A spectacle is taking place across the nation as groups of people take to the streets with demands for a better country, improved economy, and, well, a whole lot more. Blogger Neil Aquino from the Texas Liberal is a supporter of the Occupy Wall Street movement which began in Washington D.C. on September 17th. As a tax payer and voter in every election, he demands “a fair decent society where people can find a decent job and where everybody pays a fair share of the taxes we need to run our local, state and federal governments.” Directly below the blog’s title is the picture of a multitude of people, the focus being a woman holding a sign that reads “I WANT TO WORK.” By an analysis of the blog entry, it appears that the protesters’ main concern is the high unemployment rate in the United States, as well as in Texas. Aquino urges his online liberal readers to take part in the Occupy effort which is taking place, not only in Washington D.C., but in many cities across Texas. The author provides links to outside sources-including Facebook groups-which serve to provide supporters of the Occupy Wall Street movement a common organizing medium. The author also provides his readers with links to his friends’ blogs, news articles relating to Perry, women’s health, and the presidential candidates.
Immediately upon attempting to read the blog, one is inundated with too many blue links to follow. The author fails to articulate his concerns in a thorough manner, but rather encourages his readers to support a cause which is explained through links leading to Facebook groups and blogs all advocating diverse issues. The reality is, the Occupy movement has gained momentum, yet this momentum relies on fear and worry. Citizens with concerns of the future are gathering demands of money and security from poverty. Granted, their stress is warranted, however, their list of requests is too broad to act on.
Many of their demands are irrational, even silly: free college education, one trillion dollars to restore forests, incarcerating Wall Street millionaires, investigations of the 9/11 terrorist attack, saving puppies, etc. Media sources have taken this as an opportunity to ridicule the supporters of Occupy Wall Street. FOX titles their news article “Read Demands of ‘OccupyWall Street’… and Try Not to Laugh,” while original supporters of the movement have a change of heart and decide to list all that is wrong with the demands. In Austin, the movement has sparked interest. People have gathered in City Hall holding cardboards supporting the Austin Police Department, and protesting against the New York Police Department; others ask CEOs to be paid $13.00 an hour; in school, students ask other students to walk out of class in protest saying “It’s your right.” Perhaps a more united front would produce enough credibility, but for now, their efforts amount to little more than a media sensation.
I completely agree with Isabel's post "Caught in the Revolving door". The Texas jail, and prison systems are severely lacking. Not only is the inmate population heavy with the mentally ill, but the number of repeat offenders is discouraging. It is my opinion that the state budget for upholding mental institution and after care is a lot of the reason for the high concentration of mentally ill in jail. The requirements for admittance into those facilities are so strict that many who need care are turned away. A large majority of those turned away are incarcerated for various infractions of the law. Those that are not, are often found under our bridges and at street corners with badly constructed signs, begging for our assistance. In 2009, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, tallied that 25% of the nation's homeless population had a diagnosed mental illness.When widening their findings to all of the United States population, the result was only 6%. Many of these individuals would accept any help offered them, from treatment, to safe shelter. The issue is a lack of successful, state funded outreach programs. I'm not saying that this would instantly solve the issue, just that it would help to significantly cut down on those unstable mentally ill on the streets, and by proxy, in jails and prisons. Texas jails are set up in a way that it is very easy for mentally ill individuals to be incarcerated for anything for vagrancy to public nudity, and once they are in the system, its hard to get away from the "revolving door", and harder still to find steady shelter and a source of income. If we have any hope of fixing our current "system", then we need to start from the ground up. Start outreach programs, and rehabilitation centers for those just getting out of jail who do not have the benefit of family or even a place to live. With the help of these programs and others like it, we stand a chance at being able to see a significant decrease in the number of mentally ill on the streets, and in jail. As well as in those numbers of the mentally sound.
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