Occupy movement is not open to views from all sides (letter)

letter writers By letter writers The Kalamazoo Gazette
on October 27, 2011 at 5:30 AM

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Recently, I asked individuals at an Occupy event who they were planning on voting for in the primaries. Many of them said no one or they didn't know.

When I asked the same individuals if they were pro-war, they exclaimed "no" with conviction. When I asked if they would vote for Obama, many said "yes."

This Occupy Wall Street movement is only telling one side of the story.

It's important to understand that the banking institutions are allowed to operate the way they do because of government sponsored enterprises like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The federal government encourages these risky loans through programs like HUD and Community Reinvestment Acts. The Federal Reserve is artificially keeping interest rates low to encourage risky investments, then the federal government bails out the very corporations they encouraged to make the transactions possible with taxpayer money. This system is robbing the poor and middle class, and the Occupy movement is blaming this all on corporations - but not the federal government that is encouraging the money to funnel to the big banks.

I hope the Occupy movement learns about the Federal Reserve and fractional banking system and votes in the Michigan primary in February. You don't have to be a registered Republican or Democrat to vote in the primary.

This should also raise another question - why is no one challenging Obama?

I was one of the lone voices calling to end the fractional banking system and the Federal Reserve and I was mocked. People yelled "Ron Paul is a racist."

This Occupy movement is not "all-inclusive" or for the spreading of knowledge. It has a very narrow-minded, anti-capitalist feel and doesn't really listen to other solutions that are offered with statistical information to back it.

I would say, in the future, these events are a waste of time.

Erin Lahman/Kalamazoo