Occupying...Their Front Lawn [Video]

Donna Finn-McArthur's not struggling. Not in relative terms. She and her husband have good jobs; she's a project manager at HP, and her husband, Dennis McArthur, is a systems engineer for Mass Biologics in Mattapan. They've got a nice house in the suburbs, two kids and a couple of cars.

In fact, they don't have time to go to Occupy Wall Street (OWS), or even local Occupy demonstrations, because of work and other obligations. But Finn-McArthur still says she supports everything the movement represents, and wants to say so—and inspire others to do something similar—by placing an Occupy display of solidarity on her front lawn.

Occupy Wall Street, as occupywallst.org puts it, "is a people-powered movement that began on Sept. 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions over 1,500 cities globally." There are few who haven't heard of it.

In early December, Finn-McArthur asked Dennis to make a small tent, which she secured in the front, surrounded by trees and the customary Occupy "we are the 99 percent" signs. She hopes this triggers a movement of supporters of the Occupiers. Occupiers, once removed, they could be called.

"I'm hoping to inspire a town movement," said Finn-McArthur, sitting in her home on Cedar Hill Road. "Even if it's just one person, and that's already happened. This whole Occupy thing—we're all in this."

They were originally inspired by a documentary, before the OWS movement erupted. Gene Sharp founded the Albert Einstein Institute in the early '80s, and the McArthurs were stirred by the prospect of his approach to nonviolent protests. He's got 198 ways to do it, and he's 84 years old. Not long after, they watched the OSW coverage from their sofa, they still felt compelled to make a statement, especially armed with the research they had done on Sharp.

"We're full-time, permanent workers," said Finn-McArthur, who is 50, "but we sympathize with a lot of these folks who are out there who are unemployed, students who can't find jobs ... legitimate people. These legitimate people who are qualified to work are out there in the cold and all kinds of weather conditions. You know, we agree with what they are saying and some of their statements on the government, but we're too busy to go and join."

Her remarks and theories about the problems in America run in tandem with the Occupy movement. A self-proclaimed proud Democrat, she advocates for regulation from the government to keep the system in check, she says.

"I have a son who's in college," she said, "and I'm worried about him. He's busting his butt. We're busting our butts to keep him in school. I just don't want him walking away with a $100,000 bill at the end of the four years that he's going to UMass. And that's what it would be if he had to finance this on his own. It's getting scary even with the loans that are offered to college students. His loan is non-subsidized, which means he starts paying interest right out of the gate on that loan.

"They're even hitting him up to give him credit cards. Are you kidding me? He could easily sign up for a credit card and be in debt at the snap of a finger. I think they need to impose regulations. Financial institutions are making so much money off of us as a result, off of people who can't really do this. It's almost like giving an alcoholic a bottle of wine and saying, 'OK, I understand you have a drinking problem. I want you to just sip this bottle of wine to last you the month. It's like a credit card. 'Oh, I'll take a credit card and use it when I need it.' Yeah, OK. Sure. I think everyone's got to pay their fair share and it's about equality and equity in the system."

Finn-McArthur said she has seen too many people struggle first-hand, and has personally bailed out two of her family members.

"Thanks to our banks and lack of regulation, they refinanced and refinanced to the point where they now couldn't afford to pay their mortgage payment," said Finn-McArthur." They got all kinds of toys and couldn't manage their payments and we had to bail them out. Fortunately, one survived. The other had to go through bankruptcy and foreclosure. And again, if there were restrictions to say, 'We can't give you any more money. You can't afford to do a re-fi again,' that wouldn't happen. The government deregulated and that's what allowed the banks to do this. We need to infuse the economy."

At odds with friends and family who are Republicans, she said, it makes for interesting dinner parties. In fact, said Finn-McArthur, she has more Republican friends than not.

"You have Republicans and Tea Partiers saying, 'No, government, stay out of my life,'" she said, "yet when we had our storm here and all the trees fell down and the DPW doesn't cut the branches on the trees because we've cut back ... you know? You want these services but how are they going to be paid for? I'm willing to pay more into the system so someone can cut the brances on my trees that I can't do. I think everyone's got to pay their fair share and it's about equality and equity in the system."

An advocate of funded education, Finn-McArthur argues that it is the "foundation of America," and the most crucial of services.

"Listen to these Republicans that want to run," she said, "and they want to cut education. You're saying you need to be educated in order to have a good job, yet you want to cut education? The contradictions are killing me. We really need to invest in education and put some regulations into place in the financial institutions because people don't have the power to resist. People need help."