NYC arrest records: Many Occupy Wall Street protesters live in luxury

[Abin Sur]

Many “Occupy Wall Street” protesters arrested in New York City “occupy” more luxurious homes than their “99 percent” rhetoric might suggest, a Daily Caller investigation has found.

For each of the 984 Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested in New York City between September 18 and October 15, police collected and filed an information sheet recording the arrestee’s name, age, sex, criminal charge, home address and — in most cases — race. The Daily Caller has obtained all of this information from a source in the New York City government.

Among addresses for which information is available, single-family homes listed on those police intake forms have a median value of $305,000 — a far higher number than the $185,400 median value of owner-occupied housing units in the United States.

Some of the homes where “Occupy” arrestees reside, viewed through Google Maps and the Multiple Listing Service real estate database, are the definition of opulence.

More at: http://news.yahoo.com/nyc-arrest-records-many-occupy-wall-street-protesters-045625415.html

(edited to reduce length of copyrighted article as per moderator request)

[Lint Head]

1. Hit job?

[Zorra]

48. Absolutely. The Daily Caller was founded by Tucker Carlson. nt

[tsuki]

116. Yes. Tucker Carlson is a silver spooned jackass. Question: How

many of the arrestees live with their parents? How many are unemployed? How many are in foreclosure? What is the median price of a modest home in NYC?

[chrisa]

2. And the point is?

Are we really so self-obsessed now that the idea of a rich person rallying against greed is such an unrealistic proposition in the minds of many Americans?

I also don't believe this piece for a second. It makes too many assumptions about people based on one factor (their homes). Doesn't tell anybody anything. Lame. Just lame.

[CreekDog]

87. Yes, their sin is taking the wrong side in the class war

don't you get it? :hi:

[JimDandy]

95. Yup--Assumptions up to kazoo!

Just plain BAD journalism. Wouldn't it have been very easy for the Caller to check property tax records to see who OWNED those residences and to get from them the exact value of each residences corresponding to each address? If those who were arrested were also the owners, the Caller could have had a grand time making hay with that info. The fact they DIDN'T, probably means these OWS occupiers are NOT the owners. But that doesn't make a good story.

"Average age 27" probably means these are likely KIDS living in those residences with their parents (who probably both work to pay the mortgage on those residences.) Besides, for NY, those are relatively LOW values for single-family homes!

[myrna minx]

3. Another smear piece. Adorable. n/t

[vets74]

118. A STUPID-STUPID-STUPID smear piece. $305,000 is far below average for New York City.

Comparing a residence in high-density NYC to residences in much lower price areas -- simply dishonest.

The average in Manhattan is over $560,000.

D'oh.

[Cronus Protagonist]

4. These are the Ron Paul supporters

The core of the movement.

[Kaleko]

96. Are you saying that Ron Paul supporters constitute the core of the Occupy movement?

[Arctic Dave]

5. 305,000 home in New York is a cracker box.

A home of that cost in Anchorage is a tad bit above average.


More bullshit from the msm.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Donnachaidh]

7. what utter tripe -- NY real estate prices are way overpriced

My Bro is in a home on Staten Island that is up for sale. It's NO great mansion. A house converted into 3 apartments in a middle class area. They are asking 400K for the home. It's NOT luxurious by any means.

Total fucking hit piece. And they KNOW it's a hit piece. Tucker Carlton can kiss my shiny metal ass. :grr:

[Yo_Mama]

21. A lot of them aren't from NYC

Think about it - your average working stiff can't afford to leave home and protest - of course those represented are wealthier than the norm.

From the article:

Even in the nation’s currently depressed housing market, at least 95 of the protesters’ residences are worth approximately $500,000 or more. (RELATED SLIDESHOW: Opulent homes of the ’99 percent’)

Link to slideshow:
http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/02/opulent-homes-of-the-99-percent-slideshow/5_1/

Given the average age, most of these are in their 20s, and their home address is their parents' home.

