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Occupy Wall Street: The 1% that support the 99%

‘Occupy’ protesters find allies in ranks of the wealthy

‘Tax me, I’m good for it,’ some in the richest 1 percent say in support of the protest

By Miranda Leitsinger Reporter

msnbc.com

The “Occupy Wall Street” protesters — also known as the “99 percent” — have struck a chord with at least a few members of an unexpected audience: America’s rich and privileged.

United under the banner “We are the 1 percent: We stand with the 99 percent,” a band of entrepreneurs, trust fund babies, professionals and inheritors has taken to the web to share their abhorrence of corporate greed and support for tax code changes that would see them pay a higher share of their considerable wealth.

Some are probably not actually in the top 1 percent wealthwise — calculated at earning a yearly salary of more than $506,000, according toThe Wall Street Journal— but all are certainly well off and supportive of reforms that would narrow the widening gap between America’s elite and poorest citizens.

Farhad A. Ebrahimi, 33, who shares his inherited wealth through a charity that he founded, says he attends the Occupy Boston protest every day. He said that his inheritance put him squarely in the top 1 percent, plus he makes enough on investment income every year to be in the highest tax bracket.
Image: Burke Stansbury

Courtesy of Burke Stansbury

Burke Stansbury is sympathetic with the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Burke Stansbury, a 35-year-old communications specialist for nonprofit groups, has been loosely involved with the protests in Washington, D.C. (known as Occupy K St), donating homemade food, tarps and money. He inherited a little more than $1 million and stands to inherit more.

 

Read the rest of this article at MSNBC