I most humbly disagree with you Mando. I don't think all that you just stated is as uniformed as you presented it to be. But is coining the term 99% for occupy too general? Maybe, but I think it's a good way of simply stating how disproportionate the wealth is in the global community.

I do think the term "The 99%" is way too general because there are so many millions that are in the 99% that are happy and doing just fine. Think about it, almost everyone is in the 99%. I don't mean to be rude but I think it would be better to come up with a different percentage number. It kind of like feels like we are being included in a club or a religion that we do not fully believe in. Do you maybe see my point? Thank you.

Apple is actually a promoter of freedom of info. The reason us 99% buy IPads and IPhones is because of the open source software. There are soo many free apps that us 99% develop that are for free and better than a $5 app many of the times because these are the people that love innovation of technology and there were no problems when us techies were ripping and sharing through p2p networks a variety of books, movies, and a wealth of data that you should be able to access. Then people started taking advantage of this once it got "out". It's not 99% but its definately for the shock factor that makes people get the point and provides us with the attention.

BTW awesome for getting wiki to blackout for 24 hrs. But twitter shows how braindead our society of children are today (sorry for ignorantly generalizing). The corporations have them in their "social" networking sites "connecting" to people they don't really care about or know just because they are more popular than they are for the purpose of being more popular. Thank the corporations for creating narcissists and feeding their ignorance to provide our next generation with "bliss".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder

PeaceDizzle 1st post. Hello world.

@mando61: I think you need to check your numbers again my friend. As I said before 99% maybe too general, but only when focusing on a single or a few issues. One of the reasons Occupy does not have a leader is because there are many issues that bring us to this point. No one person can fully represent us. The problems that plague us are complex and varied. Yet in the end here we are, the 99%. So I think your mindset coming into this maybe very focused. Look into the issues of social, economic inequality and injustice that span the globe. You might find that 99% is a more accurate number than you think.

ps. What up PeaceDizzle! Welcome to Occupy.

I hear what you are saying about the problems in the world but here in San Diego for instance things are pretty good. We have thousands of Federal jobs to support the military and a huge tourist trade. The middle class and upper middle class are alive and well in So Cal. I know it would be wonderful to have a more fair world but I really think that may be 100 years off. Some nations have a social government, some have a capitilst government and some do not have any government at all! Just war lords. Yikes! Like I said, the BMW 3 series is a car made for the 99%. The Audi A4 is made for the 99%. And it costs $38,000! I guess my point to you is that if millions of folks are doing well, it will be hard for them to come on board with OWS and call themselves the 99%.

I think with your statement you inherently made my point. I've been to San D, its a nice town. It's a lot like the one I'm in, in how it does not reflect much of the economic disorder that is hitting this country. And I think you hit the reasons for that on the head. Federal, military and tourism...

The Federal government (supposedly) has no money though. So how is it helping our towns stay afloat? Military, I hope they are doing well with the massive industry and lobbying backing them. As for the tourism, SD is a very lucrative and attractive city for obvious reasons. Nice weather, big port, close to Mexico, L.A. and the Hollywood industry. I'm sure a large percent of the economy there is most likely in someway shape or form catering to the upper echelons of the social network. That could translate to a lot of lower and mid level service jobs built around the attraction of the city. And that would make sense seeing that they have most of the money.

I've lived in California for a number of years, expensive state. Yet the economy is NOT doing well. While I was there, they were scraping just to put out the wildfires... despite having all of the said above industry.

OWS is noticing that almost all the major problems that we face in the world today are rooted in the corrupt global capitalist system (i.e., there are solutions for the vast majority of the problems including the most severe and pervasive ones, but the profit motive keeps creating more of these problems instead of solving them at a hugely disproportional rate). OWS has also recognized that this dysfunctional situation is represented by the "class" nature of the economic system - i.e., the ones who own the means of production (i.e., the means to produce for survival e.g., land, factories, raw materials, utilities, etc.) vs. the ones who don't. The former create and profit from such dysfunctions vs. the latter who suffer from them. The former are actually shrinking by the minute due to forces of competitive monopoly capital vs. the latter who are growing exponentially in numbers and in their poverty / oppression / genocide. The former are actually <1% despite their cadre of technocrats (from "scientists" to most politicians to security and deathcraft technicians) who are "disposable" and regardless of their vile servitude and intentions are still part of the 99% (i.e., based on their economic vulnerability). The latter are >99% and comprise the working class (those who only have labor as their primary source of livelihood) and the quickly disappearing middle class (small capitalists / small bourgeoisie) rapidly joining the working class.

Remember the mega homes / mansions / Florida condos etc. that got foreclosed. Don't be dazzled by all that BMW / Audi A4's / diamonds / yachts, etc. "It is the economy stupid". The necessarily increasing debt representative of a dysfunctional system is the shackle on any individual supporting it. On technology alone, the profit drive is having capitalists lay off so many workers in every industry that within a few years will not only make customers (i.e., worker wage-earners) and therefore capitalists themselves obsolete. The bills for the costs of so many externalizations (e.g., climate change due to fossil fuels, growing environmental and stress related diseases and epidemics, poor education, lack of repair of infrastructure, etc. etc.) have been piling up and only likely to accelerate on this trend. Capitalism has simply become too expensive to maintain.

Then there were TWO imperialist superpowers (the U.S. and the Soviet blocs), then there was ONE "global government", and finally there will be NO government - no political expression of private power, and on the most fundamental level no private property or ownership supporting such private power. The <1% will finally shrink to ZERO, the victim of their own "success".

