Political Science student responds to Editorial
By Nicholas Brothers
November 8, 2011
The staff editorial “Occupy Missouri Western” requires a response, as its muddled mix of misinformation will give readers an inaccurate portrayal of the Occupy movement and grassroots activism in general.
Griffons are told that they, as students, “are not part of the 99%.” This alone reveals a fundamental misunderstanding about the Occupy movement, and what it represents. One cannot opt out of being in the 99%, it is a statistical measure. While you may not agree with Occupy sentiments for whatever reason, if you or your family made less than $343,000 per annum since 2009, you are in the bottom 99%.
Is it really hard work that guarantees success, anyway? Since 1979, the productivity of the American worker has climbed two-hundred forty percent, while wages have stagnated. New technology alone does not account for that increase. Americans work hard. They work long hours. They do more than ever for virtually the same pay as they did in the 1970s. All the while, the gross domestic product has grown by leaps and bounds. And while our fourteen trillion dollar economy can’t seem to push the median wage over fifty-thousand, the top one percent’s share of the wealth has doubled in the last twenty years. Did every Wall Street executive earn that money with “hard work?”
The article also seems to imply that there is a surfeit of activist sentiment on American campuses that must be quelled by cold, hard reality. I wish that were the case. Despite dismal jobs prospects and a collective student loan debt of nearly one trillion dollars, an opinion piece in a campus publication excuses student apathy and the proto-solipsistic worldview that perpetuates the destructive “look out for number one” attitude that we know for certain does not make the world better. This is ultimately unsurprising however. Students and citizens in general throughout this country have been conditioned to believe that mass movements change nothing. On the contrary, mass numbers of ordinary citizens have changed society in the past, and they can do so in the future.
Yes, your job is to be a student. Just don’t let anyone tell you that you can only learn in a classroom.
Nicholas Brothers
Political Science Major, Occupier
Missouri Western State University
Bibliography
Gilson, D. (2011, July/Aug). Overworked America: 12 Charts to Make Your Blood Boil. Mother Jones. http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/06/speedup-americans-working-harder-charts
Luhby, T. (2011, Oct. 20). Who are the 1%? CNNMoney. http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/20/news/economy/occupy_wall_street_income/index.htm
I’d like to thank the Editorial staff for publishing this response. I hope that all of us can come together and realize that our words and actions affect others, and that we can indeed influence the actions of others by example.
Occupy St. Joe holds General Assemblies at City Hall at 6:30 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. All are welcome, regardless of agreement with the movement or not. Those who find themselves in solidarity with the movement are welcome to join us at 2PM Saturdays at Belt and Frederick (we have plenty of extra signs and supplies to make your own). Direct actions may take place throughout the week as circumstances dictate. If those without transportation would like to attend any GA or action, please contact me at nbrothers@missouriwestern.edu — we’ll get you there.
Well said. It is refreshing to see that a Missouri Western student actually knows how to read and research into the real issue at hand, I was beginning to worry.
Some Americans express disdain for the Occupy movement, because they are working three jobs and are making their ends meet at the very tip. But the problem with this attitude is an implication that this should be the standard of living in the United States, that part time employment with no benefits is fine.
It isn’t, and I have yet to see a person with this view that happens to have any medical problems (or children with medical problems). It is fine to not have health insurance because you cannot afford $1400 a month to cover your family, until your spouse is hit by a drunk driver or your daughter starts having seizures. Then where are you?
Textbook education is a basis, but it is nothing when taken out of the context that is the real world, as if you could function in such a place. You must be able to bring your ideas, and your education, out of Missouri Western and apply it. This is especially difficult to do when you have no job in which to make use of your ideas, or you are worked so hard that you burn out just trying to survive. And if you think that this is a nice place to bring children into, good luck providing for them.
It’s also important to remember that unfortunately the government spending has gotten itself lumped into the GDP (somehow by magic) and that also counts as part of our product. As though spending is a product. Which is to say, debt is a commodity like it’s something that should be sought. tsk tsk.