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[sluissa]

That's true. No excuse to not let them go back once the lights are installed.  If things could be discussed more reasonably, I'm sure a compromise could be worked out, but protests happen because someone isn't being reasonable.

[SalmonGod]

TED talk discussing how inequality harms society, even for its wealthiest members.

[Reiina]

TED talk discussing how inequality harms society, even for its wealthiest members.

Very interesting talk.
Some comments makes me despair in humanity though, like that "redistribution is theft" one...

[Lagslayer]

Though he claims that correlation does not equal causation, he talks as though he "knows" that income inequality causes all these problems.

I propose that the income inequality is a symptom of a much larger societal trait, namely conformism vs individualism. Conformist societies truly want (or are severely pressured to) sacrifice their benefits to help others, even those they do not know personally. In return, they must snuff out or suppress their individual preferences, ideas, and ideals. Individualist societies are the opposite, praising the ideas and efforts of the individual, but not guaranteeing that some won't fall off the bottom while the elite, either through inheritance or their own merit, will rise far above the rest.

I'm sure there are many more factors involved as well, but I have no intention of rambling on about them forever. Just thought I'd discuss one of the bigger ones. Maybe some other time.

[sluissa]

Are you suggesting Sweden is a conformist society? I could be wrong, but my experience suggests otherwise.

Edit: Also, the UK, which tends to be on the higher inequality end, seems to me to be somewhat more conformist than a lot of the other examples. Barring Japan, of course. Japanese culture is a bit of an outlier there compared to the others given, which are primarily Euro-American.

[Aqizzar]

Apparently, singing that "Save Zuccotti Park" petition from MoveOn.org got me signed up for a local Occupy coordination meeting tomorrow night.  I'll take notes and see what happens.

Maybe I'll wear my Cesar Chavez shirt, but probably not.

[Zrk2]

I have many American dollars (about 7) that I will give you to wear a Ron Paul t-shirt to it.

[Aqizzar]

I have many American dollars (about 7) that I will give you to wear a Ron Paul t-shirt to it.

There's no amount of money you could pay me for that.  Although my "Biden: This Is A Big Fucking Deal" shirt wouldn't be bad.

[ECrownofFire]

I have many American dollars (about 7) that I will give you to wear a Ron Paul t-shirt to it.

There's no amount of money you could pay me for that.  Although my "Big Fucking Deal - Biden" shirt wouldn't be bad.

Wear a Bachmann shirt to it then

[Zrk2]

I'd much rather a Ron Paul shirt. He's markedly less crazy. Read as: he's crazy the same way I am.

[Urist Imiknorris]

Crazy like a fox? </no>

[Zrk2]

Libertarian. We're crazy enough to advocate policies that we see as morally just even though they will most likely be exploited and used to fuck over everyone.

[Pnx]

I wonder how many people are wearing Che Guevara T-shirts to occupy protests... Yeknow, just to double up the irony.

[Montague]

Che Guevara killed all the rich people in Cuba, or at least helped to, whats ironic about that?

[Zrk2]

I need to wikipedia him. I know he was part of the Cuban (?) revolution with Castro, or one of the countries, and then in the end he hid behind a tree while the last of his troops were killed. Or something. How do I not know this stuff? I nailed the early Roman architecture question in Trivial Pursuit, but I don't know who Che Guevara was... Wow.