Forum Post: Stop with the 99%
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 4, 2011, 4:03 p.m. EST by Libertarianliving
(149)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
To all you OWS people, don't you find it pretty rude and bold that you call yourselves the "99 percent"??? I find that very offensive. There are a great many of us in "the bottom 99%" that are quite happy with our lives or know we will do what it takes to achieve contentment ON OUR OWN, INDIVIDUALLY. By calling yourselves the 99% you are attempting to speak for everyone in that "group". Why don't you find some nice, new, shiny, slogan type name to call yourselves and stop speaking/protesting on my/our behalves. We don't need YOU, we don't want YOU to do anything "for our benefit". We like the system. We understand that there will always be people who have more... A LOT MORE.... than us and we are fine with that. We KNOW we will work to achieve what we want. We will not borrow money that we know we probably won't be able to pay back. We won't run up our credit cards and then cry to governanny that we are "victims" of "predator". Basically all I am trying to say is..... Why don't you call yourselves what YOU are and what YOU represent, or are protesting , or whatever. Yes I am part of the lower 99%, but I am not part of your belief system.
I keep wondering why people who do not support OWS insist on posting in an OWS forum. It seems odd that people would spend so much time with something they do not like. Why not start a non-OWS forum? I suspect the membership would be ultra thin on OWS types. LOL
I've been saying this for weeks...they must secretly love us otherwise they wouldn't spend so much time here.
The ugly truth. America's wealth is STILL being concentrated. When the rich get too rich, the poor get poorer. These latest figures prove it. AGAIN.
According to the Social Security Administration, 50 percent of U.S. workers made less than $26,364 in 2010. In addition, those making less than $200,000, or 99 percent of Americans, saw their earnings fall by $4.5 billion collectively. The sobering numbers were a far cry from what was going on for the richest one percent of Americans.
The incomes of the top one percent of the wage scale in the U.S. rose in 2010; and their collective wage earnings jumped by $120 billion. In addition, those earning at least $1 million a year in wages, which is roughly 93,000 Americans, reported payroll income jumped 22 percent from 2009. Overall, the economy has shed 5.2 million jobs since the start of the Great Recession in 2007. It’s the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression in the 1930’s.
Another word about the first Great Depression. It really was a perfect storm. Caused almost entirely by greed. First, there was unprecedented economic growth. There was a massive building spree. There was a growing sense of optimism and materialism. There was a growing obsession for celebrities. The American people became spoiled, foolish, naive, brainwashed, and love-sick. They were bombarded with ads for one product or service after another. Encouraged to spend all of their money as if it were going out of style. Obscene profits were hoarded at the top. In 1928, the rich were already way ahead. Still, they were given huge tax breaks. All of this represented a MASSIVE transfer of wealth from poor to rich. Executives, entrepreneurs, developers, celebrities, and share holders. By 1929, America's wealthiest 1 percent had accumulated around 40% of all United States wealth. The upper class held around 30%. The middle and lower classes were left to share the rest. When the majority finally ran low on money to spend, profits declined and the stock market crashed.
Of course, the rich threw a fit and started cutting jobs. They would stop at nothing to maintain their disgusting profit margins and ill-gotten obscene levels of wealth as long as possible. The small business owners did what they felt necessary to survive. They cut more jobs. The losses were felt primarily by the little guy. This created a domino effect. The middle class shrunk drastically and the lower class expanded. With less wealth in reserve and active circulation, banks failed by the hundreds. More jobs were cut. Unemployment reached 25% in 1933. The worst year of the Great Depression. Those who were employed had to settle for much lower wages. Millions went cold and hungry. The recovery involved a massive infusion of new currency, a World War, and higher taxes on the rich. With so many men in the service, so many women on the production line, and those higher taxes to help pay for it, the lions share of United States wealth was gradually transfered back to the middle class. This redistribution of wealth continued until the mid seventies. This was the recovery. A massive redistribution of wealth. Then it began to concentrate all over again. Here we are 35 years later. The richest one percent now own well over 40 percent of all US wealth. The lower 90 percent own less than 10 percent of all US wealth. This is true even after taxes, welfare, financial aid, and charity. It is the underlying cause. No redistribution. No recovery.
The government won't step in and do what's necessary. Not this time. It's up to us. Support small business more and big business less. Support the little guy more and the big guy less. It's tricky but not impossible.
No redistribution. No recovery.
