What % of the other 99 really care?

I have been obsessed with Occupy Wall Street. They were already into their second week before I really started to notice and check out what was going on. Although people have different versions of why they are there, it mostly boils down to just being fed up. Fed up with corporations and their bailouts and profits and rape & pillaging of middle class America and the planet. I tend to focus on the environmental issues (obviously) but thats not to say I’m ok with the rest. I can only do so much and my psyche can only take so much.

So as I follow the tweets and the Facebook posts I am more and more inspired by all the people taking a stand and saying enough is enough. Of course I am disappointed in the media coverage but obviously they are part of the 1% and they are hoping this will just go away. We are not going away, we are growing. Despite the mace and the arrests. I was so excited to be part of Occupy LA on the first day. I was moved to tears listening to various people speak, loved watching people come together and was entertained by both the drum circles and the various signs people carried.

Like I said I am obsessed. I finally have hope! I witness the movement growing and spreading across the country. It’s exciting. I wonder how long it will last. Will it reach the tipping point? Will at least the Mayor of New York acknowledge whats going on in his city? Will the police caught on film be reprimanded? I just don’t see how more people, given the state of our country, are participating. This afternoon I think I figured out part of the problem.

Today I was downtown LA. It was rainy and cold. I couldn’t hang out at OccupyLA so I thought the least I could do is bring some warm dry clothes & sheets for those who are there. I was having lunch before I went there and on the TV CNN was running a story on Occupy Wall Street. I was so happy to see it on the news! I didn’t hear what they said but grateful that it’s finally getting national coverage. So on that note I drive over to city hall to drop off the clothes. I see news vans lined up for two blocks and I am so happy at this point. Finally! But was there a march today? What was I missing? As I get closer I see all the reporters under their tents lining the streets. Wow bigger deal then I thought. I get to the corner and a few people are standing with their signs and the rest of the lawn is covered in tents where most were seeking shelter. All I could think is these people are my heros.

I dropped off my clothes and thanked them for what they were doing. And since I didn’t see any reporters on the lawn I drove around the block to try & figure it out. As it turns out, all the media was waiting around outside of the courthouse where the Michael Jackson Dr. (I don’t know the doctors name and I don’t care) trial is happening. That was a truly heartbreaking moment of reality for me. And I am not putting this one on the media for covering the story. This is all on the (unknown percentage) of the other 99% who would rather bitch about unemployment, the government and big corporations during commercials while they watch reality TV, the Casey Anderson story and the trial of MJ’s doctor. I will spare you my rant on MJ the strange pedophile that no one seemed to like anymore until he died.

In the end I wonder what percent of us ‘other 99%’ are going to join this movement and what percent will watch American Idol instead.