Photograph: Timothy A. Clary /AFP /Getty Images

The organizers of Occupy Wall Street hoped for a turnout of 90,000 when protests began on September 17. Only a few hundred activists showed up, but those who did have been a hardy bunch. They’re still camped in the open air in Zuccotti Park (near the WTC site)—and just got some big labor groups to promise to join their cause. We polled 100 protesters who are in it for the long haul.

Are you …

Male: 66%

Female: 30%

“Other”: 4%

How old are you?

Under 20: 10

20–29: 50

30-39: 15

40-49: 9

Over 50: 2

Pick one: Capitalism …

Isn’t fundamentally evil; it just needs to be regulated: 46

Can’t be saved; it’s inherently immoral: 37

Didn’t answer: 17

Pop quiz!

The proposal to prohibit banks from engaging in both client trading and proprietary trading is called …

Glass-Steagall Act: 40

Volcker Rule: 6

Buffett Rule: 11

Elizabeth Warren Bill: 11

Didn’t Answer: 32

The correct answer is “Volcker Rule.”

What do you think of Obama?

I believed in him, and he let me down: 40

He’s doing great: 1

I never believed in him: 27

He’s doing the best he can: 22



The country with the best government in the world is …

“Canada. It’s most like the U.S. but more the way I want.”

“Denmark.”

“I don’t accept the premises of this question.

Did you vote in the 2010 midterm elections?

Yes: 39

No: 55

No, but only because I wasn’t 18: 5

Explain how you would fix Wall Street.

“A maximum-wage law.”

“President Elizabeth Warren.”

“Burn it down.”

Rank yourself on the following Scale of Liberalism:.

Not liberal at all: 6

Liberal but fairly mainstream (i.e., Barack Obama): 3

Strongly liberal (i.e., Paul Krugman): 12

Fed up with Democrats, believe country needs overhaul (i.e., Ralph Nader): 41

Convinced the U.S. government is no better than, say, Al Qaeda (i.e., Noam Chomsky): 34

Has the occupation been a success so far?

79: “Yes. We’re still here.”

13: “No. We’re still here.”