There’s something powerful about Americans exercising their First Amendment rights. That power has, for the last 39 days, flipped out America and the media.

On Sept. 17, the Occupy Wall Street movement began. Thousands have remained camped out in New York’s financial district.

Priscilla Colley

These people call themselves the 99 percent, signifying the majority of Americans struggling whilst the 1 percent, aka Rich Uncle Pennybags over there twirling his mustache, purposely wreck the economy.

While there is a problem, is sitting down, not working and beating a drum the best way of going about fixing that problem?

Nobody can really answer that question. The problem is that America was founded upon hard work, perseverance, good protestant work ethic, and unfortunately, excess, indulgence, imperialism, and egocentrism.

Yet somewhere along the way we forgot about the hard work part of getting to indulge.

In our age of technology and fast food we have come to expect a meat patty with some unidentified meat filler and fries that could possibly come from a potato, but there’s no way to really know. We accept this meal because it’s cheap and who has time to make a home cooked meal, anyway?

This fast food mentality has carried into every area of our lives. Who said college is a right, or having money for that matter? I thought that was the American dream. Hard work now, equals the life you want later.

This easy street and get rich quick notion is what led this country to where it’s at financially. Although it’s much easier to blame the ones doing most the spending, it took the whole country.

Destroying the entire basis of American economy seems a bit excessive. Capitalism isn’t perfect, so why don’t we throw it out and adopt communism? We all know how well that’s worked out in the past.

It would be great to forget about responsibility, go protest, and join a noble cause — then I remember I work two jobs and have classes to attend.

I’m also not sure of any concrete goals presented. On the Occupy Wall Street website there are great ideals, yet no realistic ones. They don’t have a clue what they want the government to do. It’s all so ambiguous.

With the rise of Occupy Wall Street another group has emerged, calling themselves the 53 percent.

The 53 percent are the Americans working hard, paying taxes, being responsible adults and trying to get the American economy out of the toilet. They have a strong aversion to the 99 percent. While the “hippies” lounge in the street dancing, they are working hard so they can have the right to beat their little drums.

At the end of the day, the 53 percent are at home uploading pictures while the general assembly are trying to do something about what they believe.

The occupy movement is ill-executed but at least there is action being taken. What it boils down to is every generation wants to feel as though they affected things for the better.

My generation has no Vietnam, or Civil Rights movement, but we have faced the biggest financial crisis since the 1930s. Sitting in the street isn’t going to change that. Changing our mentality will.

A comfortable life isn’t an entitled privilege. No economic system can make that a guarantee. Just ask the Philippines, or any other Third World country.

To contact Priscilla Colley,
email staffwriter1@occc.edu