Can explain to me where OWS is going or how long will last

[barbiegeek]

Hello DU's,
It's been forever since I've posted. I had to take a break from politics (forgive me) but it was making me sick & upset. I'm trying to re-engage and I am very confused. I want single payer health care desperately. I have a bunch of questions on OWS and want their plans are for changing our laws in this country.

Is OWS advocating for Health Care?
How long do they intend on Occupying cities?
Are they planning on going through the winter?
Are they meeting with Lawmakers?
Or are the lawmakers planning on waiting them out until they go away?

I am so confused. Can someone please explain it all to me.

Any insight would be helpful. Thank You & sorry I'm not that informed.

[Chih]

1. Occupy Wall Street Survey Topline

Douglas E. Schoen, LLC

Results for the Occupy Wall Street survey are based on 198 face-to-face interviews conducted in Zuccotti Park on October 10th and 11th.

1. Gender:

44% Female
56% Male

2. Age

49% 18-29
23% 30-39
15% 40-49
9% 50-64
4% 65+

3. Party: With which political party do you identify? {Open Ended}

5% Anarchist
1% Constitutionalist
32% Democrat
4% Former/disillusioned Democrat
6% Independent
6% Libertarian
6% Socialist
3% Working Families Party
33% Do not identify with any political party
4% Not sure

4. Employment: Are you employed, underemployed, or unemployed?

53% Employed
18% Part-time employed/ underemployed
14% Students
15% Unemployed

5. (if underemployed/unemployed) Did you lose your job recently as a result of the
economic downturn?

82% Yes
18% No

6. Did you vote in the 2008 Presidential election?

56% Yes
44% No

7. (if yes) Did you vote for President Obama?

74% Yes
26% No

8. Do you plan on voting in the upcoming 2012 Presidential Election?

73% Yes
2% Maybe
25% No

9. (if no/maybe) Would you say you are turned off by our political system?

100% Yes
0% No

10.Do you plan on voting to reelect President Obama in the upcoming 2012
Presidential Election?

48% Yes
25% No
27% Undecided

11. Have you ever participated in a political activity or is this your first time
(such as attended a meeting, joined a political organization, written a letter or
email to a legislator, attended a rally, volunteered, helped get out the vote, etc.)?

48% First time getting involved in a protest/rally/march etc.
52% Have history of past participation

12.Do you feel like you make enough money to live your life the way you want to?

68% No
32% Yes

13.In the next few years, do you think that your personal economic situation will
get better or get worse, or will it stay the same?

40% Get better
15% Stay the same
45% Get worse

14.Have you had to downsize your lifestyle because of your family’s economic
situation?

74% Yes
26% No

15.Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is performing his job as
President?

44% Approve
9% strongly approve
35% somewhat approve
51% Disapprove
24% somewhat disapprove
27% strongly disapprove
5%Not sure

16.What frustrates you the most about the political process in the United
States? {Open Ended}

30% Influence of corporate/moneyed/special interests
3% Our democratic/capitalist system
3% Stagnant middle class wages
21% Partisanship
15% Joblessness
6% Income inequality
7% Corruption
2% Entrenched bureaucracy
2% Bush tax cuts
2% Obama abandoned left
2% Military spending
2% Federal Reserve
5% Everything

17.What would you like to see the Occupy Wall Street movement achieve? {Open
Ended}

35% Influence the Democratic Party the way the Tea Party has influenced the GOP
4% Radical redistribution of wealth
5% Overhaul of tax system: replace income tax with flat tax
7% Direct Democracy
9% Engage & mobilize Progressives
9% Promote a national conversation
11% Break the two-party duopoly
4% Dissolution of our representative democracy/capitalist system
4% Single payer health care
4% Pull out of Afghanistan immediately
8% Not sure

18.Who would you say is most to blame for our failure to address our
problems? {Open Ended}

21% Both parties
16% The GOP
15% The American people
8% Special Interests
7% Obama is solely responsible
7% Wall Street
7% President George W. Bush
5% Citizens United Supreme Court Ruling
4% The Federal Reserve
4% Lobbyists
2% International organizations
2% Mainstream media
2% The Tea Party
19.Would you support the use of civil disobedience to achieve your goals?
98% Yes
1% Maybe
1% No
20. What about violence?
69% No
31% Yes

21.Do you think that conditions in the United States today are similar to those in
many countries in the Middle East on the eve of the Arab Spring?

66% Yes
16% No
18% Somewhat

22. Do you feel that the wealthiest Americans are paying their fair share of taxes,
or should we increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans?

77% Need to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans
22% They are paying their fair share
1% Not sure

23.Do we need to raise taxes for everybody?

36% Yes
6% Maybe
58% No

24.Some people say that globalization has made the American worker more
vulnerable and has caused jobs to be outsourced and entire industries to
disappear, and we need protective trade legislation to protect American jobs
and industries. Do you agree or disagree?

73% Agree
27% Disagree

25. Do you think providing government money to banks and other financial
institutions was necessary to get the economy out of recession, or was it not
necessary?

