Occupy Wall Street: Are you one of the 99%?

Go back to history and you can find than institution of Stock Exchange was created to grab preaty easy $$$$$. Only very, very, very naive people are leaving their hard earn
money in hand of speculators, croocks and thieves.
One day Wall Street Stock Exchange is going to be Museum of Humen Stupidity

No. from my experience those who work hard, and don't make many big mistakes in life, make it to the top. Good for them! Also, some of them inherit some dollars from their families. Also, good for them! No, I don't think I am in the 99%.

To "No...."
Did you even check out Occupy Wall Street and read any of the stories?
Being diagnosed with cancer isn't a mistake someone made for themselves.

Dana: "Occupy Wall Street" started at wall street. People (and from what I saw in the news, mainly in their 20's) were upset that the 1% (as they call it) make so much money.
Those CEO's, etc., work hard, in my opinion, and deserve the money they make. However, that is my opinion. You can disagree.

Simply put Dana...noone owes you and noone owes me. Work and you will achieve. I know, I've done it.

No,

You are an idiot. Too bad there are so many of you and they don't belong to the 99%. The CEO-s don't work as hard, they just show up and grab the money the majority worked hard for.
But, for a moron like you, they deserve it.
And please, don't bother to respond. I already know what you are going to say. You are very predictable. Like the CEO-s you highly praised. They will grab more and more money in their greedy hands and continue to fake work like they have done so far.

To "no".
Granted some big wigs in these companies do work hard. But what about the ones that get caught stealing and get fired but with a severance package of over one million which we the 99% get forced to pay back on our bills. I am refering to the dept retirement charge put on my hydro bill several years ago to pay for a greedy, theiving ceo. I am sure there are many more examples.

What is the difference between greed and the honest desire to want more than you have? Greed is excessive want. How do you define excessive? Arbitrarily!
So the only thing that separates the desire of the uber-rich 1% from the desire of the "struggling" 99% is how you define the word excessive. That definition, I think, changes largely with respect to one's income class.
Some people make $500,000/year, I make $40,000. I have a house, a car, I eat very healthy food, I have 2 kids, I have savings, I have a wife studying full-time making no money, I have time to exercise and time to play with my family and my friends.
I would feel greedy trying to take more.
But I work hard for more, and I'll guiltlessly take more if I can.
I think most of the 100% are the same.

The economic system is working as it was designed to. It is concentrating wealth at the top. Since this is clearly unjust the solution is to change the system. This is not a bad thing since the present economic system is not just unjust but unstable. It is prone to collapse by the lack of control by an external agent. Government used to be that control but has bought the lie that interference in the market will stop its proper functioning. Greed is free to take over and now we can see the effect of greed that is not controlled.

The protest so far are unfocused. They are useful only in that they show massive discontent with the debt that results directly from this type of economic system. Hopefully awareness will lead to thinking which will lead to focused demands that will drive a movement to reform the system. The demonstrations are just a first step in the process. As a fist step I support them.

Chris, first of all, do you have an education? Have you ever really used your mental capacities for your school or work?
CEO's, and the like, work hard but in different ways then you and I. I'm not a CEO and never will be. However, that was my choosing. Do I begrudge them the money after all their long hard hours of work? No. If you want the millions that badly, go and start up a company.
Next point Chris, instead of looking at these multi-million dollar companies as them against us, look at them as everyone on the same team. Remember, the CEO is human, just like you.
To Jen: There will always be good and bad with the rich and the poor. (There will always been rich and poor. There will always be the more ambitious and the less ambitious.) Don't worry about the few bad eggs. You can't control them.
Work hard and enjoy life. I work hard, as does my family. We take the odd vacation, that we deserve. My family has higher educations which has taught me how to research things for myself, which I do. Also, I've never been divorced. Therefore, the lawyers don't have my hard earned dollar. That is huge in today's society. Lastly, I have never trusted someone else with my money. For my mortgage and investments I researched them myself before going to the company. In today's economy I am doing good. However, (another big point), I have never put all my trust in one human being or one institution. Like myself, they also make mistakes. Incidentally, the only time I didn't research for myself was living at home, in my teens and early 20's. That was my mistake. Thankfully not earth shattering.
I think the real problem here is, there are generations underneath me that were told that the gov't would be your parents and all your problems would be easily solved. I have lived long enough to know there are few problems in life that are easily solved. You have to take the time to think things through and consider all the possibilities about a situation before making advancements in life. Something to think about.