[Withywindle]

45. They can afford it if they're unemployed.

Or they work a night shift and protest during the day. Or work a day shift and protest in the evenings. Or all they can find is a part-time.

Nice right-wing meme you've got going there.

[Yo_Mama]

70. RW?

A lot of people are demonstrating in cities all over the country - and of course they are those who are more likely to be out of work at the time. People can't stay at these sites night and day if they have to be at work. They can come and go, but they can't stay.

I'm not running these people arrested down - but a working parent isn't going to be out there, because after work they will be taking care of kids and the household. Nor could most people with family responsibilities afford to be arrested, so if the police move in they have to back away. Therefore a sample of those arrested will not tell you much about the movement in total.

I'm trying to point out (obviously ineffectively) why you would expect people arrested to be from a higher socioeconomic strata than the average. You'd expect them to be young, because young people are less likely to have families. They are young, according to the article. Those who aren't from the local area (and those locals are more likely to be working, as you say), are going to have some money or resources in the background. The money and/or resources might come from a local group, but it takes some money to get there.

The people arrested aren't going to be a representative sample of the overall backing behind the OWS movement, thus the article is pointless. But it is also pointless to deny the analysis, which is going to be good - of those arrested. It just doesn't say much about the entire movement - all those who have gone out to walk in demonstrations, or have given money, etc.

[CreekDog]

89. Scott Olsen (was injured while protesting in Oakland) worked during the day and protested at night

that's how many do it.

yes.

unfortunately, now i'm feeling icky from arguing with the local Archie Bunker.

[nadinbrzezinski]

57. Free hint fer ya

Unemployment among recent college graduates is higher than national average.

[Donnachaidh]

61. opulent homes my ass

Many of them were built in the mid 30's to the 50's, back when construction was cheaper, and plots for homes were bigger than postage stamps, as today's newer homes are.

Again -- these homes are in areas where the real estate is highly OVER-valued. And they are probably living with their parents, because these kids cannot afford to pay the exhorbitant costs of rentals in the tri-state area.

Tucker Carlson is an asshole, especially with this Breitbart level smear campaign.

[CreekDog]

88. Nice screenname

apparently the admins aren't aware of you...yet. :eyes:

[StandingInLeftField]

8. The Daily Caller, where the story originated

Right-wing slag-rag started by Tucker Carlson...

'Nuff said.

[flamingdem]

40. Why does Yahoo reprint these "articles" from Right Wing rags? ?? nt

[Turbineguy]

9. My Son lives like that.

He just doesn't own the house.

He's a news flash: many upper middle class retirees have gotten their accounts whittled down by banksters.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MedleyMisty]

14. Brohoof!

[Leopolds Ghost]

19. Back at 'ya.

http://bronysec.hamidbox.ir/principles.php

:fistbump:

[workinclasszero]

11. Hey MSM! Where were the luxurious homes reports on the Teabagger

protesters?:shrug: :mad:

Just more proof that the MSM is all fox and enemies of the 99%.

[GreenPartyVoter]

46. Great call-out!

[a simple pattern]

59. None of them got arrested.

Funny how that works.

[workinclasszero]

77. Of course not. They were workin for the Koch brothers and fox

You think the power structure is going to arrest its own brown shirts?

[Huey P. Long]

12. HIT JOB. So we are 'rich' dirty hippies? More shit flinging to see if it sticks

New data on Occupy Wall Street funding
Published 2 days ago


More than a month into the Occupy Wall Street protests have many media outlets and political pundits wondering about the movement’s funding. Where do all these unemployed, so-called smelly hippie-types get their money, any way?
WePay, which is more or less an online payment and donation site, is about to shed some light on that mystery, and no -- it still isn’t George Soros.
WePay is releasing donation data related to Occupy Wall Street tomorrow, in a handy infographic, and according to data shown via e-mail to the Daily Dot, the results are surprising.




http://www.dailydot.com/news/new-data-occupy-wall-street-funding/

[xchrom]

13. Even if this wasn't biased tripe - so what?

People w/ means are angry as well as people w/ out about economic injustice.

