Ryan I Am

In my last post, I came down pretty hard on the Occupy Wall Street movement. After watching them for a while and giving the issue some thought, I revoke my previous criticism. In general, I’m glad to hear the progressive call to action, even if it is muddied and confused. I don’t particularly identify with them, because I don’t feel that Wall Street is the right place to effect change, but I admire their spirit and tenacity.

I suppose I care more about the regulating agencies themselves than the corporations they regulate. I care more about policy and politics than protesting. But since reform is ultimately a common goal, I tentatively support them.

But in all honestly, I think we have more pressing issues. Such as the erosion of our civil rights, as exemplified by the 2012 NDAA.

Dear conservative friends,

It’s cool that you want to pick on Occupy Wall Street. They are whiney, self-entitled morons. You found someone easy to pick on and you’re taking advantage of it. Congratulations.

Keep in mind that most self-respecting progressives that believe in capitalism and liberty wouldn’t be seen within a mile of the OWS protesters.

Also, don’t forget that the right still has its own nutjob wing called the Tea Party. I don’t think you need me to pull up pictures of all those misspelled signs held up by slack-jawed yokels to remember that embarrassment.

Also keep in mind that there are some intelligent people behind OWS, just like there are some intelligent conservatives. The Economist recently posted some coherent demands written by a NYC CPA, for example.

So before you go on patting yourselves on the back on how you proved liberals to be such idiots, remember: America is mostly full of idiots. And so far, the Tea Party is much larger than OWS.

From the September 7th Republican debate:

“But I think the Republican candidates are talking about ways to transition this program, and it is a monstrous lie. It is a Ponzi scheme to tell our kids that are 25 or 30 years old today, you’re paying into a program that’s going to be there.” –Rick Perry

Someone on twitter pointed out that Rick Perry just told every retired person that they’re taking money from Bernie Madoff.

Social Security is a government service rendered in the form of cash, paid for by taxes. It’s no different than any other government service that is paid for by many but used by few, such as fire and police protection, food stamps, and farm subsidies. Social Security is not, and has never been purported to be,  an investment instrument, with dividends and a guaranteed or promised payout, with shares growing in value at or above the market rate.

Ironically, the funding level of the program for a given generation is directly dependent on how many children they have, so it would seem that if one wants to guarantee solvency of the program, he would encourage as many people as he can to have as many kids they can afford.

By Perry’s definition, the federal government itself is a ponzi scheme, since it collects taxes from everyone and distributes them amongst various programs. Likewise, a church that relies on donations which it then distributes to fund its operations is clearly a ponzi scheme. Even businesses collect receivables and use those payments to fund other aspects of the business. Rick Perry’s campaign is taking donations, so he himself is a ponzi scheme! Everything is a ponzi scheme!