Media Distortions, OWS & the Wealthy

I have been tweaking the folks at Occupy Wall Street over the last couple of weeks and have received many passionate comments. Some accuse me of taking isolated examples and holding them up as representative of the whole. It looks like I’m not the only one. Yesterday’s New York Times Magazine featured a pair of OWS protesters in its “What Were They Thinking?” section. From the looks of it, they weren’t thinking anything coherent.

Here are some quotes [in italics] from the piece with my comments [in bold].

Core [a young woman]: But when I get out of broadcasting college, what job am I really going to get? I may have to go to Kansas just to get a normal job with low pay, and that frustrates me. I want to stay in New York. I was born and raised here. Please tell me who gets a broadcasting job in New York right after college? You need to go somewhere, maybe even [shudder!] Kansas, to get some experience before you appear on Channel 7 Eyewitness News.

Core: I took a photo of a guy crying while playing the drums. That touched me. Brandon lost his virginity today — not to me. I don't know who the girl is. But I want to have a party for him. What about her? At least Brandon accomplished something.

Brandon [a young man]: I drank six Four Lokos with Core, a beer or two. And then we ordered an iced mocha and two chicken fingers and large fries. I lost my virginity today. I was amped for it. I’m not sure how this is going to bring about sweeping social change.

Don’t blame me. Blame the New York Times.

In the interest of fairness, I’ll turn to the Wall Street Journal. In a story from October 22, 2011 the Siegel family of Florida was profiled. Mr. Siegel made and lost a lot of money in the timeshare business. When he had the money, he started building what was to be, at 90,000 square feet, the largest single-family dwelling in the United States. But the house is unfinished and on the market for $75M. The family has fallen on some hard times. They even have to send their eight children to PUBLIC SCHOOL!

Here are some quotes from the article.

Mrs. Siegel: "This is the grand hall," she says, opening her arms to a space the size of a concert hall and surrounded by balconies. "It will fit 500 people comfortably, probably more. The problem with our place now is that when we have parties with, like, 400 people, it gets too crowded." Now this is a real problem.

Mr. Siegel: "I was cocky and I didn't care what the house would cost because I couldn't spend all the money I was making," There are other options. You could have helped some other people with all the money you couldn’t spend. For example, there are entities known as charities.

The family had to give up their private jet. Recently, the family boarded a commercial flight for a vacation, making for some confusion. One of the kids looked around the crowded cabin and asked, "Mom, what are all these strangers doing on our plane?" How’s that for a reality check?

To overstate the obvious, this is the kind of thing that provokes people to protest corporate and personal greed.

So we have two examples of the media taking isolated cases and exploiting them. Are all the OWS protesters as shallow and vapid as the two in the New York Times story? I don’t think so. Are all wealthy people as shallow and vapid as the Siegels? I don’t think so.

Personal Accountability and Opportunity in the U.S.

The death of Steve Jobs has been discussed for several days. He apparently regretted his decision to postpone surgery for his surgically curable uncommon type of pancreatic cancer choosing “alternative medicine” instead. But another aspect of his life also caught my attention.

Steve Jobs was, to use a quaint term no longer in vogue, an “illegitimate” child. He was given up for adoption. He was raised in a middle class home in California and dropped out of college after one semester. He was poor for a while but worked hard and became a very successful man.

This got me thinking about other people who made the most of their lot in life.

When I was running a surgical residency, every year it seems I interviewed at least one applicant to my program who had this sort of story.

My parents fled Viet Nam in 1974. I arrived in the US at the age of 15 and spoke no English. My parents worked several jobs and I went to high school. At age 21, I graduated from college with honors and a degree in physics. I scored a 31 [good score] on my MCAT and was accepted at six medical schools. I scored in the 230s [good score] on my USMLE exams, Parts I and II.

These applicants got good grades in medical school and had excellent letters of recommendation. They often did extracurricular projects resulting in published research.

Why am I telling you this?

I get tired of hearing people whining about the lack of opportunity in this country. How is it that a kid from Southeast Asia who couldn’t even speak English when he got here can be so successful? Yet people who are born and raised here can’t see any possible avenue to success. It must be the government’s fault, Wall Street’s fault or someone else’s fault.

I don't get it. Can you explain?

A View of "Occupy Wall Street" from the Other Side

This is a guest post written by a New York City police officer. His wife is also on the force.

I have friends on both side of the Wall Street picket line. I have tried to see both sides of the story. I would love to understand what the protesters are trying to accomplish. All I see are a bunch of unorganized kids wasting the NYPD's time and resources. What is your goal and endgame? All I know is that my wife is being forced to work on our weekend together because you want to sleep in the park and pretend you are part of something making a difference.

We are not rich "wall street devils". We are hard working moderate people trying our best to make a living in a tough city. We both have sacrificed for our city and our country, regardless of the politics of the moment. I served under both Clinton and Bush, Democrat and Republican. I am proud of my country and will always protect our citizens' right to protest. BUT... protesters... you are not doing a thing to hurt corporate money, you are helping guys like the Park Slope rapist. You are taking resources from the real crime and wasting time "storming" wall street.

Grow up and realize that the real heroes are the troops serving this country every day. Send your food and support to the troops who are really doing something for this country. You wanted Obama and you got him. No more Bush to blame. Put away your iPads, iPods, gap shirts, Sony cams and really do something to effect change in the country. Grow up and stop blaming everyone else for your not being a productive member of society.

The NYPD is not your enemy. We are your friends, neighbors, and family. Don't break the law and expect the NYPD to just stand by. The law is enforced equally whether you are the KKK, Black Panthers, Wall Street protesters, or Neo Nazis. Grow up, make your point and stop making the lives of the very people you pretend to represent more difficult.