It's the 99% part one has to pay attention to.

[LynneSin]

15. A NYC $300k home is probably in a bad neighborhood with a crackhouse for a neighbor.

Once again someone is trying to makeup a story that doesn't exist.

[The_Casual_Observer]

16. Owning/paying for a $305,000 would still qualify you for the 99%

I'll bet. The 1% aren't going to live in a place like that anywhere.

[TomClash]

17. $305,000 home in New York?

That's 300 sq. feet in Manhattan.

On Euclid Avenue in the East New York/Cypress Hills section of Brooklyn the asking price for this home is $350,000. http://www.c21amhomes.com/results.asp?mls=2396417

Yeah, that's living large.

:puke:

[geardaddy]

69. And they call the condition "Mint"

Condition: Mint

[Bluenorthwest]

18. Meidan home price in NYC is in fact 1 million, 75 thousand.

When I was young, I made good money and had a nice address. I was still at demonstrations because my 'good money' could not solve the larger problems. Additionally, at that time, most of my peers used their parent's address although they did not live with them necessarily. Many people used my address for jobs and such, as they actually had no address, they had a sofa somewhere....
This is a stupid attempt to undermine the Occupation.

[kestrel91316]

20. Living in a $305,000 house certainly doesn't mean someone is a 1%er.

But thanks for implying that OWS is 1%ers protesting against themselves. Shows your true nature.

[octothorpe]

43. Even a $300,000 house in cheap area wouldn't put someone in the 1% category.

A quick search of the New York City/Long Island reality websites show that a $300,000 house out there is a rather modest one. It may not be a ran down crack house like some on here have said, but they are hardly mansions (or even McMansions)

[Xithras]

58. You can qualify for a $500,000 house with a $160,000 yearly income.

Upper middle class? Absolutely. 1%'er? Not even close.

These nimrods would love to turn OWS into a war against the middle class. That's not what it is, and the fact that there are upper middle class protesters among the 99% STRENGTHENS the protests. It undermines the conservative argument that OWS is just a bunch of unemployed hippies, bored college kids, and homeless people.

[lonestarnot]

22. Could someone actually fit a big toe in one of those joints?

[marmar]

23. What a pathetic hit piece.......

They're really getting desperate.

[firehorse]

24. Perspective: A mortgage on a $305,000 apartment in NYC is working class. Most small one bedrooms

apartments in NYC average $600,000. To give further perspective, I live in a low income co-op. My 305 square foot apartment (and sixth floor walkup) costs $300,000. On top of the mortgage payment there is also a monthy maintenance fee. I think whats going on, is the dumb cops were surprised that the "dirty hippies" were actually nurses with mortgages, professors from nearby colleges, union workers, students with Masters Degrees saddled by a lifetime of student loans, etc.

[Earth_First]

26. +1 n/t

[PETRUS]

25. First of all...

...most of those arrested are volunteers - people who feel they are "arrestable." So of course people with resources are going to be overrepresented.

Second, this is the NYC metropolitan area, where median home values are quite a bit higher than the national average.

And finally, THIS IS BESIDE THE POINT. The issues are a suitable subject for discussion. The character of various individual protestors is not.

Sheesh...

[Cal Carpenter]

31. Yep, it's a lot harder for a poor person

especially of color, to volunteer to be 'arrestable'.

[firehorse]

51. excellent point! most people don't realize that those getting arrested are volunteering

My neighbor is an activist and community organizer. When she marched in D.C. the "volunteers" knew to have a $100 bill handy for the arresting processing fee. All those arrested had their $100 bucks ready.

[Withywindle]

47. This is a point a lot of people don't understand.

There's a logic to who gets arrested and who doesn't, and you're exactly right; it's mostly volunteers. The civil disobedience aspects of the Occupy movement are fairly well organized, and there are lots of training sessions and the like. There are some people who are absolutely advised by the movement to avoid arrest at all costs, and are not judged for it. This includes but isn't limited to: people with prior records, people with questionable immigration status, people with disabilities or medical conditions that could make arrest risky for them, people in sensitive careers, people with caregiving responsibilities, people who cannot afford to possibly lose time from work, and the list goes on. It's none of anyone's business why anyone might choose to avoid arrest.

