Is there a police riot going on during a Occupy Wallstreet demonstration ?
Inspector May Have Used Pepper Spray on Others, Video Shows - NYTimes.com
Inspector May Have Used Pepper Spray on Others, Video Shows - NYTimes.com
These days I have grown to trust the not-so-organized protests much more than those orchestrated by a special interest group. Both have merit, of course, and the "Occupy.." protests we're seeing have a solid backing.
The telling thing about this is the gradual feeling of legitimacy about it, and the growing number of groups of various occupations and trades joining in. It seems to be touching a nerve.
Usually, when a protest doesn't seem centered, it's because of the diversity of the protesters themselves. But it can also be for the reason that those protesting are not sure who or what the target should be, exactly.
The target in this case is probably Wall Street's apparent perception of sucking up money and making wealthy people grow wealthier while the middle class shrinks and the poor amongst us grow in numbers.
Solutions? If they knew that they'd do it.. they don't, thus the rather meandering protests.
That is a good read (it was included in post #7, btw ).
It does add the reality to the protests some "up there" in the Wall Street brokerages, etc, seem to have to avoid.
Believe the protest is a bit more selective, say against those that created naked shorts, synthetic credit default swaps, etc. and made billions $ off these creative finance schemes.
"BLOOMBERG: The protesters are protesting against people who make $40-50,000 a year and are struggling to make ends meet. That’s the bottom line. Those are the people that work on Wall Street or on the finance sector. [...] People in this day and age need support for their employers. We need the banks, if the banks don’t go out and make loans we will not come out of our economy problems, we will not have jobs. And so anything we can do to responsibly help the banks do that, encourage them to do that is waht we need. I think we spend much too much time worrying about how we got into problems as to how we go forward. [...] Also we always tend to blame the wrong people. We blame the banks. They were part of it, but so were Frddie Mac and Frannie Mae and Congress."
Mayor Bloomberg Claims ?Occupy Wall Street? Protesters Are Targeting Bankers Who ?Are Struggling To Make Ends Meet? | ThinkProgress
How is it the fault of the banks and stock brokers that people who make $40-50k a year struggle to make it? How is that Wall Street's fault that those people borrowed too much money, are swimming in debt and live above their means? There's no reason in the world someone making $40-50k a year should struggle to make it if they manage their money well. The Median Income in my state (KS) is about $50k in the latest census. There is no reason for people making the median income to struggle to make ends meet unless they have made foolish decisions on their own.
I'm not qualified to be able to answer those questions with full confidence but I do know that there were and are major issues with predatory lending, subprime mortgage loans, and deceptive practices by mortgage brokers and bankers in the real estate field.
I remember hearing about mortgage brokers lending people too much money and letting people believe that they can afford the mortgages. That with the economy led to so many foreclosures.
Your questions can't be answered on here and I think some author needs to write an entire book to explain the issues we're having today.
I'm not qualified to be able to answer those questions with full confidence but I do know that there were and are major issues with predatory lending, subprime mortgage loans, and deceptive practices by mortgage brokers and bankers in the real estate field.
I remember hearing about mortgage brokers lending people too much money and letting people believe that they can afford the mortgages. That with the economy led to so many foreclosures.
Your questions can't be answered on here and I think some author needs to write an entire book to explain the issues we're having today.
I 100% agree, most Americans could not find the common sense if they where handcuff to it, in a metal box, with a flashlight.No question that some of those people got taken for a trip, but they did sign up for it. These are adults of sound mind who signed loan documents that they had every opportunity to read before they signed. If they wanted to have the documents looked over by their own lawyer or their own financial adviser they would have been well within their rights to do that. Now they're arguing that they should bear no responsibility at all for their decisions?
No question that some of those people got taken for a trip, but they did sign up for it. These are adults of sound mind who signed loan documents that they had every opportunity to read before they signed. If they wanted to have the documents looked over by their own lawyer or their own financial adviser they would have been well within their rights to do that. Now they're arguing that they should bear no responsibility at all for their decisions?
So which is it?
Is the American dream alive, and the banks are to blame for exploiting people?
Or
Is the American dream dead, and people where trying to live in a fallacy?
You can not have both.
I 100% agree, most Americans could not find the common sense if they where handcuff to it, in a metal box, with a flashlight.
But here is the my problem with it. The American dream was sold as owning your own home. A group of banks specificly set out with the intention to inflate the housing market to make every home more and more expensive.
Loans had to be given to people to full fill the American dream. Which means that banks created the mess we are in. The only reason I did not buy a home, was I knew that housing market was going to crash. I am now currently looking for a home, because the market is about as low as it is going. But I am picking over the carcass of the American dream.
So which is it?
Is the American dream alive, and the banks are to blame for exploiting people?
Or
Is the American dream dead, and people where trying to live in a fallacy?
You can not have both.
It's more complicated than simply that. Until we have a firm understanding of what exactly caused such an economic crash in 2008 and 2009, then it'll be hard to answer all of these. I don't know if we already do have a firm understanding because I haven't been following that.
The problem these people are pissed about is they borrowed way more money than they had any business borrowing in the first place. No income, no job, no assets and banks loaned several hundred K to buy homes. The bank is 100% at fault for that. But so are the people who borrowed the money. Then we have people who borrowed twice what they could afford. They are selling their homes are bargain basement prices so they can downsize and buy the houses they should've bought in the first place. If they'd bought a reasonable house to begin with they'd be fine. Instead they bought twice what they could afford. They could easily afford the American dream. Instead they got greedy. Who's fault is that?
We do know what caused the economic crash. That's another thread though. There are all kinds of economists all over the web who break it down.
You do realize that underwriters working in mortgage lending institutions are the ones who determine if you are able to pay off the mortgage debt. If you're told that you are approved to obtain a $150,000 loan, that number comes from a lot of analysis of financial records. No trustworthy lender (hence I say trustworthy and not predatory) is going to allow you borrow more money than you are able to afford. There is a lot of fraud going on in the lending market when dealing with lenders giving you the perception that you are financially secure to obtain a certain amount when they actually expect you to default and with the acceleration clause in a lot of mortgages, force you to either pay everything at once or proceed to foreclosure.
For those people who had mortgages and were doing fine until the economy crashed... well... now they either are struggling to make those payments or are foreclosed on since they lost their job. Those people can blame those who crashed the economy and caused the loss of millions of jobs.
People are selling their homes at low, low prices because the housing market crashed and property values for the vast majority of real estate markets crashed along with them. I know my parent's home went from $1.5 million in 2005 to $750,000 in 2009 when they got an appraisal to take out a mortgage.
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