Occupy Wall St

I work in the Financial District here in NYC and for the past few days I've seen a lot of protesters in the area.  The are a part of #OccupyWallStreet, a grassroots protest against corporate greed.  I'm finding myself more and more frustrated with them every day and not just because they make it difficult for me to get to work.

My problem with the protesters is that they are not accomplishing anything.  I am willing to bet good money that most of the people that are taking part in the protest still have Bank of America or CitiBank checking accounts and credit cards instead of moving their money to a credit union or small, local bank.  I'm willing to bet that most of them still buy things at Wal-Mart and Target instead of their local Mom&Pop because it saves them a couple of bucks on their purchase.  I'm willing to bet that some of them even drove into the city in their expensive vehicles that take $4/gallon gasoline instead of taking public transit.

If you aren't willing to put your money where your mouth is you will not accomplish anything.  The companies that are being protested do not give a single damn about whether you stand around in the Financial District being vaguely annoying as long as their checks still come in at the end of the week.  If you aren't willing to pay a few dollars more for local produce at the farmer's market instead of bulk produce at the Wal-Mart or walk to the store to use less gas then you are wasting your time at the protest.

I encourage everyone who actually wants to fight corporate greed to do some research into which companies cause the most economic problems and which had the heaviest hand in causing the recession and make a point of not doing business with them.  Write them a letter and tell them you are moving your bank accounts, insurance policies, and cell phone contracts to another company that takes the needs of their employees and customers seriously.  Write to companies where you used to do business and let them know you will be shopping elsewhere now because of their unwillingness to consider their impact on the nation's economy and then actually take your business elsewhere.  Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.  And stay out of the way of people trying to get to and from work.  Lots of us who work in the Financial District work for charities, not-for-profits, and other businesses that are set up to help those in need and don't appreciate being treated like we kicked your baby panda simply because we are in a specific geographic area.