It does happen. Rather frequently in fact. When the people who create their own success find themselves achieving the stereotypical “American Dream,” they are on their own when it comes to navigating the seas most frequently sailed by people who are born into the culture that surrounds creating and maintaining wealth. And, sorry for the over-wrought metaphor, those are some treacherous seas. I have known several people who’ve worked their asses off and lost the “wealth” they gained because they lacked experience and trusted the wrong established expert or firm. Or they lacked a financial buffer to cover their first mistakes. So I’m a bit hesitant to judge…

And, few celebrities have done more for people than Willie Nelson. Farm Aid  helps family farmers every year. And at any given town where they play, there’s a half dozen people who have their hands in Willie’s pockets for things they need.  He is a very generous, very down-to-earth person. A lot of people deserve the negative opinions that people have about them. Willie isn’t one of those people. 

Bwahahahahahahaha!!!!!

Remember, this movement isn’t trying to destroy capitalism, but rather to regulate it so it doesn’t destroy itself and us.  In essence its trying to save capitalism and our government from themselves.

This speech from Robert Reich might help you understand things a little better:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXfbKqP9-ik

Lord knows it helped me.

And all this calling people hypocrites is a really cheap way to argue, by the way.

No thanks, can’t stand his singing, can’t stand his hypocrisy, not interested in his opinions or politics.

It doesn’t, and I never said it did.  But it is very ironic to constantly hear a couple repeat “we are the 99″ when they haven’t been part of the 99, speaking financially, for several decades.  It’s very hypocritical for them to comment about being happy to pay their taxes.

But like I said, they mean well.  But meaning well also doesn’t disqualify them from being either ironic or hypocritical.

Speaking of irony, eh?

I’m no literature graduate, but I am confident that this poem is not going to win any prizes.

How does being charged with tax evasion years ago disqualify someone from standing behind a movement to remove corruption from the financial industry and our government?

And @silent3: the movement is about MUCH more than wanting rich folks to pay their share of taxes. The primary tenets of the movement are that the banking industry needs to be regulated so it doesn’t collapse again, and that we need to get the money (corporations) out of politics.

He means well, I’ll give him that.

Why hasn’t there been a massive 4 day concert at OccupyWS yet?

…probably he was winking on the inside.

Or with his downstairs eyelid?

But ultimately the greatest thing about this poem is to see the support coming from so many places now, which is an amazing thing.

Is it just mean, or was that sort of a really bad peom. I mean, repetitive to no end, and not really much to say. We’re the doors and the floor… really?