@No
You and I are of a like mind, on this point at least.

I was just wondering. It starts with a small mom and pop store. Making a good living paying himself and a few people who work hard a good dollar. The pop comes to understand that he needs a bigger store because he running out of room. So his company gets loans and next thing you know his company is in the stock market. The company last year made lets just say a millian dollars . The stock holders are happy, they make money to. Next year the company only makes 400 thousand. The stock holders are upset. It still made money but not what they predicted. So the pop deside after being forced to, increase product cost or lay people off. The company still made money but the greedy stock holders still want more. Next year the same thing but this time he can't lay anymore people off because he doesn't have enough emloyees so he has to send his work to china. Pop can't stand this so he sell his stock and retires. Stock holders next year sell the company because it no longer is making money! So a company that was making money money all along (but not enough) ends up completly in china or ripped apart by the stock holders. AND WE ALL LOOSE THE JOBS??????? So tell me how this sytem that has to make more money every year to work is ever going to stop increasing the cost of living. We loose the jobs to china, we pay more for everything and the banks and stock holders keep making the money but the working guy gets FUCKED????????

@No,
How can you be a doormat and condescending crapper at the same time?

Speaking of specimens lining up to be found in the Museum of Human Stupidity... our first commenter, Mr. Naundorf certainly found a way of butchering the english language.

@No

Oh, I see: you've lived long enough!

Since today is Friday, hopefully the majority of those taking the time to post comments are either retired or doing so on their coffee break. If not, therein lies another part of the problem with the whiny me me me generation. Get off your donkeys and find a job !! Be ready to start at the bottom of the "corporate" ladder. Be prepared to "pay your dues" before asking for the big piece of the corporate pie. You're entitled to NOTHING until you've proven yourself to be hard working, competent and trustworthy. Otherwise, there's certainly some tent space available at the next Occupy park and bitchfest.

Whats wrong with working hard, gaining higher education and being successful? Everyone can do it if they work hard enough, the world’s cash is not finite. Just because one person makes a high salary, doesn’t mean that another cant. There is market enforced cap that states only 'X' number of people can make a salary of 'Y' and the rest are SOL. People get out of it what they put in. The CEO’s put a lot more in over their careers than the average employee, and they have an average of 30years more work experience than these “occupiers” who look like entitled brats who clearly have very little idea of what working for their share is about.
Its hard to tell what the goal is, since the occupy movement seems to be very un-cohesive. It sounds like the occupy goal is a communist government, which according to Marx’s theory is fantastic, but as history has shown, theory and reality don’t jive on this topic.

Does the Occupy World movement not realize that the big bad evil shareholders are largely retirement and pension funds.
When a fund manager makes all their evil decisions to maximize the portfolio under their care, the fund benefits.
Who does the pension fund benefit? All those people receiving pensions.

Sure, protest for bank reforms so that the US has a more stable system, like in Canada, that minimizes asset bubbles. But don't knock the rich for being more successful than the poor. It's the same as the last place team complaining about the victories of the first place team. Everyone strives for the same thing.

So Chris is just another total asshole who thinks that the world owes him something! Get a life - and tell all of those other dirtballs who are part of Occupy Whatever City it is Today that they are all fucking loswrs!!!!

This is the 21st century...and we should all be Star Trekking already....except for wars explicitly created to sell arms....the U.S and Russia's main industries.......and lets not forget to mention the "filthy rich". Yes, I said the filthy rich, and I said it because although undefined, there is a point at which having multi-millions without seriously attempying to help your fellow man is not just "filthy", it's downright Adolf Hitler style criminal.
We have one world for everyone in it. it should be at peace, with everyone fed, clothed and having an abode. Then we would all have a life.
Personally, if you have over ???? Ten, Fifty, One Hundred million, (where do you draw the line), I think that if your not doing your partto make this, one world, you should be shot!!!DEAD.