Forum Post: Protestor statistics - Most people have jobs
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 18, 2011, 2:51 p.m. EST by ExitWallStreet
(4)
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A survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal gives us the following statistics about protesters (200 person sample)
85% have jobs (Not too far off from 91% nationally)
52% have participated in a political movement
98% say they would support civil disobedience to achieve their goals
31% would support violence to advance their agenda
51% disapprove of the president
44% approve
48% say they will vote to re-elect him in 2012
25% won't vote
32% call themselves Democrats
33% say they aren't represented by any political party
65% 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.
77% support raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans
58% oppose raising taxes for everybody
36% in favor of raising taxes on everybody
49% protesters are think bank bailouts were necessary
51% thought were unnecessary
What can we learn from this?
First, there's no need to post "Get a job" on this forum because most people already have them, and the slight difference is probably due to the young/recent grad bend of the protester population.
Second point is that "We are a 99%" is false advertising. The statistics above show that the protesters do not represent 99% of the people, but are representative of people with specific political agendas
As we all know, the meaning of WSJ's misquotation of "We are the 99%" is that, we are not and do not represent the 1% of wealthiest Americans. WSJ probably doesn't understand that. The press doesn't understand a lot of things.
It's not impossible that a few from the 1% may be among us, whether out of sympathy or some other interest. So to that extent the slogan may not be 100% accurate. Right. So sue us. Or them? Or somebody.
This also highlights the diversity of opinion among Occupy. Unlike the willing consumers of packaged thought bites from Clear Channel Communications, Occupiers largely shun all mass media as an information source. Very few people of any political persuasion think original thoughts, but some put a little more effort into it than others, particularly those who are putting their lives on hold and maybe on the line for something they believe in.
If the 31% violence-approvers is accurate, it does suggest that Occupy would need to turn up the heat a bit on the troublemakers.
But as far as "we're the 99%" it is not false advertising, although to be completely correct, it should read "we are all PART OF the 99%" or "we REPRESENT the 99%" Tony Curtis wasn't playing Sparticus, but he and all the others in that crowd were justified in saying "I AM Sparicus" because for all intents and purposes, they were.
I couldn't keep my business running if I spent all day protesting. None of my team members would be able to keep their jobs because I would have to find replacements to keep the business running...
Because clearly they could not protest on their off time, the show up for work the next day.... its not really that big of a logistical challenge.
Are you implying that everyone should go quietly back to their jobs instead of speaking out about the corruption and illegitimacy of our rulers? I wonder how many of your "team members" would call themselves that. Get real, boss.
Do they still have a job after not going to work for a couple of months?