Our country was founded on the principle that with hard work, anyone could create a better life for himself or herself. This is why so many people immigrated to America.

Occupy Wall Street is pretty much spitting in the faces of all the people who have worked hard and come to their own wealth, the so-called 1%. The 99% are on the streets protesting just about anything they can because they are at a point where life is hard, and it would be so much easier if our government would just fix it. And who better to fix it then the people who actually have money, right? Wrong.

What these people need to realize is that if they spent less time complaining about the current state of our country, and just went out there and worked toward an end goal, maybe they would see the value of our current government.

America was not created with the intent of giving out freebies to all citizens; it was created as a place to be free. This freedom includes the freedom to be wealthy, the freedom to be poor and the freedom to protest. Clearly the Occupy Wall Street participants appreciate the freedom to protest, so I think it’s about time they accept the other freedoms that we as a country are given.

All these people arguing against the 1% need to realize that the 1% is not in charge of making life better for the 99%. It is the majority who need to work hard. If the 99% were to focus on this instead of complaining about their lives, maybe America’s 1% could grow into America’s 10%. If the nation as a whole could focus their attention on this goal, maybe we could focus on certain issues that need our full attention.

Caroline Bechtel is a freshman majoring in chemical engineering.