A member of my family is in his 60s. He got his degree, he got a respectable job and lived modestly yet comfortably for most of his life. He was living the stable "normal" middle class american dream for a majority of his life. His wife and he were divorced about 5 years ago and she took most of his meager savings. Shortly after, his company folded and he lost his job. Due to his age, and the year his degree was obtained, he found himself virtually unemployable. nobody wanted to hire someone of his age who had worked for only one company for so long. He was left with nothing.

He lost his house, his car and his health began to decline. He received unemployment for a bit while he desperately searched for a job. his unemployment ran out and he was forced to turn to a family member to take him in. He has long time medical issue and when he lost his job, he also lost his health insurance his health and mental stability is steadily declining due to lack of expensive medication. He was denied medicaid, he was denied food stamps, he was turned away from the over crowded homeless shelters and halfway homes. his brothers family is now being forced to pay his medical expenses and his food and living expenses, although they barely have enough money to provide to their own family. He has applied to every fast food restaurant, janitorial position ect. that he can find just so he can try to get back on his feet, he is rejected again and again. He is a conservative christian man who has worked his whole life attempting, not to be rich, but to have food to eat, a roof over his head and be in good health. His brother who was close to retirement will not be retiring because of his brothers needs, his choices are to ignore any hopes of retirement and scrape by trying to take care of his own family as well as his brother or to go ahead with his retirement plans and literally send his brother out in the streets with no food, no place to sleep, no medication and no dignity. Lets just hope he doesn't get laid off from his job due to budget cuts.

So you go to sleep at night believing that you are where you are because you deserve it and those who have less than you are lazy young non conformists who deserve their struggles. My family will go ahead and respectfully disagree. It's easy to justify why you deserve what others do not have. The reality is, we are all people. We all deserve the right to live healthy lives, to eat, and to sleep without being fearful for our lives. I don't care if you go to work each day to a 9-5 job or if you sit in a park all day with a sign and a bongo drum. We are all people. if you want to argue that the hard workers deserve big screen tvs, new fancy cars, fancy technology and first class air fair more than the so called lazy citizens, than that's fine, and logical. If you tell me that those well to do people deserve the right to live more than anyone else....you are just plain wrong and misguided. My family and I are the 99%

As stated in my introduction John. I wish a speedy end to the misery for you and your family. Tell me how you would change things today that would make it better.

You seem to miss the entire point Raoul. The OWS movement isn't about being jealous of those who have managed to eek out a comfortable middle class living, pay for a home, and save a few dollars in a 401k, it's about a financial and political system that has been rigged so that the ultra wealthy can act with impunity. A system where powerful corporations are treated the same as individuals, where corporate criminals can wreck millions of peoples lives and face no consequences, a system where those same criminals are bailed out at the expense of the very citizens who's lives and livelihoods they have destroyed. This isn't about left or riight, old or young, or up or down for that matter. It's about justice.

The reason 47% of American wage earners pay no income tax is because they are living in, or near poverty. Half of that 47% make less than $17,000 a year. Another 30% are trying to raise families on less than $35,000. These aren't lazy bums looking for a handout, they're hard working Americans who have seen their standard of living steadily decline under 30 years of disastrous economic and trade policies. Policies written by and for the benefit of a few powerful special interests.

I am the 99% and so are you my friend.

Count -- Your take on this issue is shared by me as well. Yesterday, a young lady at Publix bagged my groceries and took them to my car. I asked if she were a UGA student, and she said she had recently graduated -- but unable to find a job in her field of study, she took this bag-girl position at a grocery store, so she could work. Not stand downtown in front of the arch holding a sign in a futile effort to evoke change. And she was doing a damn good job at that. Menial as it may seem.

The Occupy Wall Street movement is not about people not wanting to work. It is about people realizing that the very best job they can get still won't be enough to pay the bills. The young woman bagging groceries probably can't afford to go to the dentist, feels overwhelmed with student loan debt, and charges things like new car tires on a credit card. Working just to survive is not the same as working towards a dream. We cannot confuse a few jobless protesters with the larger message of the Occupy Wall Street, which is the cry of a citizenry forgotten by its government, desperate for a sign that someone might be listening.

