Any occupiers/99%ers here?

[Balthisar]

@msmith537

I don’t see these angry people doing anything or demanding anything that ultimately will create more jobs

They’re also very bad at math or very bad at reading tables so helpfully put together by people not very bad at math. Please, I am in the 99%, and I wish these people wouldn’t speak for me. Looks like I might not be part of the 85%, though. I guess I’d rather have 85% of the angry villagers running at me with pitchforks than 99%.

[John_Mace]

I just checked my portfolio, and I’m afraid it appears that I’m a 1-percenter. Sorry guys!

[Justin_Bailey]

@septimus

PS: Today I spoke to an American who had just come to Thailand, watched RT News at his hotel, and learned of these protests for the first time. It seems they’re not getting the attention they deserve by America’s own news shows.

How much attention do they deserve though? All told, I believe a few thousand people nationwide are taking part in these protests. The numbers are pretty wildly diverse between articles, but let’s be generous and say 20,000 people total.

By contrast, over 1,000,000 people bought tickets to see Real Steel yesterday.

[rowrrbazzle]

@joebuck20

That’s why comparisons between the Occupiers and the Tea Party are apt. Like the Tea Party, many of these folks are ill-informed, fond of over-the-top rhetoric and lack well-defined goals.

The one common element of everything in the Occupiers’ letter to Santa is that more government control, taxes, payouts are required. The Tea Party states the exact opposite of that among their guiding principles. And the Tea Partiers obey the police, get permits, and clean up after themselves.

Reason TV interviewed a number of people at one of the gatherings. This guy made the most sense. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50rpJ7EQWuI#t=5m15s

[Clothahump]

In a word, no.

I really have much, much better things to do.

[jlzania]

I drove in to Austin for the first general assembly and will go back next week.
It’s 100 miles round trip for me.

[Lochdale]

@joebuck20

That’s why comparisons between the Occupiers and the Tea Party are apt. Like the Tea Party, many of these folks are ill-informed, fond of over-the-top rhetoric and lack well-defined goals. And I say that as someone who would typically be in sympathy with these protesters. Hey, I don’t blame anyone for being pissed at the banksters who trashed our economy, but just what is it that they want to do about it?

I agree so can we call them idiots like we do the Tea Party? Just because they see on the left they can be equally as stupid.

[DoctorJ]

@Czarcasm

Bull. This is a disparate mob yelling at tall buildings and demanding that a hundred different problems, some of them vague, be solved by …somebody. Now! I have to admit that as rabble-rousing goes it ain’t half bad, but I have no idea what specifically they want to happen, and who exactly they want to do it.

Welcome to lefty politics. Back in med school (late 90s-early 00s) I was involved with Physicians for a National Health Plan–an organization that could not be more focused in its makeup or its stated mission. But the meetings–especially the national ones–were just one person after another passionately stating their pet interests, sometimes drawing tenuous connections to a national health plan but usually not even bothering. It frustrated the hell out of me.

But I really don’t think OWS is any less focused than the Tea Party. You saw plenty of people at TP rallies with signs about abortion, gay marriage, birth certificates, etc., and they were opposed to taxes and government spending without much in the way of specific demands. And it’s hard to say they haven’t had an impact. It’s less important to make specific demands than it is to build political will. (Of course, it was easier for the TP because they had their own TV network and a shit-ton of corporate money behind them.)

[Alessan]

Speaking as an Israeli, I’m vastly amused to see such a different connotation attached to the word “occupier”.

[suranyi]

Well for me there are two issues which prevent me from joining in:

First of all, as has been said over and over, it’s not clear what the protesters are demanding. And it’s worse than that for me personally. I am in favor of many things I see on the signs, but not everything. If I participate in a protest it’s got to be one I support wholeheartedly. For example, what does Israel have to do with the current economic problems?

Second, I just don’t have time. I have a full time job, and whatever time I’m not at work is spent taking care of my wife and two year old son. I hardly have any time for myself at all.

[NinetyWt]

What do they want?

‎Wall Street’s Masters of the Universe realize, deep down, how morally indefensible their position is. They’re not John Galt; they’re not even Steve Jobs. They’re people who got rich by peddling complex financial schemes that, far from delivering clear benefits to the American people, helped push us into a crisis whose aftereffects continue to blight the lives of tens of millions of their fellow citizens.

Yet they have paid no price.

