So just who is the 99%?

[crazy canuck]

See, right there I think you're exaggerating.

Really?  You dont think most (ie at least 51%) come from well off families.  You definitely went to a different university then I did.

[crazy canuck]

I'm stockpiling gold, guns and canned goods.

So business as usual for you.

[Josephus]

See, right there I think you're exaggerating.

Really?  You dont think most (ie at least 51%) come from well off families.  You definitely went to a different university then I did.

You said elite CC

[citizen k]

See, right there I think you're exaggerating.

Really?  You dont think most (ie at least 51%) come from well off families.  You definitely went to a different university then I did.

You said elite CC

The elite 51%.

[Jacob]

and 1% of the planet controls more than 50% of its wealth - and you and I are part of that 1%.

So is it hypocrisy - the protestors want a better deal for themselves and the rest be damned?

So your response is that since there is global inequality, we shouldn't worry about more local inequality? That's not particularly convincing.

If someone points out a problem, saying "well there are other problems and you're not trying to fix those" isn't really much of a counter argument, it's more of a diversion technique.

[Jacob]

No, what I am suggesting is that they stop pretending they are something they are not. A large number of protestors I see here in Vancouver are kids in university who come from affluent homes.  ie they can afford to be faux protestors.  On my way to work each morning I see actual homeless people going about their usual work of looking in dumpsters for returnables.

If they want to take the political advantages of portraying themselves as the downtrodden 99% then it seems to me they also have to take risk of the hypocrisy of that statement.

I keep forgetting you're talking about the protests in Vancouver, not the US.

[merithyn]

I keep forgetting you're talking about the protests in Vancouver, not the US.

Yeah, I had to watch myself, too. It's a very different thing here in the US than CC is talking about, it seems. First of all, the college students aren't usually trust fund babies at these protests. Rather, they're state school kids with thousands in debt and very few job prospects on graduation. (At least, this is how they are portraying themselves. I haven't done any hard-hitting research on it.) A large-ish number of protesters being interviewed in New York, Boston, and Seattle have been unemployed 30- to 50-year-old folks who haven't much else to do with their time. (Journalists could be picking and choosing their victims so it seems that way, but given the way the media initially down-played this movement, it seems odd that they would now start trying to bolster it in such a way.)

Ultimately, it seems to me that what CC is talking about is a very different thing than what is being seen here. And like Valmy, I kind of get the feeling that this is more of a "Hey, stop pulling the strings, you assholes!" kind of protest than a "I want more money!" kind of protest. But I'm willing to be proven incorrect.

[Josephus]

The kids protesting in Canada are not trust-fund kids either. Maybe in Vancouver, though I doubt it. And even if they were...so what. There would be nothing wrong if the bankers on Wall Street joined the protesting kids in a show of support saying, "yeah, this whole cleavage between us and them needs to stop."

I saw a stat yesterday that something like 80 per cent of college grads in America move back with mom and dad after school, cause they can't even afford rent.

[Martinus]

So CC is talking out of his ass? Why am I not surprised.

[crazy canuck]

You said elite CC

Yep, the few that get into university are in fact the elite.

[crazy canuck]

See, right there I think you're exaggerating.

Really?  You dont think most (ie at least 51%) come from well off families.  You definitely went to a different university then I did.

You said elite CC

The elite 51%.

Dont be stupid.  The majority of kids who get into university are from well off families.  And by and large the kids that make it into unversity are the elite of society - however you want to measure it - wealth, intelligence, potential etc etc etc.

[crazy canuck]

So CC is talking out of his ass? Why am I not surprised.

I usually know I have made a good point if you have trouble understanding it.

[crazy canuck]

Ultimately, it seems to me that what CC is talking about is a very different thing than what is being seen here. And like Valmy, I kind of get the feeling that this is more of a "Hey, stop pulling the strings, you assholes!" kind of protest than a "I want more money!" kind of protest. But I'm willing to be proven incorrect.

If you back and look at each of my posts I have been careful say I am talking about Canada.  The situation here is much different. 

[The Brain]

Oh. Canada.

[crazy canuck]

I saw a stat yesterday that something like 80 per cent of college grads in America move back with mom and dad after school, cause they can't even afford rent.

Which is quite a different situation from the Canadian situation where education is largely for by government.  We had a thread here not long ago where one of the Yanks wondered at how little a doctor in Britian makes in salary.  One of the big differences is that doctors here and in Britain pay significantly less for their education.