Real Story of Vancouver Kissing Couple

The mystery behind the Vancouver kissing couple has been revealed. They were not smooching for fun in the middle of a riot, but were pushed to the ground by riot police.

The story began after a photographer took this picture: 

Rich Lam/Getty Images

The picture was so intriguing. It soon went viral around the internet. Everybody wondered whether he was comforting her or if they were having a moment of folly among the chaos.

It is undoubted a brilliant photograph. The photographer, Rick Lam, got it as he was also being pushed out of the area by riot police. First, the focus is completely on the couple who provide a strong example of hope and fearlessness. The second thing is the riot policeman in the front of the picture. The fact that they are behind an anonymous and ominous image of authority in the form of the riot officer who both looks threatening and was threatening the person in the position of the viewer (the photographer) is a great part of this photo. The third thing is the riot police and people in the background which quickly tells the viewer the setting (when, where, who, etc.).

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Later, a video came out revealing that the couple was not smooching for fun in the middle of a riot, but were pushed to the ground by riot police. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30t3vhxSj9o


The video shows the riot police pushing the couple to the ground with their shields. As the couple goes down, at :06 you can see and hear the girlfriend Alex Thomas hit twice in the head with riot shield first from the right side and then by the riot police officer on the left/center part of the screen as she falls on her back all the way to the ground. The boyfriend Scott Jones then protects Alex by throwing his body on hers and putting up his hands and forearm to catch any further blows.

The couple was quickly identified via social media sites and and the couple did an interview about it here: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43461996.

The real story is at least as interesting as the speculative narrative put forth before the full story was known. I also think it is quite revealing about the media and societal views of young people at this. The media assumed that they were engaged in some act of folly and frivolity. That seems to always be the way to dismiss people of our generation, who are really struggling at this time. I also like that the real story represents the reality of many people of my generation. Like Laura and I, they are an international couple -- she is Canadian and he is Australian. Like other young people they are caught up in chaotic times. These times are tense politically, culturally, and most of all, economically. There is 17.7% youth unemployment in the US, 40% in Spain, mass transfers of wealth from the young to the old in every developed society with little debate or awareness of it (link, link, link, link, link). They are thrown into this as uninformed spectators. If they do not quickly figure out where they are and what is happening, then will be beaten to the ground and injured.

Young people are also facing harsh government reactions. Now, whether you believe that the harsh government measures shown in the actions of the riot police or the conditions on the Greek bailout are reasonable, proportionate, justified, etc. is irrelevant to the statement that they are harsh, which everyone should be able to agree upon. The proper defense to these actions is: 'Yes, they are harsh, but tough times call for tough measures'. However, so often someone makes the determination that tough measues are called for and then spends 90% of their time distorting the facts to try to justify their decision (for example, the Iraq War). So, at the very least, everyone should be able to agree that people, especially young people, are not only facing tough times, but are also facing a lot of government responses that are also very tough against people, especially young people.

Another example is the fact that many politicians in the US want to end, weaken or privatize Social Security. Social Security is a massive transfer of wealth from the young worker to old non-workers. It seems to me that it is only moral if, at the same time, it is also a safety net for present workers when they retire. So long as the second condition remains, that prevents Social Security from being a Ponzi scheme. However, Republicans and some Democrats in the US seem to want to turn it into a Ponzi scheme. Two developments are relevant in this regard. First, the fact that Democrats and Republicans for the last few decades started doing annual budget accounting even on programs like Social Security instead of long-term budgeting which makes more sense for a program like Social Security. Greek politicians actually did the same thing over the past few decades as well -- just treat all taxes coming in as general tax for that year, without regard as to which program it was collected for,  so that it appears that the budget is balanced during your term.

The second thing that politicians did was to then spend taxes collected as Social Security payments as general tax money. This happened during the Bush administration with tens of billions of dollars in spending and tax cuts. It is the exact same thing as a dad buying an extravagant sports car with his daughter's college savings and saying that they could afford the new car because they had the money that year! They bought the car (in the analogy, huge tax cuts and the War in Iraq), knowing that they would have to make other payment in the near future that had previously been set aside for other things (college, or in the analogy, Social Security).

