In the wake of the video reveal of Laquan McDonald's execution by a member of the Chicago P.D., BLM protesters marched on Chicago's magnificent mile of shops on Black Friday.
Paralyzing traffic on Chicago's famous Michigan Avenue, demonstrators used Black Friday's prominence to declare that the mayor, police commissioner and prosecutor must step down.
They also demanded a federal investigation into the Chicago Police Department.
Protesters locked arms outside the doors of major retailers such as Neiman Marcus and Tiffany & Co., preventing shoppers from entering. To exit stores, shoppers often knocked on the glass doors and asked protesters to allow them out.
As if these protesters have no legitimate gripe, the pundits on Bulls and Bears dismissed their efforts as an all out attack on Capitalism, no mention of the atrocities the Chicago P.D. has committed. How dare 'these people' interfere with materialistic Capitalism, the holy scripture of Fox 'News!' Host of the show, Brenda Buttner is just beside herself that protesters would disrupt Black Friday retailers and those union thugs are demanding a living wage at Walmart. The fiscally irresponsible viewers at Fox 'News' are looking for a scapegoat for their economic maladies and this is exactly the type of red meat they crave. Blame the folks who are trying to effectively air their grievances because Fox wants the proletariat to know their place and keep their feelings to themselves.
We must demonize anyone who wants to upset the apple cart. Just because a 17 year-old was gunned down in a brutally felonious execution, what are the gains to our larger society by minimizing the profits of retailers, during this shopping extravaganza weekend? Why try an effective means of protest by hitting people where it hurts, in their pocketbooks, to thrust much-needed attention upon a very real problem; when the folks at Bulls and Bears will just dismiss the whole rationale as frivolity? That's what these folks want their viewers to believe, that there's no greater grievance than to disrupt raw Capitalism.
The usual suspects who worship the Almighty Profit are predictably losing their minds. Lisa Boothe, ex-WWE wrestler, John C. Layfield, hostess, Brenda Buttner and hedge fund entrepreneur, Gary B. Smith are all aghast that the BLM movement is audacious enough to jeopardize profits. Meanwhile, union-advocate Chuck Rocha and part-time liberal, Jonas Max Ferris seem to understand that our system is doing rather well, and one day of protests aren't going to ruin a company's bottom line.
Lisa Boothe thinks that 'these people' will never get enough. How dare these union thug-organizers demand $15 per hour for employees when they've already upped the ante for Wal-mart's minimum wage base of the luxurious $10.00 per hour? Surely anyone can support a family on $1,600 per month, assuming that the breadwinner even gets to work a forty hour-workweek, without public assistance, right? Let's pay no mind to the fact that the median apartment rental price for a family of four is
$1,231 per month; and in certain areas it can be triple that number.
Honestly, who needs electricity, clothing and food, right?
Unbeknownst to anyone with a minimal knowledge of basic economics, Gary B. Smith seems to think that the disruption of the sales of big-box retailers, like Wal-Mart, will result in rampant unemployment. He forgets that online sales create jobs just the same. Jonas Max Ferris understand's Rocha's sympathy towards protesters looking for an effective way to get their message across, but he disagrees with their tactics. He's Fox's kind of 'liberal,' one who doesn't really assert himself.
The sole true liberal advocate and sane member of the group, Rocha, disavows Buttner's notion that raising the minimum wage would ruin our economy. He urges people to change with the times, as he knows both how to operate a tractor and yet buys his fishing shirts online. That's sure as hell not going to fly with this panel, who cater to the anachronistic fears of their viewers.
John Layfield, like Boothe, can't surmise why Wal-Mart employees and workers unions are protesting their generous $10 per hour/minimum wage salary. The former fake-wrestling superstar believes that If you charge more for something, people will spend less. (Really?) No one on this panel dares to address the fact that a living wage increase won't monumentally inflate Wal-Mart's exceedingly low prices.
If the minimum wage increase were spread over three years, Walmart could cover the expense by increasing prices about 2.3% per year. That seems like a very reasonable price to pay for a living wage for its employees - and for saving $6 billion annually in federal subsidies.
The average consumer would not be turned away from Wal-Mart because of a a price increase from $10.00 to $10.23, knowing that these workers wouldn't have to rely on government assistance for their survival any more.
Shows like Bulls and Bears are stuck in the 'Greed is Good' mentality that was prevalent during the imagined prosperity of the St. Ronnie Reagan years. Roger Ailes' network disingenuously preaches and fear-mongers that all must conform to the mores of our corporate masters, or the consequences will be unimaginably awful.
