Meet the Occupants

Source

Are you…
 66% - Male
 30% - Female

How old are you?
 10% - Under 20
 50% - 20 – 29
 15% - 30 – 39
 9% - 40 – 49
 2% - Over 50

Capitalism…
 46% - Isn’t fundamentally evil; it just needs to be regulated
 37% - Can’t be saved; it’s inherently immoral
 17% - Didn’t answer

Pop Quiz: The proposal to prohibit banks from engaging in both client trading and proprietary trading is called…
 40% - Glass – Steagall Act
 6% - Volcker Rule
 11% - Buffett Rule
 11% - Elizabeth Warren Bill
 32% - Didn’t answer
The correct answer is “Volcker Rule.”

What do you think of Obama?
 40% - I believed in him, and he let me down
 1% - He’s doing great
 27% - I never believed in him
 22% - He’s doing the best he can

The country with the best government in the world is…
 “Canada. It’s most like the US but more the way I want it”
 “Denmark”
 “I don’t accept the premises of this question”

Did you vote in the 2010 midterm elections?
 39% - Yes
 55% - No
 5% - No, but only because I wasn’t 18

Explain how you would fix Wall Street.
 “A maximum-wage law”
 “President Elizabeth Warren”
 “Burn it down”

Rank yourself on the following scale of Liberalism:
 6% - Not Liberal at all
 3% - Liberal but fairly mainstream (i.e. Barack Obama)
 12% - Strongly Liberal (i.e. Paul Krugman)
 41% - Fed up with Democrats, believe country needs overhaul (i.e. Ralph Nader)
 34% - Convinced the US government is no better than, say, Al Qaeda (i.e. Noam Chomsky)

Has the occupation been successful so far?
 79% - “Yes. We’re still here”
 13% - “No. We’re still here”




My interpretation of the results from this poll is that the group is largely made up of the ‘Progressives’ known as Social Democrats. If Ralph Nader and Noam Chomsky gain the highest association from the OWS protesters it is safe to say that they are New Left oriented, as in opposed to the governing authority because it is fundamentally opposed to their concept of a free society. Hence the reason I believe many would be in favor of open borders, against corporatized free-trade, for very strong environmental legislation, strongly Politically Correct in their cultural orientation (i.e. Multikulti), and diametrically opposed to the Neoconservative right.

I believe this is the economic side of the same type of 1960s protests. Those were cultural movements whereas this is about economic oppression, injustice, and inequality where they call for social justice, egalitarianism, and a furthering of democratic ethos. I am not one to doubt the sincerity to reform many within the movement hold, nor do I have the sufficient factual evidence to make such vast claims as to say that all of these protesters are in agreement, but it is within my reasoning to assume that what we are dealing with here is the Liberal version of the Tea Party.

What makes this even more surprising is that these left-oriented protests are occurring under a Democratic President, it shows the lack of belief in not merely the government itself but in this administration. When your own base feels so angry and desperate to enter the streets in protest for days, weeks even, you know that there is something fundamentally flawed in your approach to the affairs of this country.

All of this leads me to the conclusion that in 2012 the disaffected Liberals/Democrats will not be satisfied with Obama as their candidate. Conservatives/Republicans will not be satisfied with someone like Romney as their candidate. Combine that with the Congress having just a 9% approval rating and you are creating a power vacuum where if a third party candidate who could rise above any categorization of Left/Right and unite all the disaffected Americans we are talking about easily 35-45% of the vote going for this candidate. Either way, both parties and the entire establishment from Wall Street to Washington Avenue need to be very worried about their future.

Some of your percentages didn't make it to your OP.

Originally posted by Misoir
What makes this even more surprising is that these left-oriented protests are occurring under a Democratic President, it shows the lack of belief in not merely the government itself but in this administration. When your own base feels so angry and desperate to enter the streets in protest for days, weeks even, you know that there is something fundamentally flawed in your approach to the affairs of this country.

But that other thread says they're all democrat operatives who are only there to re-elect Obama!!

...diametrically opposed to the Neoconservative right.

That was a sexy summary.