Who Are the One Percent?

These are the folks the Occupy Movement is fighting.

They are considered to be the 1%; the number the 99% are against. Their lair seems to be especially strong in that zone known as Wall Street. The main thing I'm alarmed about is the widening gap between rich and poor.

From the Nov. 2nd Chicago Tribune "Widening U.S. income gap could have far-reaching effect" by David J. Lynch. Bloomberg.

"Since 1980, about 5 percent of annual national income has shifted from the middle class to the nation's richest households. That means that the wealthiest 5,934 households last year enjoyed and additional $650 billion--about $109 million apiece...."

"'We are the 99 percent that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1 percent,' says the OccupyWallStreet.org website."

I'm not sure of the 1% number being correct, but I am mad about the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer and the rapid erosion of our country's middle class. I hold the hedge funds, Wall Street, speculators and investment bankers for bringing on this really bad recession (or is it the Great Recession as I have heard it called).

I don't know what the Occupy Movement will accomplish, but hopefully, at minimum, the GRBs as I call them now know that "we" know what they're all about.

Even better, maybe the government will come to "see" as well and maybe stop their attacks on the Occupiers.

Where Will This Lead? --RoadDog

It's Them, Not Me: Who Are Those "Occupiers?"

Good question. The Occupy Movement seems to be taking off, but at the same time, has a whole lot of different reasons. I'd have to say it is mostly a whole lot of people that are just no longer happy with the way things are going.

People are without jobs, can't pay their bills, losing their homes and the cost of everything is going up, to name just a few things.

Then, you keep hearing about the millions in profits being made by the corporations, the millions being made by hedge fund operators, Wall Street investors and bankers.

People are getting mad. I know I am. Something needs to be done about our GRBs, and it appears the government is not going to do it. Many people had great hopes that the new president would make a difference. It hasn't. It's the same-old, same-old, business as usual.

I support the Occupiers (although not all aspects of the various interest groups involved in it). I hope the powers that be are taking note that people are very unhappy with what is going on and take steps to make things better.

I have been listening to Americana Music lately and like Ry Cooder's "No Banker Left Behind."

People Are Mad. --RoadDog

It's Them, Not Me: I Support the Occupy Movement

This past weekend, we were in Chicago and saw the Occupy Chicago group in front of the Chicago Board of Trade Building on Jackson Street. There were about 70 on the corner opposite and they were chanting, beating a variety of drums and with plenty of placards.

When returning, they were joined by even more people who were having a march down the sidewalk. However, many of these people were supporting a variety of causes that had nothing to do with what I figure the main purpose of the Occupy Movement is. Some of them had posters about the police killing innocent people.

The Occupy Movement seems to have started in New York City with an Occupy Wall Street group, but has spread all over the US. If I am correct, the purpose is to show that a lot of US citizens are getting tired of the super rich getting richer while the rest of us suffer in this economic situation I hear called more and more, The Great Recession. This was brought on by those super rich and their efforts to get even richer.


IT'S THE GRBS

For quite some time I have been referring to these people as GRBs, standing for Greedy Rich Boys (or you can substitute another last word). GRBs largely consist of investment bankers, stock market folk and especially hedge funds.

Sadly, it seems that the government is supporting the GRBs, something I see every time I look at my Certificates of Deposit. That situation is horrible.

The Occupy Movement, however, has to start getting its agenda together. Groups jumping aboard with other goals need to be excluded. A national guiding group is needed as well to coordinate efforts.

The key is to let the government and GRBs know that many people know what they're up to and are extremely unhappy about it.

Hey, the GRBs have their Tea Party Movement backing them. Now, us regular folk have their own group.

Like the guy in that movie said, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!!"

Mad As Hell. --RoadDog