New York Magazine, no right-wing rag by any stretch, on October 2, 2011 published a poll of one hundred ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protesters it considers as ones who ‘are in it for the long haul’.  Here’s what they had to say about themselves and their ideas:

• 37% of them said capitalism is inherently immoral.
• They think the best countries in the world are Canada and Denmark.
• They would fix Wall Street by burning it down, making Elizabeth Warren President and by passing a maximum-wage law.
• 34% of them are convinced the U.S. government is no better than Al Qaeda.

The sympathetic New York Magazine, in yet another poll of 50 ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protesters published on October 18, 2011, tried to find out how much do the protesters actually know about the economic system that they’re fighting to change, Wall Street, taxes, and government?

• 72% of them did not know what the S.E.C. (Securities and Exchange Commission) is.
• 90% of them did not know that the top marginal income tax rate is (currently 35%).
• 84% of them did not know what is the Dodd–Frank Act (a financial regulations law passed and signed last summer).
• To the question: What does the government spend more on? Health care and pensions, education, or the military? 94% of them said government spends more the military. Wrong!  The correct answer is ‘health care and pensions’, which accounted for 43 percent of government outlays in 2010. Defense accounted for 20 percent.
• Given that current capital gains tax rate stands at 15 percent, protesters were asked what would they want the capital gains tax rate to be. 6% of them want to see a 100 percent capital gains tax rate. 58% of them want the capital gains tax rate to be between 25-80 percent.