Poll results from the New Yorker about the Wall Street Protesters.

[white_wolf]

This was posted on another forum and I thought I'd share it with you all. Apparently a 100 people were polled. Here are the results:


Are you...
Male: 66%
Female: 30%
Other: 4%

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

Pick one: Capitalism...
Isn't fundamentally evil; it just needs to be regulated: 46
Can't be saved; it's inherently immortal: 37
Didn't answer: 17

Pop quiz! The proposal to prohibit banks from engaging in both client trading and proprietary trading is called...
Glass-Steagall Act: 40
Volcker Rule: 6
Buffet Rule: 11
Elizabeth Warner Bill: 11
Didn't answer: 32
(Correct answer: Volcker Rule)

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

Did you vote in the 2010 midterm elections?
Yes: 39
No: 55
No because I wasn't old enough: 5

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

Has the occupation been a success so far?
Yes: 79
No: 13

Some individual answers:

The country with the best government in the world is...
"Canada. It's most like the U.S. but more the way I want."
"Denmark."
"I don't accept the premises of this question."

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

[Kurmudgeon]

1. "Did you vote in the 2010 midterm elections?" Over half said no, better vote next time!

If you didn't care enough to vote yet care enough to demonstrate in the street, your priorities are seriously askew.

[white_wolf]

2. Or perhaps they didn't vote because they've seen that voting hasn't helped them in the past.

"If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal."

[uppityperson]

4. And not voting helps...how?

[white_wolf]

6. What good does it do?

A lot of people got out and voted for Obama in 08 and he hasn't really helped us very much. If someone like Obama is the best that voting can get us then I can understand their frustration. Not saying I won't vote, but I do know where they are coming from.

[uppityperson]

10. I got a good lesson 1 yr. Our local school levy failed by 11 votes. Midterm election

We didn't vote and many others didn't either. They had to lay off several teachers, shut stuff down for a yr before voting again. It passed quite easily the next time.

I understand the frustration also, but not voting isn't the answer. Getting more people out to vote and having the ability to have your vote count, that would be good. If at first you don't succeed, try try again. Run for office, get involved, don't just give up as that changes nothing beyond putting the power in the hands of the most greedy, the least ethical.

[Cats Against Frist]

13. You'd think you might just want to hedge your bets with that one n/t

[Lost-in-FL]

11. I used to think that way.

However, I realized that not voting is also a choice. The system is so broken that what is left is the illusion of being free to choose but the media is the one making the choices for most americans. I do vote on the primaries but the choices I am given make me want to take a shower after I am done voting. Democracy is only an illusion.

[stevenleser]

16. The problem with that choice is that no one cares about your choice except the winner of the

election, and they care for the wrong reason.

[Lost-in-FL]

22. That is why I keep voting.

It is a painful chore I tell ya.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

21. THIS

Idiots......

[uppityperson]

3. Most telling part for me is less than 1/2 voted 2010.

We have met the enemy and he is us. If you don't vote, don't complain.

[xiamiam]

5. oh yeah..and according to someone here 83% liberals support obama..

as of yesterday..i think this poll is more in keeping with what is actually going on in peoples minds..

[stevenleser]

7. If you poll a tea party protest, you will get 0% Obama support and 100% wanting a Radical Right Wing

person to be President. This is not hard to predict.

[TBF]

8. Burn it down - best answer in the whole lot. nt

[white_wolf]

9. Yeah. That guy has the right idea.

[stevenleser]

12. Wall St. is 8 blocks long. What is meant by "burn it down?" The street itself? Particular buildings?

The NYSE, i.e., the most prominent occupant at wall street, has multiple locations around the world to include Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Lisbon and Paris. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NYSE_Euronext#Locations

Beyond that, an exchange can be relocated easily. All you really need for an exchange is a broadband internet connection and some floor space. A wealthy person or institutional investor who wants to trade shares of something listed with the NYSE can trade them at any location listed in the above link.

Most financial institutions, investment banks, broker dealers, etc., have multiple locations.

There are also several subway stops that serve Wall street that are called the "Wall Street" stops.

I realize that the symbolism of wanting to "Burn down Wall Street", has some value for some, I guess, but it's like saying you want to burn down 56th street.

The "right" idea? Maybe it sounds that way to someone who doesn't live in NYC and doesn't understand what all is involved.

The reason I bring all of this up is, it matters in terms of what we are trying to accomplish and how we get there. You can set fire and burn to the ground every building that has a Wall Street address. It is not going to do what you think it will do.

[white_wolf]

14. I'm pretty sure he meant it as a figure of speech.

As in we should dismantle the institutions that make up Wall Street. I don't think anyone has suggested we actually burn down the buildings. I can think of several good uses for them once we've kicked out the parasites who are there currently.

[stevenleser]

15. This isn't the only similar comment along those lines I have seen. I saw several where

people said they were trying to "shut wall street down" by denying access to buildings and the road itself.

Most people who work at the firms that are probably being targeted like this can work from home. This is the internet age after all.

Oh well, I've said I support OWS despite any and all imperfections at this point and I meant it. THat doesn't mean, however, that I shouldnt give supporters counsel on things that I think do not make sense.

[xiamiam]

20. it's easy to criticize..they've held a conscious protest thus far..gotta hand it to them. nt

[stevenleser]

26. And I agree with that and the general sentiment that the perfect is the enemy of the good

However, it is part of the support of the effort to make sure the effort is not steered into directions or interim goals that will not help get the ultimate goals achieved.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

17. Looks like they're fed up with "business as usual" and "bipartisanship". K&R

"Young wolves, show us your teeth." John Steinbeck

[socialist_n_TN]

18. DAMN! Over a third of all people

believe capitalism is inherently immoral (I'm assuming that what they meant and not "immortal") and 3/4 of those surveyed were as left as Ralph Nader or futher out. 75% are "fringe leftists", to use a phrase the Third Way types are fond of.

Sounds like a new "Silent Majority" to me.

[Fire Walk With Me]

19. Chris Hedges recently wrote that (IIRC) France used to hang speculators.

Haven't followed up to see the depth and dimensions of that particular history lesson just yet...I'm not endorsing such an end in this country but the overall absolute appeals to me. They could all go to ITT tech to get training in non-destructive work. :shrug:

[Hosnon]

23. Capitalism sure does seem inherently immortal... nt.

[Rex]

24. I'd like to see them ask these questions to the Cats of Wall Street.

Not that it would happen, you need guts to be fair and balanced.

[ChiciB1]

25. Color Me Cynical... Maybe This Is All Made Up. Who Knows? OR Maybe

it's all true. Is there a link? Could be one, but regardless it DOES seem that the movement is growing and THAT'S ALL GOOD!