Dr. King They Are Not

Too many comments are comparing Occupy Wall Street with Dr. Martin Luther King and I have to speak against that comparison, which I consider odious. Dr. King did not march to demand that freedoms be taken away from white people. He did not march in protest that white people had too many privileges and too much opportunity and should therefore have some of that taken away from them. Indeed he praised a nation that created that privilege and opportunity, and his demand was that people of color be granted equal access to it.

Occupy Wall Street cries “tax the rich” so that equality can be created by dragging those who have down to the level of those who have not, and Dr. King would be appalled by such an approach to equality.

If the demand of Occupy Wall Street was “let us work” I would be with them 100%. If they were demanding that the jobs which have been sent overseas be returned to this country I would fully support them. If they were demanding that the jobs which are still available here pay better wages I would support them calling a general strike to promote that goal. Whatever disruption they cause to society or inconvenience to law enforcement in pursuit of any of these purposes would be fully justified.

But disrupting their society merely to express that “I’m pissed off” and voice a demand to “tax the rich” draws neither sympathy or support from me.

Update: That being said, I do not support the forcible ejection of them from public spaces, either. Zucotti Park is privately owned, but Bloomberg is treating it as public space and is violating court orders to allow the park to be reoccupied. Wrong.