Occupy What Street?

Q.  What do you think about The Occupation's lack of concise demands?

A.  I'm certainly not the 99%, they have their numbers wrong. I think that what they are doing is healthy for the democracy. It creates dialogue amongst the various factions within our country. There are more viable movements—for example the Tea Party, which is coming from a completely different side of the political spectrum. I'm not saying I agree with everything they say, but at least they have actually changed the outcome of political elections.

Q.  Why do you think they're there?

A.  To be honest I see only a "give me" kind of movement, and not so much a give and take. To me it sounds like another kind of Woodstock Hippie movement which is going to die out with a big rock concert.

Most of these self-described hippies are indeed laid off students, but goddammit we only need so many English students. Have any of them tried taking up the hard sciences or business? From what I've read and heard, all I've seen are liberal arts majors. And for the record, I don't get all my info from Fox News—it's mostly Yahoo that keeps me up to date.

Q.  Are you employed?

A.  I am indeed employed, and no I don't make a bunch of money. I don't work on Wall Street. I am one of the real 99%. I work graveyard shifts, I bust my ass, and I come to school, but you don't see me complaining about it, do you?

If I had one thing to say to the Occupy Movement, it would be: "You reap what you sow."

Q.  What do you think about the police response?

A.  The police response… now I can get in trouble.  I think that in certain cases, the police have reacted a bit too harshly. These people have a right to protest, but when they start vandalizing and damaging property, I think the police should, as Mr. Burns says, "release the hounds." There's a difference between protesting and destroying private property.