Those of you who agree on these major issues are welcome to summarize this post, copy it, link to it, save it, show a friend, or spread the word in any fashion. Most major cities have daily call-in talk radio shows. You can reach thousands of people at once. They should know the ugly truth. Be sure to quote the figures which prove that America's wealth is still being concentrated. I don't care who takes the credit. We are up against a tiny but very powerful minority who have more influence on the masses than any other group in history. They have the means to reach millions at once with outrageous political and commercial propaganda. Those of us who speak the ugly truth must work incredibly hard just to be heard.
"We don't need YOU, we don't want YOU to do anything "for our benefit". We like the system. We understand that there will always be people who have more... A LOT MORE.... than us and we are fine with that. We KNOW we will work to achieve what we want. We will not borrow money that we know we probably won't be able to pay back. We won't run up our credit cards and then cry to governanny that we are "victims" of "predator"."
And now you're speaking for others and putting words in strangers' mouths, too. Hmmm...
So without you, it's the 98.9999999999999999999999999999%. And when rounded up? You only still like the system because they haven't gotten to your tier yet. If you think that they don't have you and you tier level targeted, you're deluded. There was an expression from WWII that resonates here and pertains to all. I will simplify it. When they came for the greens, I did nothing. When they came for the blues, I did nothing. When they came for the reds, I did nothing. When they came for me there was no one to stop them. The point is that they are relying on your complacency, to keep you from joining to stop them. As long as you do nothing until they make you uncomfortable, they win and you lose, we all lose. Don't wait til "they come for you" and what you have. And if you think they will be content before they get to you, again you are fooling yourself. The 1% have an unending appetite and won't stop, they will even go after each other. Just so you know, I own my house and my only debts are under $4000.00
First tell me who "they" are, and give me some tips on what "they will be coming to take from me"?
They are the 1% of the world's population that hold 90% of the money, First, will be your job, then your savings, then your retirement. And it will be in that order. This is the model they have followed and will continue to do so until they have it all or are stopped. They started with the poor then progressed up through the money chain.
What "poor" did "they" start with? AMERICAN "poor"? Last I saw, our "poor" people are doing rather well with Blackberries, laptops, Xboxes, jewelry, and so on. We have the richest "poor" people I have ever seen. Do you mean those that spend years on public assistance, doing drugs, making babies and so on while I am working? See, what YOU don't understand is, in America, YOU can become "rich" with hard work and thoughtful choices. I see a lot of damn nice cars on the road, VERY few "clunkers". I guess that is because the government used our money to pay to get them off the road. I see an awful lot of beautiful homes. Recently, on vacation at the shore, I saw more $100,000.oo boats than stars in the sky. People have no room toy store their adult "toys" in many instances, they need to rent storage places. I don't see any more than 1/20 people NOT carrying cell phones. I see restaurants parking lot overflowing. Yeah, "We The People" have been robbed. You are right!
Thank you for sharing.
Goodbye.
Typical response from someone with tunnel vision and a puppeteer pulling his/her strings. Go come up with some more slogans like, "It's not fair", "We are entitled", "Pay my may", "Kill the Banks", etc.
If that's what you think this movement is about, you are sadly mistaken.
Fox new talking points. Beck much?
Funny coming from someone who needs Rachael Madow to tell him/her what is right and wrong, and how to think.
the basic problem is the government and big money working together for their own benefit. when i say big money i mean big money, not someone going to a local restaurant or boating at the lake. i'm talking private islands, mansions (plural), yachts (plural) and lear jets (plural) not small time guys. these people are making a mockery of our country, steering it in a direction that it was not intended to go. large corporations and financial institutions are getting and have got much greater handouts (free money) than all other federal subsidies combined. these are the very richest who are being given handouts while middle class working people are losing their homes and pensions to these criminals.
It's not okay that many american's hard-earned 401Ks are being slashed, that many mortgages are rising through the roof and becoming impossible to pay, that the american dream has become foreign (and internal) exploitation. Alot of people who support Occupy (worldwide, not just nationally) have not been directly influenced by the corruption and greed of the rich and powerful of this world. But they still see the human race suffering needlessly and a gross amount of critical damage done to our ecosystems and earth. My god, even the seeds we grow our food with has become a scientific experiment and not enough people care.
Please think outside the box. This is a global crisis we are facing, and if you don't care about it, then leave it alone and mind your business. I wonder if you would be saying the same if you were born in the projects or cambodia.
"So go now—go your way—and by all means say nothing about the obscenity of a socioeconomic system which rewards a corporate executive with a 70-million-dollar bonus for increasing sales of a soft drink, while 70 million people can’t afford the luxury of drinking the stuff—much less eating enough to stay healthy." -
The 99% isn't meant to represent all 99% of our population. It is meant to be symbolic of the everyman who works hard yet still can't support himself or his family. Does every poor person work hard? No. Is every man who supports his family rich? No. But it's there to symbolize the hardworking against the corrupt.
