Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Reality Check in Zuccoti Park

People ask from time to time -- why do you have such a cynical view of human nature? Well, let's just say some things don't surprise me very much: (HT:  Captain Ed)

It’s a den of thieves!

Occupy Wall Street protesters said yesterday that packs of brazen crooks within their ranks have been robbing their fellow demonstrators blind, making off with pricey cameras, phones and laptops -- and even a hefty bundle of donated cash and food.

“Stealing is our biggest problem at the moment,” said Nan Terrie, 18, a kitchen and legal-team volunteer from Fort Lauderdale.

“I had my Mac stolen -- that was like $5,500. Every night, something else is gone. Last night, our entire [kitchen] budget for the day was stolen, so the first thing I had to do was . . . get the message out to our supporters that we needed food!”
Imagine that. Ed makes the salient point:

Who’d have thought that a crowd of people demanding the seizure of wealth from banks, corporations, and the wealthy might also have a few thieves?  I’m shocked, shocked to find theft occurring in a group that has hijacked private property it refuses to leave.  I can’t imagine that a crowd that demands free higher education and the forgiveness of tens of thousands in student debt would also think of someone’s Mac or an iPhone as equally as communal as a college education.
No doubt. If everything is subject to redistribution, there's no surprise here. By the way, I wonder how many people have a $5,500 laptop? I could buy about 10 laptops for that amount of money. One might suspect that Nan Terrie's family just might have a sinecure in the 1%.

2 comments:

Night Writer said...

What next, an announcement that there's some really bad acid going around?

Bike Bubba said...

The biggest shock I had with regards to these demonstrations is the picture the Strib had of a guy brushing his teeth. Who knew?