Who Profits From Our Conferences, Rallies and Protest Marches?

People who are upset about the government and the systems that control our lives love to convene and complain about it. They even may organize a big rally and make speeches about it. If the cause really becomes popular, they'll get T- shirts, hats, and buttons printed about it. It's great that we know how to whip up sentiments among people and passionately voice our concerns. But these gatherings cost money. Room rental for meetings, sound equipment, chairs. Poster printing, T-shirt, hat and button printing. Bus, van or car rental to drive to the big gathering. Hotel room rental if it's in another city. And of course you have to buy new clothes if it's an out of town conference, you want to look your best. But who's getting paid for all this? People who are already in business, people who own buildings with meeting space, transportation companies, printing factories, hotels, restaurants, clothing stores. Usually the people who are getting paid are not the people protesting the problem. For all the money we spend to gather and talk about the problem, we could be putting together the money to fix the problem.  So let's look at the issues we face, the money we spend to complain about it, and the money we could be spending to actually fix the problem.