the sad truth is that we're seeing every inch of our lives taken over by the drive for profit. That's what it is. War for profit. Imprisonment for profit. The sophistication of the fraud and corruption we see today is far above the simple times of "accounting errors." It's now whole systems designed to destroy people's lives while making others rich. Just look at the mortgage crisis for a good example. Corporations are people. Money is speech. Bombs are expression. Truth is treason. Profit is holy. And a dog riding a horse won America's Got Talent. What's wrong with this picture?
Mark Karlin: You have been a vigorous advocate for the Occupy movement. What do you think the impact of the national Occupy movement has been?
Lee Camp: I think that Occupy changed the entire conversation in this country, and I don't think people necessarily realize that. We went from beginning to talk about austerity and tightening belts to talking about the gross inequality that's destroying our society. People use terms like the "99%" and the "1%" regularly now. Most people know that there is a grotesque amount of wealth amassed in the top .01% of Americans. The six heirs of the Wal-Mart fortune have the same amount of wealth as the bottom 40% of America (125 million people). So I believe Occupy was the first step in a larger awakening for the American people. It will take time. No large-scale change has happened in the span of a few months, but it has begun.
Also the people who were active in Occupy are still around and active in other ways. It created a great online base for future forms of protest and the future of getting money out of our political system and declaring that corporations are not people.
I think it also showed a lot of people who had never been to a protest in their lives that they have power. We have power. All of us together have more power than we realize. Once you learn that, it changes everything.
And for FOX news critics:
Mark Karlin: Tell us about your "Fox moment" when you chastised Murdoch's franchise on air. Did they physically remove you from the studio?
Lee Camp: Fox News invited me on their live morning show. And I knew that the only way I would agree to be on that festering pile of rancid lies was if I was going to use it for something good. So I knew I was going to say something, but I wasn't sure what. I ultimately called them "a parade of propaganda and a festival of ignorance."
They tried to cut me off and go to the next segment, but unfortunately for them, the next segment was about how Captain Kirk was able to get laid so much. (I'm not kidding.) So they basically proved my point for me. There was palpable anger in the studio, especially from the anchor who was on with me. But nobody said anything. I just stood up and walked out without a word.
Even though I left the building without a word to anyone, the anchor came back on after commercial break and told the audience he had physically ejected me from the studio. It wasn't true - but Fox News is no stranger to creating a false reality.
