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Are You Among The '99 Percent'?

<p>The scene at an Occupy Los Angeles demonstration earlier this month.</p>
Kevork Djansezian
/
Getty Images

The scene at an Occupy Los Angeles demonstration earlier this month.

As the Occupy Wall Street movement continues to spread, one of its rallying cries is generating a fair amount of debate.

The protesters say they represent the "99 percent" — that is, everyone except the richest 1 percent of Americans or those who have been benefiting from the way things are going.

Some conservative voices take issue with the 99 percent theme.

And from the liberal side, columnist Ezra Klein from The Washington Post this week wrote that technically, at least:

"This isn't really the 99 percent. If you're in the 85th percentile, for instance, your household is making more than $100,000, and you're probably doing okay. If you're in the 95th percentile, your household is making more than $150,000."

But, Klein concluded, "99 percent of Americans [do] sense that the fundamental bargain of our economy — work hard, play by the rules, get ahead — has been broken, and they want to see it restored." And that, he wrote, is why he's "taking Occupy Wall Street — or, perhaps more specifically, the 'We Are The 99 Percent' movement — seriously."

So here's a question that we'll keep open until the end of the day on Monday:

(Note: It's not a scientific survey designed to measure public opinion; it's a question aimed at generating a conversation.)

Update at 9:45 a.m. ET: On Morning Edition, NPR's Scott Horsley reported that the Occupy Wall Street movement could provide a boost for the policies President Obama says will reform the nation's financial system.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.