First the homeless, now, even worse, a capitalist invades OWS

Midwood woman sets up shop hawking t-shirts at Zucotti Park

A 27 year old has set up a table selling t-shirts, with the clever slogan "ioccupy" at the edge of the Zucotti Park encampment.

A Midwood t-shirt maker is cashing in on Occupy Wall Street by selling her "ioccupy" wares at Zuccotti Park - and defending her hustle as part of the American Dream.

"Growing up in Brooklyn, I got to see a small business hustle. My dad owns a shoe store on Kings Highway;

OWS members are less than thrilled at her expressing her rights and have sicced Anonymous on her.

But OWS members want her out, saying she's exploiting their cause of stopping capitalistic exploitation.

"It's called predatory capitalism. She's using our movement to make money," said Christopher Guerra, 27, who sicced the computer hacker group Anonymous on Erani last week.

Business is doing pretty well - she's sold 75 t-shirts to far and defends her action.

"It's a chain reaction. It keeps money circulating. Now I can help my local grocer," Erani told two British tourists eyeing the tees.

Proud dad Chuck Erani, 55, who has ran his shop Chucky's Designer Shoes for 30 years, said his daughter is doing what Americans do best - turning an idea into dollar bills. "My daughter is out there working, hustling to make a buck to pay her rent," said Chuck Erani. "I am happy she's standing up for her capitalistic entrepreneurial rights."

One OWS member suggested the General Assembly, the movement's governing body, propose new rules curbing Erani and any other profit-hungry vendors from hawking their goods directly in front of Zuccotti.

www.nydailynews.com...< br />

I think she has a bright future. What do you all think?

reply to post by Maluhia




Couldn't resist.......

the word "hustle" seems incredibly inappropriate for anyone touting the moral superiority of capitalism.

reply to post by Maluhia


Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. She is using her own talent and ingenuity to avoid becoming among the homeless who are decrying their position on the sidelines of society. You would think it would be applauded, not condemned. In fact, I'll just bet that I've seen buttons and other trinkets being hawked by OWS camps themselves as fund raising efforts. I wonder if they're more offended by the fact she is struggling to make an honest living without handouts, or the fact they didn't think of it first and set up their table before she did. Hmmm.. Tough question there.

reply to post by tgidkp


hmmm weird thing to pick up on. I do believe it's NY speak for "hard work".

reply to post by Maluhia


First off... ¿;@#¢ you OWS, you communist [SNIP], how dare you attack someone FOR WORKING?

Second.. Screw your general assembly, you gave no right at all to say who can and cannot do something infront of the park. Our anywhere for that matter. What a bunch of self righteous pompous asshats. Your movement will fail because americans don't like totalitarian progressives.

reply to post by Rockpuck

.... no right at all to say who can and cannot do something infront of the park.

A park that is private property and they are illegally occupying in the first place. Basically what they're saying is "it's okay for us to disrupt people's live, but not okay for others to disrupt us." Do they not see that this is the attitude that is turning people against them?

reply to post by Rockpuck


Tell us how you really feel gotta say i agree with you

reply to post by Maluhia


Exactly! It's this embodiment of self absorbed, asinine belief in self superiority. I was there on the first and second day of my town occupy protest, it was huge, there were peoples from all walk of life (I even made a thread with pics my friends took) and what happened? Not a week went by and it was exactly what I feared it would be. A magnet for the ultra left Progressives who marginalize any other group trying to share the same space as them.

EDIT: .. my phone's making weird spelling mistakes.

Capitalism is the private ownership of the means of production, not selling things.

Just sayin'...

....so what? We were selling T-shirts at our recent occupykc rally, there's lots of upkeep at the campsite that inevitably requires spending some money.. Plus, a crazy amount of people haven't even heard about occupykc, I would say about 80%+ of the people that I've talked to, so it's a good way to get the word out and also show your support.

There was also somebody selling hotdogs at the rally, let's attack him too!

reply to post by TupacShakur


OMG he SOLD the hotdogs!?!? .. They should have tipped his cart over, cut the hotdogs into quarters and handed them out to the people, while hanging the damn hotdog vendor by his ankles, tarred and feathered with a giant pink sign that said "Capitalist Scum!" on it!

reply to post by sonnny1


Yes, people own things. What's your point? Do you expect the protesters to craft their own laptop computer, and stich their own clothing with some twigs and dirt that they found in the forest?

And I don't understand this whole anti-capitalist perception of the protesters. I haven't talked to anybody who explicitly said "capitalism sucks and is the problem", the issue is that our system has been tweaked and manipulated by a powerful few to the point that it's not even a fair game.

Big bankers can rake in millions in bonuses for shady business practices that eventually screw over millions, buy out politicians, and even get elected to positions of government from which they can write their own laws to benefit their wallets. That's what people are pissed about.

