The "Occupation"

The Occupy Wall Street/every major city phenomenon is going on two weeks (I think?) and not showing signs of slowing down.  They're entire problem seems to be that they're e pissed off at the 1%, which clearly doesn't include me, so I feel like I can safely ignore them. 

But their arguments are off.  When did people stop striving to become the 1% and deciding that sleeping in the common and asking people to do their laundry is "hard work".  When did the 1% become evil?  The way I understood it, the American Dream wasn't what was promised to everyone, it was what - if you applied yourself - you could achieve.  Call me idealistic - I am - and I understand that politics today cloud the argument, but you can't pay off your student loans and get a job by being smelly and sleeping outside in protest.  Nobody said you'd get your dream job right away, and nobody said you'd start out making six figures.  But if you do well in school, work hard and move up, each of us can succeed too.  I know that income disparity has increased, and it's harder today than it was when our parents were kids, but I also have a lot more mobility than my parents ever did.  I had the opportunity to go to a good school - which I'm paying for dearly now - and meet kids from all over the country, when my parents stayed close to our home town and had to run a family business.  My choice to see the world came with a price tag.

Does growing up and facing the debt you willingly acquired suck?  Yep.  But have some accountability and grow up.  Go to work and have some ingenuity and you'll succeed in life.  To quote Dean Wormer:  Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.

And because Mr. Graham says it better than I can:  bam.