The Welfare of the 99% not the wealth of the 1%: #OccupyWallStreet

People still seem to have a problem with the idea of a demonstration that is not making a demand. I can't see why this should be such a problem. Occupy Wall Street is not making threats, so why make demands?

The reason OWS is resonating is that there is something really wrong with the US political system. For the past 30 years the elites have been talking about one set of issues and problems as if they were all that mattered while the issues that really matter to people have been increasingly placed off limits.

To even mention the fact that the top 1% of earners received the benefit of 65% of the growth over the past ten years is completely unacceptable to the elites, That is class warfare. If you are talking about that you must be unpatriotic, un-American, engaging in class warfare. Even the suggestion that the Koch brothers and their retainers are the real elites rather than Harvard professors etc. is unacceptable.

The gains of the 1% are not a coincidence, it is the result of the elites being interested only in the wealth of the wealthiest 1%, not the welfare of the other 99%.

Another issue that has received far too little attention is student debt and the rising cost of higher education. Some companies now list a college degree as an essential requirement for a position as a shop assistant. An MBA is expected for management positions. Students who were told they were investing in their future are now finding themselves unemployed with a hundred thousand dollars or more in student debt.

Just talking about these issues is not going to result in a solution. But until people start talking about and thinking about them Congress is not even going to be looking for a solution.