Everybody at the occupy protest where I'm at seems to agree that that's one of the primary concerns. We're not pissed at a successful person who used their intelligence, ingenuity, etc. to make millions of dollars. We're pissed at the scumbags who cheat their way to the top, and then piss all over the rest of us.

One OWS member suggested the General Assembly, the movement's governing body, propose new rules curbing Erani and any other profit-hungry vendors from hawking their goods directly in front of Zuccotti.

Based on that little snippet, that suggestion didn't pass, because once a proposal is made, it's voted on and will be undoubtedly decided on that night. So either the person who wrote that article stayed for the proposal, and then something urgent came up so he couldnt' stay for one more minute, or they just didn't want to say that it didn't pass.

reply to post by TupacShakur

The difference is she is keeping her profits, not donating them to the cause. She's an entrepreneur, capitalizing on an idea and they don't like it. And instead of just letting it go - they've threatened her with "Anonymous" retaliation.

We're not pissed at a successful person who used their intelligence, ingenuity, etc. to make millions of dollars. We're pissed at the scumbags who cheat their way to the top, and then piss all over the rest of us.

This t-shirt scenario seems to prove otherwise. That's the problem. Their message is all over the place.

Originally posted by TupacShakur
We're pissed at the scumbags who cheat their way to the top, and then piss all over the rest of us.

But theres the problem. Who are you to Judge,and whats the Judgment?
What "collective "authority,and by what Law?

Yes,you can own things. Everybody does. The point of the pic is obvious to those who understand it.

Originally posted by ANOK
Capitalism is the private ownership of the means of production, not selling things.

Just sayin'...

Agree....Star for you.

Corporatism Is Not Capitalism............

reply to post by TupacShakur


It depends on the OWS protest(ers). When the Unions march I actually see where they are coming from, being middle class myself I identify a lot with some of the issues they have with the economy.. I don't agree voting for a Democrat to be the only answer, but I at least appreciate the intelligent arguments they can make.

Then there are the students who graduated with 100k+ in debt and cannot find a job.. I see exactly where they are coming from, having mountains of school loans still myself, usury is slavery, simple as that, and to be indentured for your education is, imo anyways, a violation of basic Human Rights.

Then you have the ........ street folk. Those camping, making the scene, getting arrested. Sadly... the loudest voice by far too. They are ultra left, regardless of what city they are ultra-left wing nut-jobs.. communist, left-winged anarchist (which I always thought an oxymoron but whatever, anok is in this thread and I don't feel like talking to him) socialist and people that just talk alot without actually saying anything. They are, generally, very anti-capitalist .. anti ... everything except the handouts they love. Unfortunately that's the majority of the actual OWS protest. The Unions are marching maybe once every two weeks, and the students have classes and part time minimum wage jobs they can't miss unless they end up a bum on the street sucking the teats of the government .. which they don't want, they just want a fair shot to succeed. No surprise we do nothing but scoff at the OWS protests in general because, quite frankly, the poster child is a joke.

reply to post by Maluhia

The difference is she is keeping her profits, not donating them to the cause. She's an entrepreneur, capitalizing on an idea and they don't like it. And instead of just letting it go - they've threatened her with "Anonymous" retaliation.

Well it seems that there was no actual vote to decide on "siccing Anonymous" on her, instead it was just one person who knew some members.

"It's called predatory capitalism. She's using our movement to make money," said [color=limegreen]Christopher Guerra, 27, who sicced the computer hacker group Anonymous on Erani last week.

When decisions are made, the entire general assembly has the opportunity to vote, and it would shock me to hear that it wouldn't get voted down. It was one guy who was pissed off, not the entire movement who agreed to sabotage that womans life for selling shirts.

One OWS member suggested the General Assembly, the movement's governing body, propose new rules curbing Erani and any other profit-hungry vendors from hawking their goods directly in front of Zuccotti.

Just out of curiosity, who the hell is the General Assembly to tell people where they can and cannot sell items in the city of New York?

They are not the law there.

Originally posted by TupacShakur
reply to post by Maluhia

 

The difference is she is keeping her profits, not donating them to the cause. She's an entrepreneur, capitalizing on an idea and they don't like it. And instead of just letting it go - they've threatened her with "Anonymous" retaliation.

Well it seems that there was no actual vote to decide on "siccing Anonymous" on her, instead it was just one person who knew some members. When decisions are made, the entire general assembly has the opportunity to vote, and it would shock me to hear that it wouldn't get voted down.

It was one guy who was pissed off, not the entire movement who agreed to sabotage that womans life for selling shirts.

Wouldn't it be wise for the "collective" to oust Anonymous? Really,they can be disruptive/harmful to OWS's movement.