What is the actual GOAL of this Occupy Wall Street protest?

I can only speak for the group I had personal contact with, in the "Occupy New Hampshire" branch of it. They seemed a bit more sensible, realistic and focused. There were definitive and different types of groups, including a respectably sized libertarian group who had taken some common causes in the cited agenda. Although there were a few who didn't seem to understand exactly why capitalism was evil and just "knew" it was, they were surprisingly receptive to counter information and asked intelligent questions. And more encouraging was the agenda list. It was concise, detailed and although a few read like standard democratic and progressive talking points, others were things I actually agreed with or at least saw the apparent logic in. These were folks who all had jobs and lives but were still willing to dedicate a lot of their free time in shifts to "occupy" Manchester and eventually, the state house in Concord. Here is the agenda.....surprisingly specific and focused (thugh I don't agree with it all): CONGRESS PASS HR 1489 ("RETURN TO PRUDENT BANKING ACT" http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-1489 ). THIS REINSTATES MANY PROVISIONS OF THE GLASS-STEAGALL ACT. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass–Steagall_Act --- Wiki entry summary: The repeal of provisions of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933 by the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act in 1999 effectively removed the separation that previously existed between investment banking which issued securities and commercial banks which accepted deposits. The deregulation also removed conflict of interest prohibitions between investment bankers serving as officers of commercial banks. Most economists believe this repeal directly contributed to the severity of the Financial crisis of 2007–2011 by allowing Wall Street investment banking firms to gamble with their depositors' money that was held in commercial banks owned or created by the investment firms. Here's detail on repeal in 1999 and how it happened: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass–Steagall_Act#Repeal. USE CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORITY AND OVERSIGHT TO ENSURE APPROPRIATE FEDERAL AGENCIES FULLY INVESTIGATE AND PROSECUTE THE WALL STREET CRIMINALS who clearly broke the law and helped cause the 2008 financial crisis in the following notable cases: (insert list of the most clear cut criminal actions). There is a pretty broad consensus that there is a clear group of people who got away with millions / billions illegally and haven't been brought to justice. Boy would this be long overdue and cathartic for millions of Americans. It would also be a shot across the bow for the financial industry. If you watch the solidly researched and awared winning documentary film "Inside Job" that was narrated by Matt Damon (pretty brave Matt!) and do other research, it wouldn't take long to develop the list. CONGRESS ENACT LEGISLATION TO PROTECT OUR DEMOCRACY BY REVERSING THE EFFECTS OF THE CITIZENS UNITED SUPREME COURT DECISION which essentially said corporations can spend as much as they want on elections. The result is that corporations can pretty much buy elections. Corporations should be highly limited in ability to contribute to political campaigns no matter what the election and no matter what the form of media. This legislation should also RE-ESTABLISH THE PUBLIC AIRWAVES IN THE U.S. SO THAT POLITICAL CANDIDATES ARE GIVEN EQUAL TIME FOR FREE AT REASONABLE INTERVALS IN DAILY PROGRAMMING DURING CAMPAIGN SEASON. The same should extend to other media. CONGRESS PASS THE BUFFETT RULE ON FAIR TAXATION SO THE RICH AND CORPORATIONS PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE & CLOSE CORPORATE TAX LOOP HOLES AND ENACT A PROHIBITION ON HIDING FUNDS OFF SHORE. No more GE paying zero or negative taxes. Pass the Buffet Rule on fair taxation so the rich pay their fair share. (If we have a really had a good negotiating position and have the place surrounded, we could actually dial up taxes on millionaires, billionaires and corporations even higher...back to what they once were in the 50's and 60's. CONGRESS COMPLETELY REVAMP THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION and staff it at all levels with proven professionals who get the job done protecting the integrity of the marketplace so citizens and investors are both protected. This agency needs a large staff and needs to be well-funded. It's currently has a joke of a budget and is run by Wall St. insiders who often leave for high ticket cushy jobs with the corporations they were just regulating. Hmmm. CONGRESS PASS SPECIFIC AND EFFECTIVE LAWS LIMITING THE INFLUENCE OF LOBBYISTS AND ELIMINATING THE PRACTICE OF LOBBYISTS WRITING LEGISLATION THAT ENDS UP ON THE FLOOR OF CONGRESS. CONGRESS PASSING "Revolving Door Legislation" LEGISLATION ELIMINATING THE ABILITY OF FORMER GOVERNMENT REGULATORS GOING TO WORK FOR CORPORATIONS THAT THEY ONCE REGULATED. So, you don't get to work at the FDA for five years playing softball with Pfizer and then go to work for Pfizer making $195,000 a year. While they're at it, Congress should pass specific and effective laws to enforce strict judicial standards of conduct in matters concerning conflicts of interest. So long as judges are culled from the ranks of corporate attorneys the 1% will retain control.