These two developments of the past ten years (yearly budgeting and spending Social Security taxes as general funds) are problematic because Social Security is designed as a long-term program. It had huge surpluses in the Clinton and Bush years because the Baby Boomers were at the peak of their careers and all paying into the system. It is easy to see, under such conditions, how horrible it is to budget for this program on a yearly basis and also to treat Social Security taxes as general government money.

Now, previous payments are not near enough to cover current pay-outs (which is why young people are propping up the entire system and giving money to the old in reality). However,  once the reserves built up by current retirees throughout their life are plundered away, Social Security must be radically altered (raised input or decreased output). The Republicans made the choices they did knowing all of this. Indeed, they not only chose but desired to be in the crisis position we are in now. They have been saying it for years -- "starve the beast", meaning decrease revenues that are going to the Federal government in order to force cuts in social programs that the public otherwise would never accept in a non-'crisis' situation.

So, like the daughter whose father spend her college savings account, paid into by both herself and her father, the youth today will not only be paying off the older generation's impulsive buys of flashy sports cars (the war in Iraq and $1.5T in tax cuts, a health care system that transfers money from young healthy people to old sick people without sufficient cost containment or solidarity for young workers in the form of a public option (link)), young workers will also be paying for their own expenses for which that saving was supposed to go to (their own education, their own retirement after Social Security is sabotaged and collapses, their own medical insurance and deductibles, etc.). This will be done the exact way it is being done right now with young people taking on extra work and loans to pay for increasing costs.

The young will have to come up with the extra costs in an economic environment of abysmal job prospects (link, link), wage freezes, decreased access to start-up loans and higher interest rates, fraud by universities and creditors (link, link, link), competition from older more experienced unemployed workers who are first in line for the existing jobs, hiring freezes in the private sector, and massive cuts in the public sector.

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Meanwhile, the reaction of older folks in the US (and elsewhere) is to give a big middle finger to the young. They vote in mass for tea party fanatics. They send the young to die in the Middle East. They refuse to raise taxes to a sane level, and at the same time, refuse to decrease any of the spending on entitlements to older folks. For example, in their recent proposal to changes in medicare, the Republican decided to make their proposal only effect those under 55. In other words, 'screw your grandkids, take the money and run' was the most politically feasible option in the present political environment.

Another example of the big middle finger young workers are getting right now is an e-mail floating around. Here it is:

"John G. Is 63 years old and owns a small business. He's a

life-long Republican and sees his dream of

retiring next year has all but evaporated. With

the stock market crashing and new taxes coming

his way, John assumes now that he will work to

his dying day.

John has a granddaughter.. Ashley is a recent college grad.

She drives a flashy hybrid car, wears all the

latest fashions, and loves to go out to

nightclubs and restaurants. Ashley campaigned

hard for Barack Obama. After the election she

made sure her grandfather (and all other

Republican family members) received a big I

told-you-so earful on how the world is going to

be a much better place now that her party is

taking over.

Having lost both roommates, Ashley recently ran short

of cash and cannot pay the rent (again) on her 3

bedroom townhouse.. Like she has done many times

in the past, she e-mailed her grandfather asking

for some financial help.

Here is his reply:

---

Sweetheart, I received your request for assistance.

Ashley, you know I love you dearly and I 'm sympathetic

to your financial plight. Unfortunately, times

have changed. With the election of President

Obama, your grandmother and I have had to set

forth a bold new economic plan of our own..."The

Ashley Economic Empowerment Plan." Let me

explain.

Your grandmother and I are life-long, wage-earning

tax payers. We have lived a comfortable life, as

you know, but we have never had the fancier

things like European vacations, luxury cars,

etc.. We have worked hard and were looking

forward to retiring soon. But the plan has

changed. Your president is raising our personal

and business taxes significantly. He says it is

so he can give our hard earned money to other

people. Do you know what this means, Ashley? It

means less for us, and we must cut back on many

business and personal expenses.

You know the wonderful receptionist who worked in my

office for more than 23 years? The one who

always gave you candy when you came over to

visit? I had to let her go last week. I can't

afford to pay her salary and all of the

government mandated taxes that go with having

employees. Your grandmother will now work 4 days

a week to answer phones, take orders and handle

the books. We will be closed on Fridays and will

lose even more income to the

Wal-Mart.

