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In a recent survey of the OWS crowd:

Our research shows clearly that the movement doesn’t represent unemployed America and is not ideologically diverse. Rather, it comprises an unrepresentative segment of the electorate that believes in radical redistribution of wealth, civil disobedience and, in some instances, violence. Half (52%) have participated in a political movement before, virtually all (98%) say they would support civil disobedience to achieve their goals, and nearly one-third (31%) would support violence to advance their agenda.

What binds a large majority of the protesters together—regardless of age, socioeconomic status or education—is a deep commitment to left-wing policies: opposition to free-market capitalism and support for radical redistribution of wealth, intense regulation of the private sector, and protectionist policies to keep American jobs from going overseas.

Sixty-five percent say that government has a moral responsibility to guarantee all citizens access to affordable health care, a college education, and a secure retirement—no matter the cost. By a large margin (77%-22%), they support raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, but 58% oppose raising taxes for everybody, with only 36% in favor. And by a close margin, protesters are divided on whether the bank bailouts were necessary (49%) or unnecessary (51%).

Oh, and that survey was not exactly conducted by a radical right winger. Now of course, there may be some common ground to be reached regarding the desirability of getting business and Washington and the state capitols out of the orgy they’ve been engaged in for a hundred years or so. Maybe it’s time for a real honest debate in this country, or better yet, a referendum. I’d like to know how it got into their minds that government’s moral responsibility had anything to do with giving kids a free college education NO MATTER THE COST?


5 Responses to “We Are the 99% … Of Whom?”

  1. RIT_Rich says:

    Decades of raising spoiled little brats without exposing them to real costs…is how you get people who think the gov.s responsibility is to provide you with college, no matter the cost. But that is a side effect of being rich; you stop appreciating how you got rich.

    To have such creatures as the OWS crowd is evidence of societal failure on many levels. While I realize that these creatures are professional human garbage, and are a relatively small % of the population, it concerns me that a “majority” of Americans “sympathize” in some way with them. It REALLY troubles me that people like Ron Paul sympathize at some level with them (that is perhaps the last straw for Ron Paul, as far as I’m concerned. The man is done for me). “Libertarians” need to understand a few things; simply because you may have common ground on 1% of the issues with some filthy creatures like the OWS, doesn’t mean you should create a “united front” with them. Thats the tactic of communists, and its very counterproductive because even if you have common ground, it doesn’t mean you arrived there through the same process.

    Although, I am reassured when I think that despite this, America was the one and only place on earth where people actually protested to stop spending and cut government. Its easy to protest for more stuff. Its not easy to protest to be a grown up.

  2. Harry says:

    Amen, RITR.

    Although it would be unwarranted for me to speculate on the pedigrees of the OWS crowd, many may be children of my overindulged generation, the hippies-turned-yuppies, who spent their summers in Europe, badmouthing Amerika on Daddy’s dime. This comes from abundant first-hand experience. The most important thing for these people is to be comfortable with themselves and throw the finger at anyone who might be offended with their vulgar behavior or their hostility to others, all the while saying all they want for their birthdays is World Peace. World Peace was, and is, one of the great pickup lines, which brings us back to self-indulgence.

    Wintercow’s punch line about a free college education, forget the cost, nails it.

    What we should do is give everyone a BA from the college or university of their choice, and make it illegal for anyone to inquire whether the “student” ever completed the work. This should appeal to at least some of the OWS crowd, who have already cut half a semester’s classes. Next semester’s tuition could finance a two-month holiday in Amsterdam.

  3. Rod says:

    If no work is required for the BA, then the professors will also get to loaf at the faculty club and still collect a paycheck as long as they publish 2,000 words in a publication that gets read by three people.

  4. sherlock says:

    OWS is very hypocritical. The poorest American is still richer than 60% of the global population. Shouldn’t they be advocating for taking money away from themselves to give to the poor global citizens? Aren’t they, themselves, taking “advantage” of the globally poor? I would like to see them respond to this argument.

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