I Am a 99%er!

[amanda choate]

I know the Occupy Wall Street group is taking some hits in the media, and not all of the actors within the orginization are the type of people you might have over for dinner. But the notion they have that for the most part that 99% of the people have taken it on the chin for the 1% is something I can agree with wholeheartedly.

And to expect accountability from this group, this one percent, seems to be well within the Constitution. We are a nation of laws first and foremost. Not men catering to other men. We need to get this right. And if what they have done isn't against the law, then maybe it should be. How different is the "rogue trader" at UBS from the guys who were taking the same kind of risks?

A chant I heard this weekend from this group, "Banks got bailouts, we got sold out." Pretty hard to argue.

They seem like another version of the Tea Party to me, people who are fed up.

I Am a 99%er!

 

[amanda choate]

They have lived for 3 weeks on blankets in a city park, whatever orginization that is behind them is doing a crappy job of supplying them. I am more concerned about Americans for Prosperity, the group that is co-opting the tea party. AFP's founders, the Koch brothers have been found to be seeling chemicals to Iran through an offshore subsidiary. And they are a private company, so I am sure they were in on the transaction. AFP should change its name to AFPP- Aholes for Personal Profit.

[Dennis J. Fleming]

I am concerned that the protesters are being used by the organizations behind the sceen.  When I hear they want to end capitalism I ask what model do they want in our country?

[amanda choate]

Jon Stewart captured this story best, as always.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-october-5-2011/parks-and-demo...

[tamara stephenson]

In watching the coverage, i've seen people claiming to be socialists, communists and yes, tea partiers.  there was a whole group of tea partiers protesting bank bailouts.  the gripe is the same -- the proposed solutions are different.

[amanda choate]

Lynne, I have listened to them and there is certainly some of the people you have mentioned in the group but they do not define the group, at all.

Here is how I feel about the whole thing, let us indeed break it down into 1% versus the 99%. Because that is the point.

The 1% do not need me to vote for their interests. They have the political clout to get what they want without elections. Both parties serve their interests.

It is my best interest to vote for my best interest.

To do otherwise would shift power towards the 1% and I can be assured that they will not act in my best interest, there is little incentive for them to do so.

Why is me considering my interests above those of Wall Street banksters so wrong? I really truly do not get it. As in every capitalist society, I place my interests first, as do all, thus creating balance.

When these protestors chant, "banks got bailed out, we got sold out", it resonates with me. This is the very same anger that spurned the tea party movement. The are more like than different from the tea party. They won't be co-opted by Super-Pacs, there aren't any on that side of the equation.

These are young people who have decided to speak out. They are worth listening to hear what they say.

[Lynne Holicky]

I fear you've been duped Amanda. To compare one of these thugs to any teaparty member is a mistake. The people occupying Wall Street are anarchists, Socialists and Communists. They're lying to you. Please check them out!