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[JDPriestly]

6. From my experiences visiting a couple of Occupy sites, the groups are cooperative and peaceful.

I think they did a lot of good for the country over all.

They were not nearly as discourteous or disruptive as the Teabaggers, not nearly.

They were not even as angry as the Teabaggers that yelled at Congressmembers in 2010.

The only reason that people have negative feelings about Occupy is that it became a very large movement, perhaps larger than its originators thought likely (I don't know), and it was not controlled or "sponsored" by any corporations.

In our naively fascist country, that is incomprehensible and confusing.

I say "naively" fascist because fascism exists when corporations and government are virtually the same. That is the situation in the US today. No matter which party is in power, the money that put it in power is derived primarily from corporations indirectly or directly.

It is almost impossible to put enough money together to run a campaign unless you sell yourself to some special interest group -- or maybe several special interest groups, say, oil, in Texas. You can call them "constituencies" if you like, but they control the legislator not the other way round.

What is naive about our fascism is that we all think it means well and some of the corporations really do mean well. They sponsor charitable and community efforts that benefit schools, hospitals, parks, etc.

The problem is that these corporations dominate the news media, all of our information sources and our lives. Even public radio and TV, with few exceptions, could broadcast without corporate sponsorships. And with those sponsorships come if not restrictions certain preferences regarding programming.

And so we eat corporate cereal in the morning, watch or listen to to the corporate news, read the corporate news, even attend corporate-sponsored schools and churches and think corporate night and day. It's not criminal, but we don't have any means to break away from the corporate, profit-chasing mentality. We can't distance ourselves enough from the corporate propaganda to make up our own, individual minds about much of anything. We are raised to memorize and repeat the corporate slogans. We can't find that quiet place inside ourselves that is the product of our own, individual minds and hearts.

This naive fascism really shows in our lives and especially showed in the last economic crisis. People have actually been persuaded that the problem with our economy was the irresponsibility of little guys who took out loans they could not repay.

No. It is the responsibility of the corporate bankers to supervise lending so that their investors' money is protected and only those who can repay loans are given credit. Ordinary borrowers do not have the mathematical ability or the information to judge whether, for example, housing prices are more likely to rise or fall. The bankers are supposed to have that. They are supposed to have the expertise to scrutinize loan applications for signs that the borrower may default.

So that is why I support the Occupy movement in my quiet way. They were a voice of reason amid the corporate folly. A relatively small and quite voice compared to the cacophony of the corporate news media. And I am not saying that the people in the corporate world are bad. I am saying that it is good for us to keep things in balance. We need to be able to hear ourselves think and not just hear the corporate whisper all of our lives.

Occupy was telling us to think for ourselves. I am so grateful for that. It isn't a matter of judging this or that as evil although corporations can be evil as can be the whispers of the individual who does not consult his or her own conscience.