49% Necessary
51% Not necessary

26. Do you think that we need greater government regulation over the banking
sector, the auto sector, and the U.S. economy, less government regulation, or
the same amount of government control and regulation?

70% More regulation
24%Less regulation
6% Same level

27. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Government has a
moral responsibility to guarantee healthcare, college education, and a secure
retirement for all -- no matter what the cost.

35% Disagree
65% Agree

[dkf]

5. Very very interesting data.

Lots to worry about for Obama. He has lost his support while those who didn't vote for him still won't vote for him. All of the movement has been from his voters to undecided.

Moreover they don't really blame wall street, but government. 7% thinks WS is solely to blame, the same number that think Obama is solely to blame. But add up all the mentions of government and you have a winner.

The worrying part is 31% would support using violence. That is not good. That means if you are involved in OWS, there is a chance you could be involved in something that gets out of hand.

[Ikonoklast]

9. Obama has little to worry about from OWS...or you.

Try harder.

You are failing at it.

[Marrah_G]

13. Obama, Obama, He's the ONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can't scare him DFK, he is like Supermannnnnnnnnnnnnnn!

[Chih]

14. I agree, the fact that one in three support the use of violence is very troubling.

I am hopeful that the ideas and/or influence of less emotional participants will be heeded.

[Kingofalldems]

7. A survey from Fox News Boy Douglas Schoen?

Please. Does he also call them 'juvenilistic'?

[Change has come]

8. I would love to see a link!

Thanks in advance. :hi:

[Chih]

11. Forgive me, I thought I had included it.

http://www.douglasschoen.com/pdf/Occupy_Wall_Street_Poll_Douglas_Schoen.pdf

[elleng]

2. Welcome back, but not sure this a good time to re-engage;

the world is a mess.

As to OWS, 'they' are not sufficiently organized to allow for informed answers to your questions; its a river. 'They' in several places I've read about are 'planning' to stay indefinitely.

IMO, We the People must 'meet' with lawmakers, and more important, I think, obtain a whole new bunch of 'lawmakers.' This will take time.

edit: London: At least until Christmas

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2172423

[Scuba]

3. Not your fault for being uninformed. In fact the mainstream media is doing their best...

...to MISinform you.

I believe OWS did come out with a "medicare for all" demand. As far as the rest, I don't think anyone knows for certain.

[izquierdista]

4. I'll take a stab at it

1) Not directly. There have been people with signs that imply Universal Health Care would be a good thing.
2) As long as it takes.
3) I hope so. With the organization that has happened to date, I'm sure there will be a cold weather presence.
4) Only when lawmakers go to meet them. This is important. As with the civil rights movement, politicians didn't jump on board until they saw it would win them elections. A few observant ones are picking up that it will.
5) Those that are waiting for this to go away will be sadly disappointed. There are a lot of other causes celebres that have blown over in the last 40 years, but this one takes a hit and comes back stronger.

I'm glad to see it happen. I only wish it happened 30 years ago.

[Deep13]

6. It will last until it is suppressed by mass violence. nt

[SoDesuKa]

10. OWS Is Not Going Away Any Time Soon

The economy is not going to fix itself this time around. If my understanding is correct, the middle class has dropped below the number needed for us to climb out of the hole. Some government intervention is needed; however, Republican ideology is preventing it. I don't know how long this impasse will continue, but we will not soon return to American life as we knew it.

If you subscribe to some economic theory other than Keynesianism, then you're looking for some other set of circumstances to kick in. I think a lot of Republicans are standing out in the front garden looking up at the sky waiting for rain. They can afford to wait; the rest of us are getting impatient.

If this is a genuine historical turning point, the solution may have to be radical. That means pushing established power structures out of the way. Revolutions do not begin in the lower classes; they begin with the intellectuals, esp. young intellectuals. OWS fits that profile. We clearly need big changes, but if needed changes are resisted we'll have to go to Plan B.

America is very adaptable, more so than old civilizations like Egypt. The Arab Spring was embarrassing enough to American intellectuals, goading them into finally addressing galloping inequality in American life. The question is whether Keynesian tinkering will do the job. It certainly won't take effect if it isn't implemented, and that's where things are now.

Personally, I seek a restoration of the rule of law. Criminals have got to be investigated and punished. Our system will not work when we have one group of people who are subject to regulation, and another group that isn't. Restoring the rule of law shouldn't be a radical solution, but if it's a radical solution you want, just you wait, 'Enry 'Iggins.



Henry Higgins

[Marrah_G]

12. OWS is shining the light on corruption and greed that are destroying our country

No one knows how long it will last. This is a movement of the people. Not an event planned by an organization with a beginning and an end.

I think that is where people get confused. The thought of people rising up without a plan or schedule just makes folks brainwashed by so many years of bullshit go.. WTF? they can't not have a leader or a unified set of demands.

[applegrove]

15. OWS does not need to itemize their demands. That will just lead to GOP slice

and dicing. They just need to protest and grow. And let the American people sit with the idea of the 99%. Because it is catchy. The longer it goes on the better.