Frequently (not always) there is plenty of prior warning when a situation might start making arrests likely, and it's usually fairly ritualized on the parts of both the police and the protesters. The people who stay and push the envelope are people who don't fall into any of the categories above, so yes, the arrestees are more likely to skew young and relatively privileged. That's GOOD. They're using their privilege for GOOD. Why hate on them or judge them?

[democrat_patriot]

27. ITS IN NEW YORK!

Duh. Of course the homes are expensive.

[liskddksil]

28. Correction: Most of their parents, who they still live with because of the horrific job market,

live in normal by New York metro standards housing.

[Earth_First]

29. Oh noes! They might also have investments too!!!

WTF does socioeconomics have to do with this at all?

I don't decry the capitalist system whatsoever.

I like money. I like spending it on nice things.

Do I think that the capitalist system needs a major overhaul? -fuck yes!

This is like the guy who stopped me and asked me if I find the irony in protesting economic injustices while carrying a $3000 camera.

[City Lights]

30. "Luxury" is a subjective term.

This reeks of a shit smear.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

33. If they are part of the 1%, good for them for having a conscience! n/t

[Leopolds Ghost]

34. Hey, wait a minute, isn't the OP saying being part of the 1% is a BAD THING?

Hmmmmmmm..... :eyes:

[Rex]

35. So when are they arresting the next Tea Party group and looking

into THEIR records to see what kind of...nm...I LOVE the fact that all the Right People are crying like babies that just lost their pasifier...OH IT'S REAL, IT'S DAM REAL! And GROWING, sorry to disappoint all the trolls and hack writers FRANTIC to put the OWS to bed!

DEAL WITH IT FUCKERS! :rofl:

[LynneSin]

73. Much of the Tea Party is made up of people who live in Rural parts of the state...

Places where $300k would get you an extremely high-end house.

Perfect example:

My parents and my best friend parents both have houses that area about the same size and equal features. And yet my best friend's parent house, because they live 45minutes from NYC - their house is work about $500k more than my parent's, who live outside of Harrisiburg.

So for many of these folks from the Tea Party - they are more likely to be from rural/suburban areas and even far from major urban metro areas where Income and Real Estate tend to be much higher. So $300k houses are probably all it takes to get a nice 4 bedroom house with 2.5 bathrooms and a 2-car garage with a bit of land. This is what $300k would get you in Manhattan:
http://realestate.nytimes.com/sales/detail/46-1414188/438-West-49th-Street-NEW-YORK-NY-10019

Even in neighborhoods you see major variances. If my house was 6 blocks further south it would be worth half as much and if my house was 6 blocks further north I wouldn't have been able to afford it.

[Abin Sur]

85. $300K for 350 sq. feet?! Good grief, that's tiny for the money!

I'll stick to Colorado...

[spanone]

36. bwahahahahaa....nice try wallstreet

[Taverner]

38. OMG THEY HAVE REFRIGERATORS AND CELL PHONES

Obviously, they must be the 1% :eyes:

[firehorse]

53. Do cops understand basic math? Being in debt w/ loans & mortgages isn't comparable to billionaires

[SidDithers]

39. Dude, Daily Caller? Really?...

that's idiot bow-tie boy Tucker Carlson's website.

Unrec for anything to do with Tucker Carlson.

Sid

[Rex]

63. Dude!

[backscatter712]

41. Does it really matter? These people had the nads to get arrested for the cause.

I don't care what their houses look like.

[joeybee12]

42. wow, what total crap...nt

[Withywindle]

44. Where the hell can you get a single-family home in NYC for 305K????

"Average price in the US" doesn't mean JACK when you consider most of them live in the NYC metro area, one of the highest-priced in the country! You're going to measure that against housing costs in, say, rural Montana?

