Wall Street Protests

[ZenGum]

And money is the square root of all evil!

[HungLikeJesus]

I think who ever started the Occupy movement was very clever in picking 99% vs. 1%. If it was 90% vs. 10% they wouldn't have nearly the support that they do.

[classicman]

like 9x less?

[SamIam]

I think it comes out to 9% less.

[classicman]

[Undertoad]

9.0909090909 percent

[Trilby]

according to Colbert, the 99% are at least half of all Americans.

[HungLikeJesus]

I think that there's a large segment at the bottom who are unaffected by it all (say 33%), a middle segment that is doing all the work (33% to 66%) and the top third is mostly just moral support.

[SamIam]

How do you figure the lower 33% is unaffected by it all and the middle 33 - 66% is "doing all the work"? The US has plenty of people who fall into the category of the working poor. Living where I do, we have lots of working poor around here.

Among other things, we will most certainly be impacted by the decisions of oil and gas and coal company execs (and uranium), since they are major employers out here. If the government cuts things like food and housing assistance, its not going to be pretty in western Colorado, and, I suspect, the rest of the country.

I was talking about this with two friends - a retired coal miner and a Native American from Montana. We figure we could raise enough interest here in the 4-Corners to have an occupy "Cortez protest" in front of the town's largest bank.

The Native Americans around here are pretty upset as their second class citizen status continues over the centuries. Native children are still removed from their homes on the flimsiest of pretexts and given to white foster families. Next door in Utah, the Mormons continue to illegally adopt Navajo kids and raise them in the Mormon faith without ever exposing them to their true heritage.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says:

Occupy Wall Street has captured the imagination and passion of millions of Americans who have lost hope that our nation’s policymakers are speaking for them. We support the protesters in their determination to hold Wall Street accountable and create good jobs.

We are proud that today on Wall Street, bus drivers, painters, nurses and utility workers will join students and homeowners, the unemployed and the underemployed to call for fundamental change.

[Trumka says the labor movement] “will open our union halls and community centers as well as our arms and our hearts to those with the courage to stand up and demand a better America.”

Both AIM and the unions have joined hands with Occupy Denver and Occupy Wall Street among others.

These are just a few examples. Oh, the lower 33% is impacted alright.

@ Classicman - What's the matter? Got a headache?

[Lamplighter]

Sam, I realize what you are discussing is not a laughing matter, but...
ever since New Hampshire started it's state lottery I've thought the
greatest irony of gambling in the US are the Native American casinos.

They should add a line to their logo:
"500 years of indigenous resistance"
.."50 years of ingenious resistance"

[SamIam]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Sam, I realize what you are discussing is not a laughing matter, but...
ever since New Hampshire started it's state lottery I've thought the
greatest irony of gambling in the US are the Native American casinos.

They should add a line to their logo:
"500 years of indigenous resistance"
.."50 years of ingenious resistance"

Well, if you can't have a sense of humor, you might as well go off and die somewhere.

We have several casino's near here, too. What interests me is that about half the people you see gambling are native. Sort of misses the point, doesn't it?

[classicman]

9% (10%-1%) is 9x > 1% ....

[classicman]

Protester in the face by police projectile at Occupy Oakland protest

[classicman]

hmm...

[SamIam]

Originally Posted by classicman

hmm...

"hmmmm..." indeed. Note the year that this gentleman became "sick of living in poverty" - 1996. Those were the days, my friend. Clinton was still in office then, we actually had a budget SURPLUS, zillionaires still had not yet been handed tax decreases, and unemployment was nothing like it is today. Presumably, the man in the picture graduated around 2000 before W. had a chance to launch his various wars and before the Financial Institutions got a chance to tank the economy. How clever of him to have been born at the right time.

Sadly, he is obviously the product of an institution of higher education where critical thinking was neither taught nor encouraged. He is attempting to take credit for being 10 years or so older than the kids coming out of college today. That's about it. Oh, and if he's so smart, why did he wait to have 3 kids before going to college?

And PS - Did he go to a state supported school? GOVERNMENT HANDOUT Did he go to an expensive private school with the help of government backed student loans? GOVERNMENT HANDOUT

Sorry, I am not impressed.