Well, I have been to several other countries and America with it's Capitalism is still a far better place to come back to. We still have a very high standard of living compared to say Mexico for instance. A person with drive can still start a hot dog stand in a good area and in a few years have 10 hot dog stands. If not Capitalism, then what would replace it? With it if a person works hard or has a great idea, he or she can make a great living for their family and make a difference.

Hmm, true capitalism needs to be practiced first. It also needs to be checked and balanced. We can do this with democracy. The issue for many of us in Occupy is not capitalism, it is the massive unchecked corruption of capitalist idealism that is becoming more of a plutocracy.

Now capitalism works in some realms of society, but it is in no way an efficient system to run a country. If capitalism were a wrench and the job required a hammer, well you get the point.

As to your comment on the rest of the world, I'm glad we agree. But saying that America is still a far better place to come back to is not really reassuring.

I think that hard work is looked upon as a good thing. So why do we tax hard work at a higher rate than money that is not gained by hard work?

@esmart: The problem is that some of rich don't want to be taxed or feel that a set tax rate is fair enough. How do you suggest we, convince them to pay more?

Peacedizzle .... APPLE is just as corrupt as the rest of the scumbag corporations. Glad you love your Iphone and Ipad. The world will miss Steve jobs innovations, but you got Wall Street shareholders with Apple stock, and Apple will sell out the 99% just as fast as any other company. Here's a clip from the Apple Insider about their 'LIP SERVICE' and the $$$ went to their shareholders...

"Apple has joined a consortium of companies including Cisco, Duke Energy, Oracle, and Pfizer to lobby the US government for a tax holiday that would allow corporations to bring home an estimated $1 trillion now parked in overseas accounts.
Without the tax holiday, the companies say they won't spend their overseas earnings in the US, given that they face a 35% tax on their profits generated outside the country. Their plan asks for a temporary break that would enable them repatriate their foreign cash by paying only 5% in taxes, during a one year period.
In return, the companies say they could then justify investing in research, hiring and other domestic spending that would boost the economy, according to a report by Fortune.
What to do with Apple's $60,000,000,000?
Apple currently has cash holdings of $59.7 billion, but it earns more than 60 percent of its revenues outside the US.
In the company's Q1 2011 earnings conference call last month, Apple's chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer stated that Apple's "tax rate for the quarter was 24.6%, below our guidance of 25.5% due to the one-time benefit of the retroactive extension of the R&D tax credit from January 1, 2010. We expect our tax rate for the remaining quarters of fiscal '11 to be about 25.5%."
Apple hasn't given any indication of what exactly it might do with its vast cash reserves were the US to allow it to bring more of that money into the country with a tax break incentive. Some investors and analysts have pleaded with the company to distribute its holdings to shareholders in the form of dividends.
Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs has noted at previous shareholder meetings that such a move would be a shortsighted use of the company's buying power, and would remove a central pillar holding up the company's valuation. By holding onto the cash, Apple can be prepared to jump on new opportunities as they arise.
This all happened before .
The report noted that in a previous tax holiday, granted in 2004, companies had similarly argued that repatriating foreign funds at discounted tax rates would enable them to boost the economy through direct domestic investment.
However, even though the Treasury Department attempted to write rules at the time to ensure the money would be invested locally, most of the cash (60 to 92 percent, according to one study cited in the report) was simply returned to shareholders in the form of stock buybacks and dividends.

OK, here we go. last night Occupy Oakland tossed bottles , rocks, destroyed property and broke into city hall took an American flag and burned it in front of the news cameras. Like I said, many of the 99% are happy folks who like the way things are and this violence is just wrong. This will not help your cause. It will turn the other part 99% against you along with the media. Why did you have to take this path? It makes me sad for you. I just pray that in the near future that OWS does not burn cars and buildings and riot.

I can not, will not stand for what was done in Oakland. This not the sprint of Occupy, I will walk away from this movement if this continues. To others that agree with me I hope you come with me. But it is for reasons like the above, mentioned by mando61, that we must strive to make our voice heard. Or those who are agents of destruction and chaos will speak for us. They don't speak for me. So please take a look and consider what I've proposed:

http://www.occupytogether.org/discuss/#/discussion/2206/outline-of-the-otc-grand-assembly

OWS DOES NOT BURN CARS AND BUILDINGS AND RIOT, @mando61. Who does? Angry people do. OWS happens to be a place where people come together over issues that stir anger in them. Of course, the purpose of OWS is not to act violently, the purpose is to create rational solutions to these reasons for anger. While this violence can hurt the OWS cause in the media, that does not mean these people are wrong to be angry. If you were just downsized from a job, you would be angry too. When someone succumbs to social conditions which instill anger, they are not entirely at fault. This anger is justified, though it needs a better outlet than throwing rocks. OWS is trying to be that outlet, a pressure valve perhaps. Without OWS, there would be a lot more angry and directionless people. Angry and directionless people are much more dangerous and erratic than angry people with direction. But angry people with direction can be a greater threat to the status quo than the angry and directionless.

Thank you The RielDeal! Participating in a true nonviolent movement is a value, one we should strive to adhere to with all our strength. In does not take a post graduate degree to realize that nonviolent movements in history led by Ghandi or MLK are truly iconic due to the level of focus and personal discipline it requires. It is my impression that OWS is just a few months old. I am waiting for spring with great anticipation. I think there have been some positive gains that have already been achieved, and we are just getting started. Although the media only covers the negative, this can be interpreted in a couple of ways. I think The Tea Party was covered in positive ways because they were after the government, which is the puppet. OWS is after the puppeteers. We are not going to get outright help from anyone or anything that benefits from the status quo. In conclusion, no matter how much we disagree its probably a good idea to stick together.