[firehorse]

54. You can't. You get a low income co-op for 305 sq ft, and a 6th floor walkup, no shower.

No dishwasher, no washing machines, no garbage disposal, no built in closets, no elevator. And when you sell it, you only get 70% of the sale price, rest goes back the low income co-op. I know, I live in one.

[Abin Sur]

64. Honest question, not trying to be snarky

Why live in such an environment for that kind of money? Do you love the location, is it necessary for your job...?

[firehorse]

71. It costs way more to rent or buy another one bedroom thats slightly bigger.

I work for myself, it would be extremely difficult to quit and build up the same business I have somewhere else, though I'd love to move back to the Bay Area in California where I'm from. But it costs a lot there too.

Most one bedrooms cost around $600,000 for just an OK place. I can't afford to upgrade. Most people I know who buy these places need help from their parents with a loan or down payment. Those who don't have amazing salaried jobs or well off parents stay renting their adult lives. I have friends in their mid 50's who have several roommates.

Even though my place is tiny and doesn't have a lot of the modern conveniences most people enjoy, I can walk to work, ride my bike most places I need. And I live in a co-op full of lefty artists and community organizers so we can self manage. We've made the building sound financially and physically and we implemented a lot of green improvements. So its not great, but its home and my community.

[Abin Sur]

82. Having your own business there explains a great deal.

I can understand how hard it would be to move under those circumstances.

As for myself, I wouldn't want to live in an urban setting (let alone a city as large as NYC) but to each their own. While I already live in the Rocky Mountains, my dream home would be one where I couldn't see another building.

[firehorse]

90. It's always a tradeoff. I would love to move closer to nature.

My mom moved to the mountains when she retired and she has the opposite problems I have: hour and a half drive to get groceries. Two hours drive for a doctors appointment. Fear of fire. Nobody to talk to, she feels culturally deprived, etc. Just driving to a major town and getting a manicure is a huge big deal luxury for her.

Its so isolated where she lives, she's even afraid of letting her pets outside because of the roving packs of dogs. And sometimes when she's alone she gets afraid of a stranger breaking in and attacking her. If they get in a car wreck or have a serious health situation, they are alone. But the upside of their life is nature, vegetable gardens, mostly off the grid, big house.

[Abin Sur]

93. Well, there is a middle ground.

I'm in a mountain town west of Denver, and downtown is only 45 minutes away. We have two grocery stores within 10 minutes drive. As for a fear of fire, I'm surrounded by pine trees so it is a concern...but on the other hand the violent crime rate here is about 1/6th that of Denver's. I'll take my chances.

[CreekDog]

91. why should someone move just because where they live is expensive?

jeez. sometimes their job is there, their family is there, they are part of the community...

do you want people to make decisions only based on money? are you completely materialist? :wtf:

[Abin Sur]

94. Because living in a neighborhood with an extremely high cost of living

negatively impacts what sort of home one can have. All things being equal, I would very much prefer my current home (4 bedrooms + a couple of acres in the mountains) to a crackerbox apartment surrounded by millions of people.

sometimes their job is there, their family is there, they are part of the community...

These can all be factors as well. (The last one, not so much for me, mind you. I don't even want to be able to see my neighbors from my house, let alone interact with them)

do you want people to make decisions only based on money?

While I'm sometime curious about why people make decisions (hence this conversation), I have no desire whatsoever to impose my will upon them, thus I don't "want" them to do anything.

are you completely materialist?

Pretty much, yes.

[CreekDog]

97. SMH

:eyes:

[firehorse]

99. I don't know why you are responding to me. I'm a low income person living in NYC

and I was just trying to offer perspective in that living in a $300,000 apartment in NYC means 6th floor walk up, no shower - only bathtub due to water pressure, no laundry, no garbage disposal or dishwashers, no elevators, etc. I'm not saying anybody should move.

[CreekDog]

100. I'm not responding to you

check my reply again, you'll notice it was to Abin.

:hi:

[firehorse]

102. ok *waves back*

I think Abin was just curious.

