53%

I have to take a minute and comment on this whole "I AM the 53%" response to Occupy Wall Street. Of course the original stat* itself is a distortion. And of course the underlying implication is that only those 47% slacker/losers are occupying Wall St or involved in the movement elsewhere. Of course if you are protesting the system as it exists right now, it is because you don't work, don't want to work, want a free hand-out, and probably don't shower regularly either. Which of course isn't true about the people involved in the Occupations, but it makes for much more interesting propaganda this way, right?

Once you divide up that 47% what you find is about half of them are simply too poor to pay taxes. That is anyone with an income level below $26,400 a year for a family of 4 taking standard deductions. These people are the working poor. People who go to work every day, or most days, since many low-paying jobs do not hire anyone for full-time. Or perhaps literally every day since they have to juggle the hours from 2 different jobs to even come close to stretching the ends together. They take care of your kids when you drop them off at day care. They change the sheets for your elderly parents in nursing homes. They ring up your gas and lottery tickets at the gas station, and your No. 12 meal with a coke at the fast food place for lunch. You may be able to convince yourself that you work harder or your work is more valuable and so it's no big deal they are paid so little, but just imagine how well your day would run without their help.

So you want them to pay taxes too, right? Aside from the fact they DO pay taxes and fees on everything else they use, OK then! Let's add income tax to the mix. How will we do that? By paying them enough money so they can pay taxes! Then let's see how much your latte costs, how much more it will be for a tank of gas, how many bargains you'll find at Walmart. I about bet within a very short time you're going to wish you were paying less than a buck a year in taxes for a poor mom to get some free milk for her kids through the WIC program than for how much it would cost you to actually pay everyone who works what they need to pay taxes themselves.

And another thing I cannot understand. All of this anger directed towards the poor. It's especially ironic when it comes from people who declare themselves to be good Christians, since Jesus was pretty clear which side of the rich/poor divide he was on, but that aside, how can you be this enraged at people who basically have nothing? Yeah yeah I know that you personally saw the proverbial welfare queen swiping her food stamp card to pay for a cart full of steaks and lobster, which you cannot afford to buy with cash! Which she loaded into a brand new Escalade she beeped open with a diamond-encrusted key ring. Except I don't believe you or anyone has ever actually seen this, anymore than anyone "personally knows" someone who named their twins Lemonjello and Orangejello but by all means, keep the legends alive. Do you think being poor is fun? Hey those homeless people don't even have to work a day anywhere, and they can roam around wherever their feet can take them, and even get some meals and a place to sleep at maybe if it's super hot or really cold! Do you have any idea at all how soul-sucking it is to always be scrounging up a few bucks to stay ahead of having utilities shut off? To never see any part of the world outside of your own city block? Unless it's on TV and you're kinda mad they have TVs to begin with! To never be able to give your child something special they want and would probably appreciate a whole lot more than most of the kids who have everything? And then you get pissed off because they buy a store-baked birthday cake? Because they could manage their money better than that! Why can't you understand that there are no easy fixes for poverty? No one is suggesting you have to spend your Thanksgiving dishing out meals at a soup kitchen but can you at least TRY to set aside your anger for a small amount of compassion? For maybe a day or so, just to see how it feels?

Back to the "We Are The 53%" counter-movement. I went to the website and read some of their stories. One after another are people who have lost job, been laid off, filed bankruptcy....??? OK you made it anyhow. That's great. You don't want a hand-out. We don't either. And yet, you're angry at us for believing someone who makes millions should pay their fair share too?! Some of the same people whose mismanagement caused the economic problems that lead to yours to begin with? Only they got bailed out and you did not but you defend them? I truly do not get it.

I picked this woman's story somewhat at random. You seem like a hard-working young woman who has accomplished a lot. I'm sure your parents are very proud. To begin with though, if your family is middle class, they should have been able to help you go to college. If you worked hard and got good grades, it should not have come down to waiting by the mailbox holding your breath every day to see if maybe you'd be the one lucky enough to get a scholarship. It also sounds as though you are probably still in college too. It doesn't sound like you work while you're in school or you probably would have mentioned it so I have to assume you either live at home or your family supports you in some way. So in fact you do have many breaks that not everyone can manage. Either way, I hope your hard work continues to pay off because this is about the fact that for most of us, even doing everything "right" has not. Do us a favor and check back when you graduate and head out into the real world, OK? I hope you don't find out all of your hard work and dedication will get you no farther than a job as a sales clerk at Old Navy. Like it or not, you are the 99%.



*