Its true, I am not in the richest 1% of Americans so I am officially part of the 99%! No shit right? In fact, I highly doubt that I have ever been in the presence of a member of the illusive 1%. So theoretically the Occupy Wall Street groups are speaking for me. The are making demands on my behalf – which is nice because I need to be at work.
What are the Occupiers demanding for me anyway? Are they going to negotiate a cash payment from the 1% to the 99%? I would like some cash. Are they going to force the government to give me a full retirement at 50? I would like to retire early. Maybe they will actually manage to forgive my mortal sin of amassing school loans to pay for my education. Get in line for free stuff!
(David Shankbone, Creative Commons)
The actual list of demands is very difficult to come by and even more difficult to discern. It seems that most demands center around the usual suspects: stop foreclosures, pay off everyone’s student loans, throw bankers in jail and reform campaign contribution rules. The demands seem to vary from city to city and read more like a wish list than a well thought out strategic campaign with a specific and attainable end game.
It seems to me that these Occupiers are nothing more than pissed off citizens that are fed up with the direction the country has been moving and wishes to express their right to free speech to voice those sentiments. I am pissed off too. I have school loans that I decided to take out and agreed to pay. I have a job, but know many friends and family members that cannot find one. We are fighting multiple wars that we cannot afford for reasons we can’t even imagine. We are an out of control bus and just want someone to stand up and take the wheel.
The hard truth is – no one is going to save us except ourselves. We have to take the wheel ourselves. We need to overcome whatever the particular hardships we are facing as individuals and elect only responsible people to represent us. These Occupy Wall Street demonstrations are nothing more but excrcises in futility, but if these protests make these 99% feel like they are taking the wheel then good for them. I would rather work as much as possible to pay off my own school loans and move on. I may be officially in the 99% according to the definition, but please don’t speak for me Occupiers. I have my own voice.
