Opinion - Blogs - Idea gap

Idea gap
12/13/2011 2:24:54 PM

It seems to me that the “Occupy Wall Street” movement was best summed up a couple of weeks ago in a “Doonesbury” comic strip. One of the strip’s characters was looking out the window at the protestors as they chanted: “What do we want?”
“We don’t know.”
“When do we want it?”
“Now!”
What started off with the good intention of making the country aware of the discrepancy between the wealthy and the middle class and poor has never been able to establish any kind of momentum. Maybe because it has no focus.
The latest “protest” was shutting down some ports on the west coast. Exactly how does that help the middle class? The ports are run by the working class. The somewhat successful shutdown sent a lot of union workers home and caused a lot of truck drivers to lose some wages.
The occupiers had a chance to really bring some awareness to the 99 percenters. The movement’s original goal, or at least what seemed to be a goal by those on the outside, was to point out the financial gap between the 1 percent who hold most of the money and the 99 percent that does most of the work.
Instead, we got a mishmash of splinter groups within the movement. Last week, a group of Tulsa occupiers marched on the Tulsa jail to demand that a man held on murder charges have his day in court proceed.
I’m all for due process. And the man being held in connection with the murder one of Tulsa’s best-liked businessmen and former University of Tulsa athlete certainly deserves his day in court.
But the occupiers simply made themselves look stupid. I know there is no official leader of this movement and I know that is the way they like it, but jeez. C’mon folks, pick you battles better.
What started out to be a significant and important movement is quickly becoming a joke. Too bad. The 99 percenters really need someone to stand up and speak for them. They need someone to shine a light on the growing wealth gap in this country and the problem it presents.
They need someone. These guys certainly don’t fill the bill.

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RandyD (5 months ago)

well fine

docpresley (2 months ago)

So Mike,

Is your solution to transfer wealth via the government to reduce this gap?

If that's what your thinking I'm afraid Karl Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao and Castro beat you to the punch.

This blog is entitled "idea gap", but you put no idea forward, just criticism of those you felt did it wrong.

But then again,....... maybe that's why we have an idea gap ( :

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Jonezin

Mike Jones is a native Oklahoman (not an Okie), born and raised in Seminole, Okla. He began his career at the Tulsa World in 1971 as an oil writer for the late Riley Wilson. After three years as an oil writer, he became a copy editor on the national desk. He moved to the city desk in 1974 where he also worked as a general assignment reporter. After stints on the late city desk, he became assistant city editor and in 1979 succeeded longtime city editor John Gold, one of his mentors, as city editor. He served as city editor for almost four years before joining the editorial staff as a layout editor and editorial writer in 1985. He was named associate editor and has since written a Sunday column and daily editorials. He has a son, Sam, who is a local musician with the reggae band Sam and the Stylees. Jones is the honorary CEO of that group, a title of which he is most proud.

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