The bogus “peoples movement” that started in New York and has spread with the help of the media to other liberal cities like Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and San Diego. The nut jobs are protesting the wrong people. All of their vitriol and political angst should be directed at every politician in Washington, Republicans included who give into Democrat demands hoping they’ll be liked and the media will treat them fairly. It’s never going to happen. State your principles and live by them.

Having said this, let’s get to the root problem: Many people in America don’t understand how economies work. In reality, economics is not difficult to understand. It takes PhDs and other “experts” to confuse us. But these guys could not get away with their economic confusion if so many people didn’t want to fall for their false claims that if we only give up some our freedoms and other people’s money we’ll all be better off. Too many want to believe that something can come from nothing, lunches are free, and we’re owed a living.

The Occupy protestors believe that things can be had for nothing, “money for nothing and the chicks are free,” as the Dire Straits song puts it.

In the film The Flim-Flam Man (1967) Mordecai Jones, played by George C. Scott, often told his young apprentice, “You can’t cheat an honest man.” Flim-flam only works on people who believe they can get something for little or nothing at the expense of others. But when we elect government officials to engage in flim-flam, we call what they do “democracy in action.” Take a look at Make Mine Freedom, a short animated feature that was produced in 1948 by Harding College. It’s prophetic.

Harding College (now Harding University) is a Christian university located in Searcy, Arkansas.  Fearing the reach of Communism at the start of the cold war, College President George S. Benson sought out to produce a series of cartoons that highlighted American values in contrast with those of Communism. The mission of the series is stated at the beginning of the animated feature:

This is one of a series of films produced by the Extension Department of Harding College to create a deeper understanding of what has made America the finest place in the world to live.

Unlike so many Christian colleges today, Harding incorporated “political and civic studies with their American Studies Institute. Harding has brought in political leaders from around the world through their lecture series, including former US Presidents, foreign leaders, heads of large businesses and other influential individuals.  Together, Harding has developed a conservative message balanced between morality and the historical founding values of our nation.”