Protesters who are part of the Occupy Movement in San Francisco are misplacing their efforts according to former city mayor Willie Brown. In a column published over the weekend in the San Francisco Chronicle, Brown wrote that protesters who had assembled in Oakland were disrupting the work of the 99% rather than taking a stand against the 1%. Instead of hampering operations at the docks in Oakland, the former mayor suggested they head to Silicon Valley and target Apple, which exports jobs to the Far East and then has “the nerve” to seek federal tax breaks. Read on for more.
“If the Occupy people really want to make a point about the 1 percent, then lay off Oakland and go for the real money down in Silicon Valley,” Brown wrote in his column. “The folks who work on the docks in Oakland or drive the trucks in and out of the port are all part of the 99 percent. They take our goods from all over the state and export them. The only thing those cats down at Apple are exporting are our jobs. Then they have the nerve to ask for tax breaks, and Washington obliges.”
Members of the Occupy Movement in San Francisco recently held a protest at docks along Oakland’s coast, where they succeeded in shutting down overnight operations of the businesses that utilize the Port of Oakland. Port spokesman Issac Kos-Read confirmed that the protestors “disrupted workers trying to get to work and impaired the port’s ability to operate,” and several arrests were made. Kos-Read said the protesters cost many laborers their wages. “What has this accomplished?” he asked while speaking to reporters. “This is disrupting the 99%.”
Former mayor Brown shares Kos-Read’s opinion. “If Occupy wants to make a real statement, it ought to pick on a real target,” Brown suggested in his column. “But then, it might prove a bit embarrassing. From what I’ve seen, half those Occu-cats have iPhones and iPads.”
