Slog
News & ArtsSaturday, October 8, 2011
Occupy The Vietnam Vet and the Dimspey Family
Posted by Eli Sanders on Sat, Oct 8, 2011 at 4:19 PM
Interviews by Cienna Madrid.
- E.S.
- Tom Behan, 66: Retired Vietnam veteran who served as a Navy officer in charge of an underwater bomb squad from 1968 to 1970. First day at the protests.
“I’m pissed as hell. The outrageousness of the economy and the feeling in the country right now is reminiscent of the Vietnam protests. Those started with the radicals, the hippies, and the intellectuals before spreading mainstream. I want a better future for my 10 grandkids. I’m here fighting for that future."
- E.S.
- Robert Dimpsey, Tanya Dimpsey, Pearl Dimpsey (5), and Iris Dimpsey (8): Robert is a programmer at Microsoft. Tanya is a stay-at-home mom. They've been down at Westlake every day since Wednesday.
Tanya: "I brought my daughter, Pearl, down here on Wednesday because I wanted her to take part in this. On Thursday I brought both my daughters, and I was worried about being arrested. But we talked to some cops who said it was our right to be here, and that they supported us.
"It’s been an 'Occupy Picnic' every day since then. I’m heartened to see all the people with children, and I wish more families would join us. Robert and I were both raised by working class people—my mom was a single mom. This is a middle-class movement. This isn’t the fringe. We’re talking about regular people.
"I don’t think I’d be where I am today if the society we have now existed 40 years ago. I’m worried about the future for my children. We are regular people who want equity. Our system is unfair and when you have two young children running around, and you’re trying to teach them about fairness, and you look around and see that the power structure in this country isn’t designed to be fair—it’s frustrating. And it hasn’t always been like this."
3
The Dimpseys at this rally must be frightening as all get out!
When these guys are crying "foul" then its time for a new ballpark, new teams, new rules and a whole new game.
(For the programmers, Mark Zuckerberg's technical contribution to the world by the way was paying someone to write a web database application).
When these guys are crying "foul" then its time for a new ballpark, new teams, new rules and a whole new game.
(For the programmers, Mark Zuckerberg's technical contribution to the world by the way was paying someone to write a web database application).
4
Equity. That's what the lady said, and that's what this is about. I'm so glad you're telling people's stories. And I'll take the predominance of troglodytes in the comments here as a sign that all the civilized Sloggers are downtown and afk.
5
@4 No, most are posting from their corporate produced iPhones and iPads ... or laptops with MS Windows.
7
@ OK. What on earth else are the supposed to use you unsavory troll? And I guess that you have entirely no problem with any of the the products named not being made in the United States, nor do you find issue with the offshoring of manufacturing jobs that pay a decent living wage?
Didn't you mention earlier that you are a ward of the state? Gee you've certainly got a dog in this fight, when it comes to hypocrisy don't you?
Stop polluting our blog with your contrarian for the sake of contrarianism gobbledygook.
Didn't you mention earlier that you are a ward of the state? Gee you've certainly got a dog in this fight, when it comes to hypocrisy don't you?
Stop polluting our blog with your contrarian for the sake of contrarianism gobbledygook.
8
@7 *golf clap* Hoorah ... good trolling there, nice spin on things. Actually, I'm a supporter and contributor to Open Source projects, and use only an Open Source Linux OS ... and my computers are all refurbished .... so yeah, I do "have a dog" in this fight. But here's the thing, while I do avoid most tech from major corporations (refurbished computers do have some major corporation hardware) I also know who pays the bills, and it's not you (unless you are part of the 1% who donated the money to build the building I live in, in which case I would apologize). It is possible to avoid ALL those corporations, there are a lot of small companies that make great tech devices.
It would be hypocrisy if I sided with these protestors, because none of them donate millions for housing that's being used to house thousands of homeless people. Homeless people are not all junkies or disabled, they include a LOT of working class "black collar" folks who have pretty much been ignored by the glorious "99%". You fail to talk to these people, and many are not tech savvy and have no online presence or voice. I know, amazing that there are still a lot of people who don't use the net for more than email or looking up book titles. Many are too busy struggling from day to day to post online or even go to some protest, much less organize one that would get any attention from the likes of you. So nice try there. I'm not trolling, trolling is not "disagreeing" with someone, learn your online vocabulary a bit better (goes for a lot of you), this is trolling http://artoftrolling.com/ ....
I am not trying to make you laugh, that's just your own lack of any knowledge beyond your books and papers. The protesting here is pointless, it's inane, and it's a huge waste of time and effort, because if these people really are the majority in the US, why are they not voting better?
More...
It would be hypocrisy if I sided with these protestors, because none of them donate millions for housing that's being used to house thousands of homeless people. Homeless people are not all junkies or disabled, they include a LOT of working class "black collar" folks who have pretty much been ignored by the glorious "99%". You fail to talk to these people, and many are not tech savvy and have no online presence or voice. I know, amazing that there are still a lot of people who don't use the net for more than email or looking up book titles. Many are too busy struggling from day to day to post online or even go to some protest, much less organize one that would get any attention from the likes of you. So nice try there. I'm not trolling, trolling is not "disagreeing" with someone, learn your online vocabulary a bit better (goes for a lot of you), this is trolling http://artoftrolling.com/ ....
I am not trying to make you laugh, that's just your own lack of any knowledge beyond your books and papers. The protesting here is pointless, it's inane, and it's a huge waste of time and effort, because if these people really are the majority in the US, why are they not voting better?
10
I know the Dimpsey family and they are the most genuine people I've ever met. Their belief system is nothing short of inspiring, so haters gonna hate.
11
I am glad Tanya went there with her family to teach the girls what democracy really is. I hope there are more families willing to step out of their comfort homes to raise voice for equity.
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