Every day I think of moving, but I think I'll miss the museums, the options of walking 10 minutes and being able to eat sushi, thai food, indian food, etc. And I like the idea living in a walking city with no car payments or insurance to have to deal with. And for work, all I have to do is walk 20 minutes every Saturday and sell what I made during the week. So the crackerbox sucks, its like living in a boat, but there is also a kind of freedom to this lifestyle too.

[CreekDog]

104. You're kind, but i don't give someone who quotes the Daily Caller and then says he's a materialist

but I love NYC and can easily see why people would want to live there.

[Abin Sur]

106. And being a materialist is bad...why, exactly?

[CreekDog]

107. you wouldn't understand

:rofl:

[Abin Sur]

111. Well, I suppose it's easier to type that than to actually answer the question.

Oh, well.

[CreekDog]

112. it won't make a difference

:shrug:

[Bill McBlueState]

49. to add to the long list of logical flaws...

They're only looking at single-family homes. Anyone who gets arrested and is homeless or lives in an apartment or college dorm doesn't even show up in the analysis.

[Tsiyu]

50. Well the media need to make up their minds

Is OWS a bunch of lazy bums? Or are they richy riches? Make up your minds, 1% Media!

I, for one, welcome anyone of any socioeconomic background to stand up and fight for what's right.

People with a little or a lot more have more resources to stand up for people like me with few.

That's a GOOD thing, not something to complain about.

The 1% Media are so desperate to discredit OWS, they can't make up their minds HOW exactly to demonize the protesters.

How pathetic and lame are the 1% Media!!!!!

[TwilightGardener]

52. So they're not all college-kid slackers and lazy hippies and bums? LOL--they need to figure out

how they want to portray the protesters, because they can't seem to successfully peg them, beyond "mad".

[hunter]

55. So if my kids got arrested?

Yep, it's true, their permanent address would be a $300,000 home.

I imagine the same is true for a lot of retirees. It doesn't mean they are affluent slackers.

:eyes:

This is more "get a job" bullshit from the FWS crowd. (Felating Wall Street)

[nadinbrzezinski]

56. Wonderful hit piece

When the median of those houses is 2.5 million come back. It's NYC for god sakes.

[Historic NY]

60. If you believe Zillow or any ofthe other Real Estate every house is worth much more than

it actual value.....

[devilgrrl]

62. pfft!

:spray:

[county worker]

65. You can't compare home prices without taking into account the cost of living in the different areas.

My house cost me 353K in CA and would be around 150K in some midwest state.

[Kingofalldems]

66. Thanks, now we know some things

[salin]

67. Let's see in the 80s I lived in a house in Mclean, Va... rented out by the room.

Given the real estate the house probably cost a lot.

A number of us low wage earners (non profits) rented a single room in the house. "Group Houses" were real common back then.

If you had judged my income by the house I lived in (moderate size - but in a pricey region) - you would have way over estimated my earnings.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

68. They're fighting for those who aren't living in "luxury."

Or who don't have jobs. Or health insurance. Or inheritances. Or savings.

I live pretty comfortably, and to me, OWS is about the excesses of Wall Street and the massive shift in this country since St. Ronnie. It's really not that difficult a concept to grasp, unless, of course, one is Phucker Carlson. Actually, Phucker gets it, and he knows just how to work The Dittoheads (to borrow from Limpballs) into a lather.

[leveymg]

72. This is a f-cking retarded RW smear job.

[Warren DeMontague]

74. thank you for your concern. nt

[Leopolds Ghost]

79. Successful concern post is successful n.t

[girl gone mad]

75. This article is class warfare!

Class warfare!!1!

ZOMG1!!

[Union Scribe]

76. Yet another RW dunce doesn't really get what is the 1%

This is actually GOOD. There needs to be a representation of all kinds of us 99%-ers. The unemployed, the poor, the working poor, the middle class, we're all under the same thumb and I'm glad to see all stripes coming out.

[renate]

78. if this article is correct, why is it a BAD thing that even people in $300K homes are protesting

It kind of seems to prove the point about the 99% truly being the 99%.