(Paul Krugman)

The first part is bad enough, but that last part is the straw that broke the camel’s back.

[NinetyWt]

What do they want?

‎Wall Street’s Masters of the Universe realize, deep down, how morally indefensible their position is. They’re not John Galt; they’re not even Steve Jobs. They’re people who got rich by peddling complex financial schemes that, far from delivering clear benefits to the American people, helped push us into a crisis whose aftereffects continue to blight the lives of tens of millions of their fellow citizens.

Yet they have paid no price.

(Paul Krugman)

The first part is bad enough, but that last part is the straw that broke the camel’s back.

[Czarcasm]

@suranyi

Well for me there are two issues which prevent me from joining in:

First of all, as has been said over and over, it’s not clear what the protesters are demanding. And it’s worse than that for me personally. I am in favor of many things I see on the signs, but not everything. If I participate in a protest it’s got to be one I support wholeheartedly. For example, what does Israel have to do with the current economic problems?

This is precisely my problem with it. If I agreed with everything, I guess my protest sign would read, “STOP THE COMMUNIST WALL STREET ISRAELIS FROM TAKING AWAY OUR 2ND AMENDMENT RIGHTS WITH DEADLY CHEMTRAILS!”

[Omar_Little]

They are the 0.00000001% that claim to represent the 99%.
They feel disenfranchised because it’s easier to be a victim than to hold your elected officials accountable. But that may be hard to do because most likely they are in the minority to the population that elected their representatives…so do they really represent the 99%? Not really.

[NinetyWt]

More:

The demands are pretty damned easy to summarize:

–Reinstate Glass-Steagall
–Audit the FED
–Reverse Citizens United (via Constitutional Amendment)
–Overhaul the tax code for the mega-rich (1%) and corporations

Check out the video here:
UPDATE 3: #OWS: Take this video VIRAL, NOW!!

[BigT]

@Lochdale

I agree so can we call them idiots like we do the Tea Party? Just because they see on the left they can be equally as stupid.

I hope they are like the Tea Party. Did you forget that the Tea Party got their way last election cycle?

Honestly, I think the reason most people say this won’t work is because that’s what they have to tell themselves to not feel guilty for not trying this method. The protests haven’t died down. They’re getting stronger.

All grass roots organizations are disjointed at the start. This is good–it casts a wide net and gets a lot of people involved. Everyone acts as if there isn’t an intended goal–as if there isn’t something they are shooting for. But there clearly is, and it was obvious from day 1 to people who weren’t looking for ways to discredit them. (Hint, look at the name.)

Sure this is the extreme left protesting because their party isn’t representing them. Just like Tea Partiers are the extreme right protesting because their party doesn’t represent them. But, here’s the thing. I’ve not met a single person who thinks it’s okay that the 1% have more wealth than the 99%. Their cause resonates with more than just the Christian Right, which are a decreasing minority.

I know, I know. I thought it was stupid at first, too. But that was because I assumed most people were too apathetic to get involved. Which is honestly what probably makes this work: turning it into a party means you can bypass the normal apathy. You’re there to have fun, get out your anger, and you turn into someone who is politically involved.

I only hope this is the left’s Tea Party.

[Justin_Bailey]

@BigT

I hope they are like the Tea Party. Did you forget that the Tea Party got their way last election cycle?

I don’t think that’s true. The “Tea Party candidates” were all soundly defeated. The only effect they had was that Republicans with Tea Party leanings were able to win. At best, this might help Dems with 99er leanings, but the electoral tide is already flowing that way.

[Omar_Little]

@BigT

I’ve not met a single person who thinks it’s okay that the 1% have more wealth than the 99%.

So you and all your friends favor communism? :rolleyes:

Go and take a history class. Historically, societies with the most free market governance have the highest per capita wealth (i.e. Singapore). The societies with the most restrictive government control have had the lowest per capita wealth.

[ratatoskK]

I stopped by Occupy Boston last week to donate some tents and sleeping bags. This weekend I’m going to stop by again and see what’s happening. I’ve got to say it was really interesting and energizing. I attended part of the GA that night. If I were not employed I would camp out with them.

[otternell]

@Omar_Little

So you and all your friends favor communism? :rolleyes:

Go and take a history class. Historically, societies with the most free market governance have the highest per capita wealth (i.e. Singapore). The societies with the most restrictive government control have had the lowest per capita wealth.

No excluded middle here at all. Nope. Not a bit.