Dear "Occupy" Friends: We're The REAL 99, You Are The 1%

Since I don't have cable TV, I was late to the "Occupy Wall Street" phenomenon. Once I stumbled upon this issue du jour, I paid closer attention. And I wondered if and when these "activists" would crop up in Pittsburgh.

First thing everyone should know about the "Occupy" crowd is that they are un-sophisticated in their attempts. When asked about their intensions, "spokespeople" tick off a litany of dysfunctional talking points: equality, fairness, and more equality, always spoken with an arrogant, condescending giggle. No one seems to know what they really want, how they hope to get it, or how long they will be squatting on property--private and public--depending on the city.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said it best when asked how he'd handle the "Occupy" crowd: "You are not allowed to sleep on the streets." Rudy would have rolled up the streets, much like he did to rid the sidewalks of the homeless while in office. In Pittsburgh, a small gaggle of protesters muddle around, and according to newspaper reports, leave their tents to trudge off to work come normal business hours.

Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream. And as a registered Republican, he extolled virtues that come off more Conservative in nature than elitists would have us believe. Conversely, Author Michael Scheuer called the Democrats the party of slavery, secession, segregation and now socialism. It cannot be debated which side of the political aisle the Occupy "movement" sits.

The folks fit Socialism perfectly. Like most Liberals, they express self-gratifying opinions of superior intelligence. There's video from New York of toughs shouting down a woman they refer to as a Jew. Tolerance isn't accepted, unless it fits in their niche categories.

Already you can see hints that the Bohemian "feel good" cook-outs with Bongo drums are going to have a change in attitude. There's a recent picture in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette where an attention-craving activist in Ferris Buehler attire has wandered off the reservation, toting a crudely-drawn sign designed to attract confrontation in the faces of downtown office workers. Occupy Wall Street has the population--misguided as it is--to make CNN and FOX News fodder, but in smaller venues like Pittsburgh, it's simply a quaint novelty. That is until they realize that their vague exercise in futility will lead to frustration.

That's when their lack of real ideas and strategy might get dangerous.

Listen to activists and their ideology is all over the map. They feel entitled to good paying jobs just because they are going to, or are recently graduates of, college. Instead of making a job out of finding a good job, they are dancing in open areas, pounding on picnic tables, and denouncing the very "change" most of them voted for three scant years ago.

Some spokespeople say that their ranks are filled with "Democrats, Republicans, Anarchists." Aside from the rogue Libertarian Ron Paul supporter, there aren't any true "Republicans" among their ranks. Paul's fans are stereotypically conservative when it comes to economics, but sometimes far left when it comes to social issues, hence the long-time "Republicans who smoke pot" moniker.

When temperatures get cold, some of the activists might go home. Some might feel the need to get a job. Some might become irritated because their movement will never rise to importance, and always be a tossel-cap wearing distraction.

Conservatives are always decried for owning guns, but in these situations, it's the young, adrenaline-fueled idealists who sometimes turn to violence. They at least turn defiant, as the unapologetic G-20 demonstrators proved in Pittsburgh a few years ago. These activists are always eager for a tussle, because they believe their are a superior breed, unaffected by codes and regulations.

It's easy to blame multi-millionaires and billionaires who have more than others. Without a true grasp of finances or economics, it's easier to point to this populace as cold, heartless and greedy. It's impossible to understand who these activities might think employ them to generous salaries if it isn't billionaires and their corporations.

It can't be them and their peers. They don't work hard enough to earn such compensation.

There are members of the working community who operate three small businesses and use those proceeds to run a fourth. While these people can't employ dozens or even hundreds of employees, they do provide valuable services to some. There are members of the working community who work around the clock to launch a labor-of-love business project. While these members of the community can't employ dozens or even hundreds of employees, they dream of the day they can. Remarkably, the Occupy crowd (who might enjoy a young entrepreneur's empathy now) will assuredly demonize these people for having too much. We are the 99. You are the rest.