of this and I’m reminded of a few historic events. The first I thought of is Shays’ Rebellion. The key difference is that Shays was flat broke and was an unpaid veteran, not a whiney hippie with a film degree, but there are connections. Both were upset with the current leadership and it largely had to do with money.

Another historical event I think of is the French Revolution. Again, monetary disputes proceeded the violence. Because of this angst, we also got the guillotine as a symbol of what happens when people don’t toe the line.

I’m still not done. Remember the Nazis of Germany? What was an issue in Germany that let them rise to power? It was a horrible economy in Germany where inflation was out of control and unemployment was high. What caused Germany to be in that situation? It was the printing of money to pay off incredibly large debts that Germany had to pay under the Treaty of Versailles. People allowed a anti-Semitic murderer lead their country because their first concern was money.

When people start getting upset over cases of the “have and have-nots,” history shows that things turn bad, quickly.

Let’s face it. This world will never be perfect. We’re always going to have our problems. What’s telling is how the people of the world react to certain problems and what problems they get the most upset about.

Here are a few other issues going on in our world:

• Mexico is considering offering two year marriage contracts, negating the whole “’till death do us part,” bit.
• A pastor in Iran is facing execution for being Christian.
• We have students in this country who can’t read.
• We have kids getting hooked on deadly drugs
• We have kids who aren’t growing up as a part of a loving family
• We have actual people in America starving
• Virtues like honesty, character, and discipline are disappearing from our American culture
• Our media offers little of intellectual value and instead provides numerous products of low moral fiber.
• The drug trade is killing people left and right

And yet which problem are people protesting right now? It’s over who has stuff and who doesn’t. I’m not saying people should let others walk over them and ignore injustices. What we need to do is prioritize what’s wrong with our world. On the top of the list is NOT what a group of 20-somethings walking around in their designer clothes with their fancy cellphones are complaining about.

The guy with the fancy cell phone and the guy holding the sign with the nice pair of jeans need to get a clue.

Tattoos are expensive. You have money. Quit your crying.

Similar tents can be purchased for upwards of $400 at Cabela’s.

Where’s the cry to end the killing of innocent people in the noble name of giving people a high thanks to the modern drug trade?

Funny how this guy doesn’t have a marriage vow duct taped to his mouth.

These people and their message won’t fix our world. There’s an old saying that the best things in life are free. These things are family, love, and strength of character. And yet these things are disappearing from our country as well. Where’s the protest? Where are the people storming the elements of our world that are hurting those things? When a law firm had a billboard that said “Life’s short, get a divorce,” where were the tents outside their establishment? Where are the people holding signs outside a drug cartel’s estate? Where are the protests over kids who are getting a poor education? It’s just not there.

Occupy Wall Street is a sign of the times. We’ve forgotten what’s important. We’ve become obsessed with the all mighty dollar. As long as that is our focus, it doesn’t matter what happens with these protests. History has shown that our future is going to be dark.