Misquote of the day - Capitalists make products…

Max Abelson indirectly quotes Leon Cooperman, "They [Capitalists] make products that "fill store shelves at Christmas" and provide health care to millions." - "Bankers Seek to Debunk 'Imbecile' Attack on Top 1%", Bloomberg, 2011-12-19, via Yahoo! Finance. Cooperman is a hedge fund manager. I wouldn't exactly call a hedge fund manager a capitalist; I'd say a hedge fund manager is a gambler with other people's money.

Right! These capitalist are on the factory floor making toys and electronics. These capitalists are working the emergency rooms and the hospital rooms to heal sick and broken people. They really should spend some time reading Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations", every word of it.

For some very appropriate citations from Smith, see "Adam Smith on Labor and Profits (Letter to Reader Weekly)". Essentially, labor is the basis of wealth, if profits rise too far the nation is on the road to ruin, and the interests of business are not the interests of society.

The suit with the cigar, an update

This morning's Duluth News Tribune had pictures of the Occupy Twin Ports demonstration. The guy with the suit and the cigar sign was "I support Wall Street!" And you can see the cigar in his mouth.

Occupy Twin Ports, 12 Oct. 2011

I spent about a half hour today at the Occupy Twin Ports in Duluth. My guess is that about a hundred people showed up, several with home-made signs. I knew about a dozen of the people attending. As far as "the media" ignoring it, there were several reporter/photographers and at least one TV crew. Many people beeped their horns as the drove by and some passengers hollered out encouraging remarks.

When I walked by before the official start, I think there was one police officer. When I participated I never saw a police officer.

There was a Tea Party demonstration on an opposite corner, but I couldn't read their signs.

On our side a suit was smoking a cigar right next to other people. I don't remember the sign he was holding, but if he was an anti-demonstrator, his smoking a cigar in a crowd was indicative of the disdain Wall St. holds for us 99%.

A downpour started about fifteen minutes after the start. Umbrellas came out and then the person with the bullhorn announced a Plan B and marched off toward the banks. After the rain dwindled they came marching back.