Who are the “99 percent”?

The “Occupy!” protests have laid claim to being representative of “the 99 percent.” But it’s not true. And their own self-descriptions prove it. How? Their self-descriptions consistently show a conviction that they are entitled to other people’s money. They describe their grim lives and their student loans as though someone else made their decisions for them. “My student loans are $60K,” says a 59 year old– as if those loans are our fault, or some bankers fault, or any rich person’s fault. If you’re 59 and not paid off your loans, you made some bad choices before the current economic crisis. One woman says she’s willing to “fight” for a better country, and not fight in the sense of “work for political change.” Another says he’s a 67 year old teacher who is buried in his daughters student loan debt, as though someone forced him to send his daughter someplace for more than they could reasonably afford. One college student claims they owe $75K in student loans and $11K in credit card debt, and they blame the credit card on the “tuition the government wouldn’t grant me.” While I don’t believe the government owed her the college tuition, I’m not sure she isn’t correct that the government failed in her basic education. How else do you explain her perception that she should be able to amass $75K AND blame others for an additional $11K in tuition debt?

You can check out more of the “99 percent” here. I don’t believe there is anywhere close to 99 percent who think this way. Americans want opportunity, which is tougher to come by right now, but we’re not a nation of people looking to blame others for our choices in life.

And God help us from ever becoming one.

I also doubt 99 percent or even 9.9 percent of Americans would agree with this behavior.