Capitalism is broken. Corporate folks who say they're patriotic send your jobs abroad. No one can compete with Indian slave labor wages. I 'occupied' the arch because I want a better way for my children and my students. I have a great job and a good life. I want folks who don't have time to read the fine print to not be able to be scammed by banks and mortgage companies. I want old folks to keep their pensions. When a bank (or any institution who handles money) can take your money and play with it on the stock market and keep the profit for themselves we have a problem. When they lose your money the FDIC bails them out with our tax money. When they gain money they pocket it. A CEO's bonus is not taxed like their pay check is. Folks, we have to read read read. The fine print is taking us down. We have trusted mortgage companies and banks and investment companies and this is what we get. Scammed. Occupy Wall Street may be the most hopeful thing that has happened in decades. At least someone it speaking up! The folks who think everything is fine are either not reading or they have a giant fear of facing reality. We have to work together. You will benefit from those protests as much as the protestors do. Or not. Maybe nothing will happen becasue we all wish the world was like it was decades ago.
Wake up. Leave it to Beaver has left the building.

This is just an FYI to folks who think the people protesters at the UGA Arch are folks without jobs. Some are, many aren't. It's as if they have taken on second jobs...they protest before work, then go to work, then go back to the Arch. Some have small children they drop off at school before going to the Arch, then leave to retrieve them. One man I talked to is a UGA Education professor; his spouse has a business. They protest and meet when they are not working or taking care of their children. The people I have talked with want more accountability and transparency and equity in the financial system, that's what they told me.

Can I leave a comment here? Let me try. I think that the Occupy crowd wants unfair treatment to go away, but have a hard time identifying what this unfair treatment might be. Transparency? That swings both ways. It's right, very right, to ask that money given to politicians by lobbyist, etc. be divulged. It appears the most frequent visitor to the West Wing in the past three years is the President of the SEIU Andrew Stern. And over the past 20 years, seven of the ten largest presidential contributors are unions..http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/index.php Why does the Occupy crowd appear to be so liberal when part of what they seek to change is liberal influence?

Watching the Occupy Wall Street Movement take shape has been both validating and scary for me. I have felt real fear watching video of the army of police, dressed in riot gear, attack the Oakland, CA protesters with tear gas and flash grenades. Unfortunately, the police response in Oakland has changed the protesters into anarchists. I am grateful for the Athenians who are supporting the OWS Movement at the Arches. Vicky T nailed it when she articulated the reasoning behind the movement. I have worked hard and I live for my children. But honestly, one thing no one has touched on here is that to have and keep a job in this economy, you have to kiss a lot of ___ , even when you are working for a job that is funded by public tax dollars. The people in charge of things in both the public and private sectors give jobs to those they know, and those that shut their mouths about doing what is right get to keep their jobs. In today's world, getting employed and staying employed often means ingesting and mindlessly reflecting the values of those in power, which often translates to: The bottom line is profit, not people. I told one employer after working for 3 years, I work for God first, _____, and you second. I quit due to conflicting values. I may die a renter, but I will die with a clear conscience that I didn't live my life watered down by the profit minded values of those in charge of the paychecks. Search your soul Raoul, is that the life you're living?

I know that remark was incendiary. I apologize for being offensive. I think that my remarks stem from the feelings incited by reading your article, but also by reviewing my experiences with much of the employment world. It was disheartening to me to hear someone, even in this economy, continue to merit the idea that "if you try hard enough, you will succeed in living the American dream". Unfortunately for many people, both young and old, in this economy, it is hit or miss. That's life. Still, we cannot turn our backs on the for-profit platform taken by many businesses today, both public and private. I understand that many businesses are created and run only to make a profit. Truthfully, I think that this is one of the core problems in today's world. Making a profit takes the number one priority spot, and so then so many other things get swept under the rug. I have worked in many different areas, and I have experienced some very pleasant employment, but also employment that degraded my spiritual experience on this Earth. I am an idealist in many ways, and I have expected the world's people to care for their neighbors, their employees, their environment, the animals in it. We cannot always run business based on these values, but I thought that these values would be shared by most. The older I get, the more I see that some are not truly driven by these values, and I refuse to take money to degrade these values.

