Dave's Take on Occupy Wall Street (Dave Ramsey)

“Tea Party Wanna Bees.”

Exactly. His final caller on the show (10/19 or 20) talked about this attempt to solidify this in the same pattern as the Tea Party. Specifically, they are going to try and effect elections, as the Tea Party did in 2010. That same caller admitted that they are getting started to late to make any difference in the 2012 election. As a result it will fall apart.

The reality is that it was a disconnected mish-mash of leftist groups to try and push for marxist demands. It has been coordinated since May (Glenn Beck) and yet is just now getting some semblance of a claim of political activism, while in reality they are a bunch of envious, lazy whiners.

I agree with Dave's sentiment, but he's wrong on a couple of points:

"Banks and big companies should not receive taxpayer money for a bailout while their CEOs are making hundreds of millions of dollars. If that's your gripe, then you're protesting in the wrong location. Pack up and head to Washington, D.C., to deliver your message to the current administration. Don't get me wrong—I totally support a company's freedom to pay their leaders well. I just don't believe that I, as a taxpayer, should subsidize those huge salaries in the form of taxpayer bailouts. I pay my own team members; I don't need to pay everyone else's too."

The problem with corporate bailouts is not that the CEOs are well paid. They would be just as wrong if the CEO was working for free. They are wrong because it's not the business of government to save private businesses, and they are economically counter-productive.

"Gordon Gekko was wrong. Greed is not good. Greed is bad—very bad. It's a spiritual disease, and it is a disease that sadly affects a lot of companies across the country. If you believe a specific company is acting purely out of greed, then don't just get mad—do something. Point out where and how they're greedy and let the world know. Stop doing business with them. If enough people listen to you, the company will get the message because you'll hit them where it hurts: the bottom line. If they don't get their act together, then they'll go out of business and another business will take their place."

Gordon was right. Capitalism works because each person is free to persue their own selfish goals. Individual greed ends up working for everyone because people have to do useful things to satisfy their greed. What people think in their heads is not our concern. What they do is what matters. If someone robs a bank the problem is not that they were greedy. The problem is that they robbed a bank.

You are right with your questions and I have to admit that Dave is not providing his full opinion on either matter. I will go ahead and speak for him in these 2 cases, but keep in mind that I am admittedly putting words in his mouth. I have heard him speak on these issues many times, so I hope that I maintain the integrity of what he says.

1. Dave agrees with you that the mere idea of government bailouts is wrong, in fact that they are immoral. He is completely against them in any shape or form. I believe that he was using this article to respond to the envy of the OWSers...

2. Dave does approach greed differently and from how he views it from his own perspective, with his biblical point of view taken into account. He considers greed to be a love of money. He would seperate “acting in one’s own self interest” from greed and he is very supportive of acting in our own self interest. Some call that selfishness, others greed, but Dave makes that distinction. Personally, I think he gets caught up in semantics on this issue, but regardless of our preffered terms, I do agree with his sentiment and definition.

OK, I have to log off now. Have a great day FRiend.

Dear Dave,

If you happen to lurk on FR, I hope that I accurately portrayed what you have previously stated.

;-)

By the way, you may be shocked to learn that the Tea Party agrees with you on this one—and so do I.

I think Dave missed one fundamental point.

Tea Partiers are against government bailouts because of the burden placed on taxpayers. We the middle class are being asked to pay for other people's mistakes.

The OWS, however, are against bailouts because they hate the rich, period. As we should know, the rich are mean & evil. Had the the recipients had been welfare mothers, these clowns wouldn't be two miles away from me gathering fleas.

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