The people protesting are all trash who have been fired from their jobs and live on government support. They are people who cannot support their own lives and think the government should be helping them with everything. So basically their goal, is to ruin America for all the hard working citizens, by supporting the restriction of freedom in the U.S. so they don't have to actually work to earn things in life. I guess people don't appreciate our freedoms anymore and haven't ever looked in a history book. The ultimate goal of the people leading these protests is to have a socialist form of government. Socialist government's have always resulted in one person gaining lots of power over the people and declining countries. They oppose capitalism because they watched a little to much Michael Moore and don't want to have to work in life to achieve their goals of gaining power.

Taskr36, The way I see it, I believe this is a desperate attempt of the people to get the government to act against the errant bankers or the so called financial geniuses who are responsible for this current financial catastrophe. They should not be free and living as if they are not responsible. It is just not right and certainly not fair justice.

Taskr, I think the protest is to shine light on the difference between the rich, and the rest of us. If you did what these bankers did to this country in other countries you would find yourself in jail, or in the ground. Look at what happens to people who work for these international banks when they screw up. They go to jail, and not Club Fed, but a real jail. The bankers that destroyed this country are living off of eight and nine figure bank accounts, not worried about where their next meal is going to come from. I really can't speak about being unemployed seeing how I have NEVER been unemployed in my life, but I think these people are doing what our founding fathers wanted them to do. The last time I checked they have the CONSTITUTIONAL right to do this, and yet the VAST majority of people complaining about this are right wingers, and do so with a bible in one hand and a copy of the constitution in the other. The beautiful thing about the constitution is that it doesn't protect only one party, it protects both!!!!

Like I've said on previous discussions about these folks, I've read the site and it still seems like a hodgepodge of different ideas, many of which are being constructed after the fact to do the whole "hearts and minds" bit. If they are protesting against greed, I think a lot of these people are a little blind to what greed is. Wanting something for nothing is greed. Greed is an excessive desire for wealth. And while I know you cannot paint the entire movement with one brush, I do know there are plenty protesting who want nothing more than wealth taken away from someone else and given to them - namely the bozos acting as if they're too entitled to work $7/hour jobs or to apply themselves a little harder. It also seems to me like a lot of these folks are the usual suspects. They weren't suddenly awakened and pulled to a cause. You can probably catch most of them at the local protest of the month. I bust their chops, because I think a list of demands for America coming from people who mooch in the first place is rucking fetarded. But I respect the people out there who do not obstruct other people from working and who work--at least try to work--themselves. For the rest of the I'm-too-good-to-work-for-you-but-I'm-still-entitled-to-your-money crowd, they just lose me. It's something I can't understand. I'd kick my own @ss to volunteer to be a homeless person and protest about people with money. When I was bored last night, I logged onto one of those microwork sites and did quick one-minute, 50-word writing tasks. I made $50 in 2 hours doing it. And I do these types of things dozens of times per week. So I can't help but say WTF to some folks. I guess my work ethic is different.

I thought you said you read their website? http://occupywallst.org/forum/proposed-list-of-demands-please-help-editadd-so-th/ Yeesh. The list is a work in progress. They have a daily assembly in which they discuss what to put forward in order to fix the problems Republicants have spent the last 30 years getting us into.