Um, pretty much most of the hardWORKING people in this country can/are supporting their families very well. Find me a middle class home with no computer, XBox, DVD player, decent car, etc etc etc.
Are you really okay with a system that allows the corporations and ultra wealthy to buy politicians and take away our Constitutional Republic?
NO!!! But then get rid of the POLITICIANS! You people are "protesting" the lack of good jobs in our country, yet are trying to shut down businesses so there are MORE unemployed. That makes great sense.
I see your point, well taken, but you have to think about why we are here? It has come to this, I saw reporter on CNN 3 years ago say that if this Governemnet and WS corruption doesn't stop soon, People will be picking up pitchforks! They have brokened our backs. We just want an even playing field, once again, like in 1999!
This could help get it done soon:
http://occupywallst.org/forum/its-time-for-a-million-people-march-to-capitol-hil/
I agree. And they are actually 0.017%.
I just have a question for those who are part of the 99% and are against the movement: 1) Would you have supported the passing of the second bill of rights?
No because people should pay their own bills (unless their homeless or hungry & truly need assistance).
If you want internet, buy it yourself. If you want college, buy it yourself. Do Not go-round pickpocketing your neighbors' wallets in order to get the money. That's theft of their labor. Theft of their work. (A bit like what CEOs do.)
Thank you for your response, and I belive you have told us everything we need to know about you. I wish you the best and hope that you don't have any unforseen circumstances that makes you unable to pay your bills, like so many other americans. But then again you probably have us all figured out. We are all a bunch of bums, there is no way that anyone who pays there bills can support this movement right.
""""I wish you the best and hope that you don't have any unforseen circumstances that makes you unable to pay your bills, like so many other americans""""
Thanks for your well wishing. I mean that sincerely. But if something happens that I "can't pay my bills", I have save money for YEARS, not buying every new gadget known to man immediately when released. I maintained restraint and bought a more modest home and more modest cars and more modest "toys" than what I "could afford". What I "could afford" by most American's definition of "afford".... The highest mortgage the bank would give me. All the credit cards I could get, etc. So I could live without having to work for a long time. Then I would do what it takes to get back out there and work to get back on my feet. I wouldn't be "above" employment that "didn't pay as much as my old job". I would do everything it takes for my family and myself. I see locally available jobs for decent money for my area of residence, and thecan't't find any of that 99% to fill them. No it might not be Monday through Friday 9-5 for 100K annually, but it is a job. There are people collecting unemployment when jobs like that are available. THAT shows MY how arrogant many of the 99% have become. For a country that has been going downhill for so long, there are a great many people who feel above labor, feel they are worth more than what they really are, etc. How did so many of these 99% come to believe that they DESERVE a good paying job, a house and cars, and a doctor on call whenever needed paid for by someone else? For a 99% that is hurting so terribly, there are an awful lot of people on Public Assistance having MORE children. I tend to believe "The 99%"s greed and naivety and sense of entitlement has contributed to "where we are" just as much, if not more, than any corporate greed or corruption. NOBODY is forced to buy anything in America. Well not yet anyway.
No you don't.
Strawman argument. I never said that.
Strawman argument. Don't put words into my mouth. When you decide you want to debate/discuss what I ACTUALLY said then we will do that. I am not wasting my time with a guy who tilts at windmills (or beats up strawmen). If you re-read what I wrote, I clearly stated people should receive help when they fall on hard times.
ALSO I said that you should not steal your neighbors' labor. That is a violation of their most basic rights (just as not paying workers is a violation of rights). Of course you ignored that part because, that would require actually Addressing what I said. And that's too hard.
Damn those Inconvenient Truths.
Guess what you're right I was wrong for how I made that comment. But, my point is that who are you to tell us what we should do. You are no different than the 1% when you make comments like "people should pay there own bills". Basically, what you are saying is that we think that people should not pay their own bills. I could be wrong, but what other purpose was there to make that comment. Do you think that we want handouts? Also, I don't remeber the Second Bill of Rights stating that the goverment or anyone will pay your bills.
Amendments 1, 9, and 10.
You are advocating policies like free college and doctor visits, which is basically saying "We don't want to pay our own bills. We want to raid our neighbors' wallets and make THEM pay our bills." - Okay you're not saying it directly but that is the end result if your ideas take effect.
It's basically the same as me saying I want to be given a free car, which means I want my neighbors to pay the $20,000 bill instead of me.
