The Occupy "movement"

Fridays with Erick Erickson
10.14.11

There seems to be little ground to share with the rag tag group of communists, hippies, and hipsters occupying Zuccotti Park in New York City. But, I am told by people who've been out surveying the crowds in other parts of the country—occupying Chicago to Atlanta—that there are some poor souls shivering and smelly that conservatives should not turn their backs on.

In fact, a number of conservative thinkers are concerned that maybe, just maybe, we might be engaged in reaction instead of apologetics and are losing people to the left that we need not lose.

I think most of the ground we could share with the occupy movement is superficial ground. Most of those on Wall Street want retribution and punishment of the rich. They've cast out greed, but are filled up with envy and jealousy.

Elsewhere, there may be some common ground. Some of the protestors are just tired that they can't find a job and no one seems to want to help them. The issue, then, is not punishing the rich, but helping these people. And many conservatives agree that the deck has been stacked in favor of big corporations too. We're all opposed to TARP and bailouts and special tax loopholes that only benefit one company.

We're all opposed to companies that have found it more useful to spend money on lobbyists to get a competitive advantage through law than to innovate and compete with upstart entrepreneurs. The solution then, it seems, is not more regulation and not to punish the successful. The solution is to actually level the playing field.

Simplify the tax code. Deregulate. Make it easy for entrepreneurs to get started. Reduce the nanny-state, not expand it. The time is right for a conservative, populist anti-Wall Street movement. Most Americans do think the deck is stacked against them. But unlike the hipsters, hippies, and communists, most Americans do not want to punish the successful. They just want a level playing field. — Erick Erickson

There has been several people wanting to take the protest against CPS destruction of families to these protests.

Tempting as that might be, I believe our message would be drowned out by the larger agenda, which is that the Occupy people want to destroy capitalism. 


The only replacement for capitalism that I am aware of is communism or theocracy.  The PROBLEM is Big Government, not CAPITALISM

And OUR problem with CPS is that it IS Big Nanny Government.