Forum Post: To Fix America the 99% Will Have to Give More Too

Right now I am a college senior who is studying in Italy. I have been researching the Occupy movements and although I agree that a great deal needs to change in regards to the fiscal situation of our country, a great deal needs to change with the American people themselves. We may be the 99% in the United States of America, but we are the 1% when compared to the world. We take more than we give, and we use more than we need. I love my country, and I love being an American, but the majority of our 99% is spoiled rotten in comparison to much of the rest of the world, and we need to appreciate that.

 Here in Italy, one of the oldest places of civilization next to Mesopotamia, many people did not have running water in their homes until 40 years ago. There were people in the south who lived in caves up until 50 years ago. Italy is considered a modern and well to do nation.  What does that mean for people living in Africa and South American nations? We as the 99% in America do have a right to have grievances with our government and I think we would be ignorant or ill-informed if we were not upset, but before we can truly understand what actions we need to take, we must fully understand our situation. 

 Americans pay some of the lowest tax rates in the world as a whole and expect our government to have the funds to pay for all of the services and benefits we enjoy as citizens.  The concept is illogical and impossible. Yes the government spends money on things that some people do not agree with, and with a nation the size of ours that is to be expected. But to expect the 1% to pay for the entirety of the 99% is as wrong as the situation is at the moment.  

 If we want our government to continue to provide the services we have come to expect, public school, social security, welfare, medicade, and all of these other social programs, we as the 99% must contribute more than we contribute at the moment.  If this period of economic decline is going to end, we all need to pay more, not just the 1%.  America was founded on the ideals of helping your neighbor, because the pilgrims landed on a chunk of land that had nothing but huge quantities of natural resources. There was no housing, there was no plumbing, there was nothing but a great deal of land and trees, and even then they needed help from the natives.  For America to get back on its feet, everyone needs to give a little bit more, take a  little bit less, and find a way to contribute to creating solutions. 

 Yes the government can create jobs, but so can a person who starts a business.  Yes the government provides education, but so does anyone who shares their own knowledge with others.  Yes the government provides help for the homeless, but so can every citizen who has a little more than they need.  We may not have legislative power, but we can produce positive change without legislating anything, but rather with simple actions taken by every individual to help another. 

 We the people of America, have the power as individuals and groups, communities and families, to change our nation without having to wait for the government to legislate change.  Create local change, national change, international change, without waiting for legal change. Eventually legislative change will happen, but we can start helping our fellow man, our neighbor now.  We can improve education now, we can create jobs now, we can do so much right now. That is what we as the 99% should focus on.