:shrug:

[Raksha]

80. Unrec for divide-and-conquer cheap shot.

First of all, everyone knows New York real estate is way overpriced. Second and most important: This is the kind of class warfare the upper .5% just loves, trying to divide the lower 10% from the upper 19.5%. This attempt is a bit more clumsy and blatant than usual.

[Douglas Carpenter]

81. $305,000 in the New York City area would not be exceptional for any place a person lived

There is no indication that most of these people owned these homes. $1850 per month rent would certainly not at all be exceptional for an apartment in the New York City Area. This whole story is deeply misleading

[yardwork]

83. Are you saying that not all the OWS protesters are dirty unemployed hippies?

Some of the people willing to be arrested to exercise their constitutional rights are actually employed, "contributing members of society?"

[CreekDog]

84. a 305k home in NYC is not luxurious --that's the stupidest thing i've ever read

and frankly, if someone who lives in luxury is protesting on behalf of other people --that's called "selfless" which used to be considered a good thing in the days before Supply-Side Jesus.

:wtf:

[Ikonoklast]

86. Many might still have their parent's home as their address.

My daughter doesn't own my house, but she lives there as a full-time student and that is her legal address.

Some people just don't think.

[Fuzz]

92. lmao, and? So transparent.

[CreekDog]

98. yeah? that's not the half of it! read this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=2228944&mesg_id=2231706

[Abin Sur]

103. (Gasp!) How shocking!

[CreekDog]

105. you're the one who called yourself a materialist in response to a question...

that should have been rhetorical. :eyes:

[Abin Sur]

110. I answered the question honestly.

materialism (noun)

the philosophical theory that regards matter and its motions as constituting the universe, and all phenomena, including those of mind, as due to material agencies.

I'll ask again, as I asked up-thread: What's wrong with being a materialist?

[fascisthunter]

101. LOL... good lawd, they don't even hide their bias anymore.... pure propaganda

they are getting desperate... love it!

[sabrina 1]

108. So which is it?

Are the occupiers 'dirty, lazy unemployed hippies' or are they people with jobs from Mainstream America?

They need to make up their minds.

I love watching them flailing around trying to find ways to discredit the movement and all they do is end up contradicting themselves and looking like morons. No one is paying much attention to them anymore, people have more important things on their minds.

And, btw, that is great news as it proves what people said from the beginning, that the people involved in this movement are Mainstream Americans.

[Beartracks]

109. So, MSM sets up image of OWSers as unemployed hippies...

... then attacks that image by revealing that some OWSers actually have MONEY????? >>gasp!<<

Hey, MSM: Only people not paying attention could a) report this like it's news, or b) believe it to be an issue.

===================================

[Douglas Carpenter]

113. so which is it homeless unemployed hippies or trendy lefties living in luxurious homes?

Reminds me of what some people say about immigrants,"the won't work and only want to live on welfare and their taking all our jobs and buying up all the neighborhood stores."

[Exilednight]

114. I live on LI and my home is converted cape cod. It's valued at slightly under 300k. No one

bothered to convert for cost of living in such an area.

[Drahthaardogs]

115. So what does that mean?

I live in a $200,000 house. I have advanced toxicology degrees, my wife an MBA. We live comfortable, yet we are not the 1%. Are these people so stupid to think that even though I do not live in squalor, I want better salaries and benefits for my fellow Americans? My home is nice. Is it opulent? um, I think not. Maybe they are all so greedy and jealous of what they have, they cannot fathom people looking at their own luck and believing everyone should have some of it.

[blogslut]

117. So?

[Courtesy Flush]

119. They really don't understand

I live in a big house, and it's paid for. I have a semi-secure job, and savings. I have good health insurance.

I want everyone to have these things. I support OWS because fewer and fewer people are living this life.

The article shows that the protesters really aren't looking for handouts. Maybe they really do care about people other than themselves.

[Courtesy Flush]

120. The commenters see right through this nt

[LWolf]

121. What's the median value of their homes in the city they live in? nt