The right wing hacks are on a smear campaign against the celebs that are protesting with occupy.
Their argument goes something like this:
The celebs are very rich; they are in the one percent! They are dumb mindless liberals for supporting occupy.
As in most things, these right wing partisan hacks have it wrong.
Being rich doesn't mean you can’t support the middle class, it isn't an either or proposition. That means, yes, you can be rich, and you can also want things to get better for hard working Americans.
I don’t begrudge Brad Pitt or Matt Damon’s salary. If they make money because people go to see them in movies- they deserve a nice chunk of the profits. If the actors didn’t get a nice cut of the profits- the corporations that own the studios would take all of the profit.
I don’t care what performers make, I just think they need to be taxed more. If Matt Damon had to pay 100,000 more in taxes every year, that cash could be used to hire two new teachers or it could be used to give 20 teachers a decent raise.
What actors, athletes, singers understand is the value, and power of a union. Performers know what it means to bargain for a share of profits.
This is an important point.
The main reason performers share in the profits- is because they are in unions, they have the ability to bargain.
Most Americans have been Deunionized, we can’t collectively bargain, we are completely at the mercy of the corporate owners.
Remember baseball in the 40’s and 50’s- the owners kept all the profits, the ball players needed jobs outside of baseball in order to support themselves.
Imagine that!
Greedy sports owners; they had to be forced to the table through strikes! After the strikes, they were forced to split profits with the ballplayers / employees.
It goes without saying but ill say it again:
We, in the middle class, are not represented. We work our asses off, but the owners and the executives take almost all of all the profits- they leave the rest of us with crumbs.
Occupy isn't anti capitalism, it isn't anti rich people. It is anti corporate abuse, anti corporate greed.
Thanks again for the support from celebrities that are willing to go out there, and voice their dissatisfaction with the broken and corrupt status quo.