The OWS isnt looking to take money from others but for equal representation and tax deductions, because they feel THEY are the ones having their money taken away. They have to buy their things and pay taxes for it, fine, but they have to pay more when they are in a crisis, where the richer dont pay as much taxes and get more tax breaks
Well they are right. I guess they should have called and emailed their Congresscritters in 2008 and 2009 to instruct them to vote "no" on the Banker and Megacorp bailout bills. (1.5 trillion transferred from us to them.)
I did. I sent ~500 emails to them in Oct 08 and again in Feb 09.
Where were you guys? I could have used the help.
Sittin in a middle school classroom XD all im sayin is i support the ideas. Now if theres anything else i can do, ill do it. Im somewhat older now, and as for everyone else that didnt, i have no idea
Don't worry, you'll be forced to be one of us soon enough.
No, I doubt it. I do not have the time to "occupy" anything but my home, place of work, and the woods hunting for recreation. And if I lose my job, then I ABSOLUTELY won't have the time to go camp in a park chanting slogans. I'll be out busting my ass to find a way to keep feeding my family.
Amen.
I think the OWS folks here are really part of the 50%. The 50% that pay no taxes and whine about how they don't have enough money.
I too am part of the "99%". The part that pays on average about 35% of my income to the government in taxes. Technically, I guess that makes me the 49% - those between the rich and the freeloaders who pay nothing in taxes.
Hey,
Please pass this on if you agree. We are working on setting a date.
Force Change, Boycott Capitalism
We know what the problem is, let us fix it and move forward together.
When you look at a republican or democrat, congress or FDA official, Judges and Justice Department, you see criminals.
Our corruption dates back decades to when those, who in trying to preserve slavery, had to find new ways to preserve it and so created a scientific and advanced form of slavery.
Only two components were required -- the illusion of freedom & choice and the taking away of the freedom to live off the land.
How else would you get a person to submit themselves to mind numbing or degrading work unless you oppress them into it.
Our current system is rooted in corruption and every attempt in preserving it involves manipulating human thought and turning people against one another.
In America the population has been transformed into two major voting groups but they only have one choice.
They had been distracted up until now with television and American culture which prospered through the oppression of other nations.
Americans allowed themselves to be fooled into using their military and economic dominance to seize resources of other nations and create expanding markets for American profiteers.
Now that technology, competition and conscience have evolved Americans are realizing that our current system of government is damaging and unsustainable.
Our government officials have allowed private profits and personal benefits to influence decisions that affect the health and well-being of people all over the planet, not just in America... how much longer will we allow them to rule over us??
Occupy Washington and demand that all government officials resign their posts.
We will setup new online elections with a verification system that will allow us to see our votes after we cast them, put our new officials in office and work toward rebuilding our country and our world.
Pass this message along to any and everyone, we already occupy the world, unite.
Occupy Washington, Boycott Capitalism, Force Change
http://wesower.org
I agree with occupying Washington, but not your boycott of capitalism. It may not be perfect, but nobody has come up with anything better.
And don't any of you flamers tell me about how the "rich" should care more about those with less. I'm not the 1% and I pay one-third of my income to the federal government and give thousands to charity every year. The system works for me and I give some back.
Capitalism: The greatest system ever devised. Nobody has come up with anything better. Ever.
Flame on...
You are right. they would rather whine than do what it takes to EARN more.
And you are naive if you dont believe that this country has problems. Not everyone wants their loans forgiven or free money. This country is a sad representation of what it should be. If you want to settle for that, then go ahead. but dont knock people for trying to make it better.
All I asked is be honest about WHO you are representing. Not all of us in the 99% agree with what you say. I am white. So if I get a large group of white people together who have a mission or goal together, is it fair if I speak on behalf of ALL white people. You are misrepresenting many people. There are many in the bottom 99% of wage earners and wealth holders that do not agree with your "movement" and it's beliefs. So you should not be misrepresenting yourselves. Call yourself "Occupiers", or "New World Revolutionaries", or something. Represent, and speak and protest for those who WANT you to represent them. Not ME and many others.
Tell you what, why dont you go start a group of your own then. I sincerely think you are an idiot. You dont even know what OWS stands for. You dont care to know. You dont want to know. You just want things to stay the same because they arent that bad for you. But the thing is, Our country needs a radical change. We need to fix things. Its not about a bunch of hippies protesting distribution of wealth, thats part of it but its bigger than that. If you dont want to see this country change for the better than you dont deserve it to. So just enjoy living a shadow of what your life could be. Try not to kill yourself when you realize how hopeless you are.