One specific example: If your company is bringing in a sizeable amount of income with only 2 regular employees, and company policy must be compromised in order to allow for the safety and quality of living to be preserved for one of the company's customers, should you momentarily sacrifice 1/60 of the company's monthly income in order to protect that person? My answer was yes. My employer's answer was to enforce company policy at the direct expense of the customer's safety, involving a minor child, in the name of protecting 1/60 of the department's monthly income.

I think this article today supports some of my original arguments.
http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/07/news/economy/wealth_gap_age/index.htm?iid=HP_LN

I don't think anyone would disagree that there is a wealth gap between the older people and the younger people. People who are older have naturally accumulated a lifetime of possessions and wealth after working hard. No one discredits the right for those who have worked hard and earned their life savings to enjoy the fruits of their labors. I also want to make it clear that I support working hard, getting educated, and making the most of all available opportunities. I have had some hard knocks through my adult life, but my attitude it, get up with a positive attitude and work hard if you have a job. In fact, put everything you have into it. If you don't have a job, spend every waking moment working on finding a job and making the most of the time you have. I have always found that there is work to be done. When I quit the afformentioned job that conflicted with my values, I moved furniture for college students for $20 an hour until I found a job a month later. No one disagrees that the unemployed should be looking dilegently for work. The younger generation has, however, become very disenchanted with the 0% tax rates of many large U.S. corporations. Not only that, but with so many U.S. companies moving manufacturing oversees, jobs for the uneducated have almost vanished. Any economist will agree that these are two of the root causes of a ruined American economy. We have become a service centered economy, but now there are fewer people who can afford our services.

...and the people who can afford our services will hire us at a rate that is often below a living wage, without health benefits. In today's world, "salary" means you just don't get paid overtime for your extra 15-20 hours per week. Greed is evil, and if you make your fortune sucking the blood out of the common person, you should pay a healthy tax rate, not zero, because there are so many loopholes for the wealthiest of the wealthy.

Ryan: One thing I strongly agree with you about is the need for all corporations to pay their fair share of taxes. How can PROTUS appoint the CEO of GE as jobs Czar an then GE pay no taxes? But some of your other arguments point to the sad irony of our society. If clothing manufacturers didn't send their mills overseas where the cheap labor is, many Americans could not afford the least expensive jeans made here. And if local business people were forced to pay what used to be called a starting salary and now is referred to as a 'living wage', they would just close their businesses and then no one has a job. Believe me, my spouse has retail stores where the cost of labor is eating them alive. What would you do? Pay more salaries and slowly go out of business? Pay more and tell the customers that the prices have gone up so the employees can get a better car? I don't claim to have the solution, I just know that hard work is rewarded. Still.

I think you bring up valid points. I am one of a growing faction of people who are trying to live more consciously. We agree that if it takes 13 year olds working 12 hour days in hot factories to create a pair of jeans that costs $19, then maybe we should scrap the system. The jeans should be made in fair conditions with humans in mind, and we will have to pay what the jeans cost. In essence, if there were global regulations on fair treatment of workers, then people might not be able to afford 10 pairs of jeans a year, maybe they could only afford 2. I'm ok with that. Truthfully, I will expose my own conflict here, because I like Abercrombie and Fitch jeans. They are not American made, and they are not made with humanity in mind, in all likelihood. I combat this conflict by not buying the jeans new. I buy them used, on ebay, which is part of a recycle effort to reuse. I know I still support the brand by wearing the jeans, and I wish I didn't. We can't all function perfectly, but if we could work to raise our own, and corporate consciousness, then maybe we can work toward a better world where people are treated differently? Small businesses making less than $250,000 per year in profit should get huge tax breaks in order to promote job growth. Large businesses that profit more than $250,000 per year should bear a healthy tax rate that benefits our society as a whole.