No, I was actually here at the start on September 17th, and I've been coming every single weekend.
Well, I would really like to occupy, but unfortunately I have two small children at home to take care of, so I can't be here every day.
But I promise myself that every day that I have available, I'd be here.
The fact that I've been, I was raised to believe that we live in a democracy, in a place that, you know, people have a voice, and that we do really run our country.
When in fact the older I get, the more I learn that it's money that runs this country, and our politicians and our government have been bought,
and that's nothing that we say has ever really been taken into consideration or has ever really mattered.
So I think we're now beyond the point of trying to work within the system and trying to vote it and really pushing legislation to revolution, and hopefully to evolution.
Well, like one of the, for example, one of the problems that we have is that our public assistance programs are not designed to help people get back on their feet.
Our public assistance programs are designed to keep people dependent upon that.
For example, welfare, people who are on welfare, if you try to get a job, but you can't make ends meet to finish, to afford groceries, to afford utility bills,
or to fulfill your full monthly rent, welfare will not help you make up the difference.
What ends up happening is that welfare will tell you, quit your job and just stay on welfare.
The same thing with unemployment, people can go online and fill out a survey to get an unemployment check,
but they're sitting at home playing video games completely demoralized. Instead of being encouraged to go back out and to work,
our government doesn't take responsibility for the public assistance programs.
So tax payers are paying all this money to programs that don't even work, and they continue to demoralize the American people rather than helping them rise up and make themselves better.
One of the greatest things about the protest here is that we've actually accomplished democracy.
There is no single person that leads this, there is no single idea that we're all under.
Everyone has a voice and everyone is allowed to be heard here.
Everyone takes care of each other, everyone is fed, everyone receives medical attention, no one is above anyone else, and we're all equal.
It's actually really inspiring. It gives me the kind of sensation and feeling that I was originally inspired with as a child,
when I was raised to believe that we live in a country where you can say whatever you want and you really have something to believe in.
It's amazing to hear people's stories and to hear that everyone here comes from all walks of life.
There are rich people here, there are poor people here, we have homeless people hanging out with us, we have students, parents, grandparents.
At the end of the day, this is the best embodiment of America and we have accomplished what our government has failed to accomplish in this part within a month.
I'd like to say so. The first day we came out there was estimated about 4,000 people and now we're estimated about 10,000. Every single day more cities are occupying.
Every day more countries are occupying. This isn't just a New York City thing, this is a national thing and a global thing.
I'm absolutely hopeful. The more people join, the more people realize, eventually it's going to have to shut down the system and they're going to have to start listening to us,
which is the way it was supposed to be.
Well, I think it's a funny thing that people demand solutions right away.
America wasn't built overnight when it originally started and a revolution can't be solved overnight.
The problems that we're faced with are numerous and various and they can't be fixed with one quick snap of the finger or a quick easy band-aid.
They'd like that, but that's not possible. This is going to take years of change and I think this is just the beginning of waking people up to start that change,
to start working towards not just a country but a world that cares about people. No problem.
No problem. Thank you.
