See that's where we disagree.

I think people are pissed because they are out of work/in debt/broke.

If like, Rick Perry becomes President and he forces through a flat tax, I think the occupy wallstreet movement would only start again.  Or get bigger if it miraculiously stays around that long.

While if he became President, all the dumb corporate loopholes and stuff stuck around, but we dropped to about 6% unemployment, and regular person's debt is fixed...  Then nearly everyone would declare victory go home and be happy with the current system.

Afterall, storys about corporations paying no taxes have been around for decades, people just didn't care though.  Truth is, the people don't care now either, shit is just going bad for them and they want someone to  blame.

Well outside of the real small core that helped kick things off anyway, but if you took all that core you could probably fit the entire group into one small sized colleges ranks with plenty of fillover.

It's worth noting that on it's highest day so far those camping out represented I believe are at most 0.02% of the population of the US.

If you want to combine that with the Tea Party... protestors that are 0.08% of the population...

you've got .1% of the population in your revolt numbers... since I'd imagine you would at least have to be willing to go to a protest to be willing to overthrow the government.

And on that, I would say if Occupy ends up feeding the community, getting public parks used, organizing community events, and providing a hub for people to get together and meet each other, which reduces crime, that will do a LOT more than that investment banker who is a middleman to get cash and brokered a deal that caused more jobs to get outsourced outside the United States.

How many hours a day?  I do understand the work hard bit and the need for a realigning of values, but let's say that banker is doing 14+ hour days, day after day after day, and maybe spends an hour or two at home before going to sleep to do it again, and doesn't take a day off.  What kind of personal life do you think he has?  And, if he is married, and has kids, what kind of family life does he have?  You also have people working very low wages, and like 16 hour days spread out among 3 jobs, not getting ahead.  If society gets like that, and Americans are noted for working the most hours among industrialized nations, then where is community?  Who has time to volunteer for anything?  The Hudson Valley area of NY, is noted for people commuting to NYC and back.  Since the post-IBM era, civilic involvement is way down.  People don't come out for anything at all.  Everyone is too tired doing the commute.  Malls and dining out are what people do, if anything.

So, I will ask what kind of society is it, if people work extremely long hours to end up getting rich (if they are lucky enough to also have that happen) so they can buy expensive things, and any semblance of civics and community are thrown out as everyone withdraws into their own gated communities and don't even know their neighbors?

And I will also ask: Exactly what value does that banker add to the economy?  Putting in long hours to end up doing calculated risks where to move money to, in order to make more money, or getting on the phone to sell a service, and pitch to merely make more money adds how much more goods and services to the market to be bought and sold?  And I note you said banker.  If the guy were someone actually running a business that sold actual goods and services people paid for, and not just money, then I hold that to a different story.  And on that, I would say if Occupy ends up feeding the community, getting public parks used, organizing community events, and providing a hub for people to get together and meet each other, which reduces crime, that will do a LOT more than that investment banker who is a middleman to get cash and brokered a deal that caused more jobs to get outsourced outside the United States.

It's pretty hard to use a public park (or a privately owned one like Zuccotti Park, for that matter) when it's crammed full of filthy hippies. And since shootings are up ~30% in NYC since OWS started, if anything it seems to be driving crime up rather than down.

Source? NYC doesn't post statistics on violent crime till January, where'd you get this from?

NY Post. Now, I was being a bit facetious as I'm actually skeptical of the Joe Biden school of thought that "less cops = more crime (also, I want you to know what it feels like to be raped by a 200 pound man)", but it still sounds rather less fanciful than the idea of OWS leading to a resurrection of civil society.

Civil society, perfect oxymoron. =p I guess I could credit the idea if the shootings were occuring where or near the protest is happening. Also might credit it better if it was anything outside the NY Post, and I'm not just saying that because that's your source, but because having grown up in NYC, most see the Post as a bit of a tabloid more than a credible news company.

See, I don't see it that way. I think people are more pissed that billions are wasted wrecklessly and people aren't provided with some core promises from Obama - like healthcare. I myself am somewhat unemployed, but I'm not angry about it. I'm only irritated when I know I have a solid resume but don't even get a call for an interview. But I branched out and began a new trail. The whole concept of opening a new door when one closes.

I AM pissed about the concept thatthe gov't uses my money to bail out banks, car makers, and sends money to foreign nations, all while fleecing the people via increased cost of living, especially in the food sector. For the billions sent overseas, they could create a national stipend to curb the rising cost of food. In the past year I watched the same $25 worth of grocieries cost $40. I am pissed that gas is $3.30/gallon and higher and then Exxon posts record profits, and THEN is listed as a corporation that paid 0% in taxes.

So no, I think you are overgeneralizing when you say that everyone is mad because they don't have jobs.

As for the joining a protest vs overthrow gov't, again its like our voting system - only so many feel that they can change anything with a protest, and others don't feel like protesting does any good, especially when its misdirected. The same issue applies with voting, many people dont bother to vote because they don't think it will change anything. Also,  a good contingent of supporters do have a job to go to, or live outside reasonable range of one of the major cities of the protest. There's a lot of varaibles here that you don't take into consideration. If the world was as black and white as you paint it, then I could agree, but there is no black, no white, only grey.

The question of quality of life is subjective and up to each individual to decide for themselves. Unfortunately, the OWS group (and progressive individuals in general) tend to want these individuals to continue to make these personal sacrifices so that the individuals who are unwilling to can reap the rewards from them; and thisis horribly unfair by most standards.

As for the question of the value "bankers" provide, that really depends on the kind of banker ... Some bankers ensure that loans can be put in the hands of individuals ensuring these people can buy cars, homes, education and personal luxuries they may otherwise have difficulty affording. They help businesses get off the ground through loans and (in the case of investment banks) venture capital. They provide the financial products that enable insurance to exist, and they provide the financial mechanisms allowing companies to hedge against the risks they take. On top of that, they facilitate people investing (either directly or through pensions) allowing them to retire in comfort.

Certainly, there are some "evil" speculative behaviors that are promoted by a tiny minority of bankers and this should be discouraged or eliminated but this represents a very small part of what bankers do. A simple way to discourage it would be to classify investment gains on investments owned for less than a month as income rather than a capital gain.

Survey seems to suggest we are both wrong.  I'd say it paints your plan in an even worse light however.

What binds a large majority of the protesters together—regardless of age, socioeconomic status or education—is a deep commitment to left-wing policies: opposition to free-market capitalism and support for radical redistribution of wealth, intense regulation of the private sector, and protectionist policies to keep American jobs from going overseas.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204479504576637082965745362.html

Guy worked for Clinton so it's pretty trustworthy i'd think.