Today, I visited the Occupy KC movement's camp at Penn Valley Park, just south of the Liberty Memorial, across the street, west of the Federal Reserve Building. It's a small group but the people seem animated and organized. I sat with a fellow named Cash, and another person, Mike, and talked about the movement and the spirit of the camp there. It was a pleasant discussion and I enjoyed talking with them very much. Also had a nice talk with Samantha (Sam), the group's chef. After listening to them and meeting the people, I felt impressed and hopeful for them. I plan to write a piece for the KC Star's MidWest Voices blog soon about my visit and the movement's energy. In the meantime, if you're able, stop by and see them. If you wish to assist them in a practical way, they need some living supplies. The Occupy KC website is here. Have a look at their supply needs. Their General Assembly is daily around 6pm. In addition, the permit fee per month is $800...they are open to contributions to pay the rent :-)The Occupy Wall Street thinkers have hit upon an interesting strategy as of yesterday. You may have heard their chant "We are the 99%" (actually the 99.6 or so %). The movements website posted a piece yesterday, entitled "Occupy the Boardroom". Their approach calls for dialog with the 1%...after all they are people. Read about it here. From a Kansas City perspective, we know the elite families who steer this city...the Kauffmans, the Blochs, the Helzbergs, The Nutters, the Kempers, the Halls. Those of you who are from Kansas City know the list is larger. So, while the encampment is across the street from the Federal Reserve, it's also visible from the Hallmark corporate headquarters. Interesting. This is not a call for confrontation, but it makes me think about how this approach applies locally. That will be the subject of my OpEd soon.
In the meantime, have a look at this report from the Congressional Budget Office, published today, reference income distribution in the US...interesting.
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