It is long past time for the tent camps to be dismantled and closed, in the name of public health if nothing else, and for authorities to restore order and take back the streets for ordinary citizens
Occupy Wall Street protesters never had any credibility among serious, thoughtful people with a real interest in improving society and making the world a better place and the attitude, knowledge and skills to enable that to happen...you know, thinkers and doers instead of whiners, complainers, malcontents and economic and social illiterates with a sense of victimhood, entitlement and inflated self-importance who blame everyone except themselves for whatever predicament they’re in and believe they can do anything they want because they are righteous and their cause is just and progressive, including defecating and fornicating in public, setting up unsightly tent camps in public areas of major cities, blocking traffic and access to buildings, disrupting the daily life of ordinary citizens and haranguing people who don’t agree with them.
Those whiners, complainers, malcontents and economic and social illiterates made up the bulk of the protesters in the early stages of the movement, which meant that it was innocuous and relatively harmless, albeit distasteful, childish and ugly. Purveyors of hatred, racism and anti-Semitism have since hijacked the protests however, e.g. Islamists and other racists, especially in New York but in many other cities as well, the tent camps are attracting wing nuts, criminal elements and other ne’er do wells and have become garbage strewn festering sores and health hazards, municipal by-laws and state and federal laws are being violated with impunity everywhere, policing and other related costs are becoming exorbitant and public order is being compromised wherever protesters congregate. It is also patently obvious that protesters have nothing constructive to offer in any serious discussion about economic and social justice and are being manipulated and used by people with ulterior motives and agendas, Islamists and other racists among them.
It is long past time for the tent camps to be dismantled and closed, in the name of public health if nothing else, and for authorities to restore order and take back the streets for ordinary citizens. Those who are using the protests to promote hatred, racism and anti-Semitism should also be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Protest is one thing...what Occupy Wall Street is doing is quite another and unacceptable in free, democratic, civilized societies. It is an insult, affront and assault and should not be tolerated.
Jerry Philipson is a retired grandfather who has spent many years working in non-profit social service agencies in Canada and the United States. He holds dual Canadian and American citizenship and has been passionate about politics, civil liberties, freedom and democracy for virtually his whole life. He is particularly interested in the Middle East and America and believes that it is vital for people of good heart and good conscience to speak out against tyranny and dishonesty and to stand up and defend and protect Western values, principles and institutions.