I'm also very sorry to report that your cousin Frank will

no longer be working summers in the warehouse. I

called him at school this morning.. He already

knows about it and he's upset because he will

have to give up skydiving and his yearly trip to

Greenland to survey the polar

bears.

That's just the business side of things. Some personal

economic effects of Obama's new taxation

policies include none other than you You know

very well that over the years your grandmother

and I have given you thousands of dollars in

cash, tuition assistance, food, housing,

clothing, gifts, etc.., etc. But by your vote,

you have chosen to help others -- not at your

expense -- but at our expense..

If you need money now sweetheart, I recommend you call

202-456-1111. That is the direct phone number

for the White House.. You can also contact the

White House here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/ .

You yourself told me how foolish it is to vote

Republican. You said Mr Obama is going to be the

People's President, and is going to help every

American live a better life. Based on everything

you've told me, along with all the promises we

heard during the campaign, I'm sure Mr. Obama

will be happy to transfer some stimulus money

into your bank account. Have him call me for the

account number which I memorized years

ago..

Perhaps you can now understand what I've been saying all

my life: those who vote for a president should

consider the impact on the nation as a whole,

and not be just concerned with what they can get

for themselves. What Obama supporters don't seem

to realize is all of the money he is

redistributing to illegal aliens and

non-taxpaying Americans (the so-called "less

fortunate") comes from tax-paying

families.

Remember how you told me, "Only the richest of the rich

will be aff ected"? Well guess what, honey?

Because we own a business, your grandmother and

I are now considered to be the richest of the

rich. On paper, it might look that way, but in

the real world, we are far from

it.

As you said while campaigning for Obama, some people

will have to carry more of the burden so all of

America can prosper.... You understand what that

means, right? It means that raising taxes on

productive people results in them having less

money; less money for everything, including

granddaughters.

I'm sorry, Ashley, but the well has run dry.. The free

lunches are over.. I have no money to give you

now. So, congratulations on your choice for

"change." For future reference, I encourage you

to try and add up the total value of the gifts

and cash you have received from us, just since

you went off to college, and compare it to what

you expect to get from Mr. Obama over the next 4

(or 8) years. I have not kept track of it,

Ashley. It has all truly been the gift of our

hearts.

Remember, we love you dearly....but from now on you'll

need to call the number mentioned above. Your

"Savior" has the money we would have given to

you. Just try and get it from

him.

Good luck, sweetheart.

Love, Grandpa" 

I was actually personally sent this e-mail by my own grandfather. He is probably representative of many of his generation. He worked for the government and the non-profit sector his entire life, and now gets a large Social Security check, a military pension, and a nice pension from his life-long employer. His wife worked in the public sector. They benefitted their entire lives, and especially now, from the solidarity that their generation set up. Yet, they go on about how glorious the free market is so great and how we need to bleed the government dry. He watches Fox News regularly and also sends out e-mail forwards that are reliably untrue and conspiratorial; the ones that simple trips to snopes.com inevitably disprove.

Yet they have this self-righteous and demeaning attitude as if they have the world on their shoulders and are propping everyone else up. The reality in completely inverted. All their government payments over the years have long been used up; it is now my payments, the payments from us competent young people, who are propping the entire system up. Neither he nor others like him can even figure out how to fact-check an e-mail, but less do the tasks that we do on a daily basis (IT work, design websites, provide fast services everywhere, legal advise) to make our older bosses rich. In every developed country right now, a tiny highly-productive fraction of the population, typically working in young, high-tech, enormously productive businesses, prop up the entire economy and tax system. The pensions of these complaining grandpas are being paid by current young workers. Their Social Security payments of at least $1200 per month are being paid by younger workers. Their huge medical bills are being paid by younger workers paying into medicare and also young low-risk insurance-holders who are legally forced into the same risk group as older people and thus these young payers keep the entire health insurance system going.

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Now, back to the picture and the final thing that I like about it. The scene shows everything good about my generation as well. Despite all the media degradation, the physical and economic attacks, and the chaos of these times, they display the traits that are going to be necessary for our generation: curiosity, solidarity, wits, justice, and love.