c-burton:

eriemaxwell:

ayries:

panasonicyouth:

thekidatomic:

panasonicyouth:

sanityscraps:

wearethe99percent:

I am the 99% but I don’t begrudge the 1%.

Ahahaha, this privileged white dude is missing the entire point of this.

hahahahah look at this dismissive asshole. i hope his “I am the 99%” sign caught on fire immediately after he posted this.

lol omg

i’m just wondering if my experiences are completely skewed or what

but

isn’t 100,000 a hella lot of money

it is right

i honestly don’t really know because a month or so ago jon stewart was like all aghast that people support a family of four with less than 25k a year and i was really confused because that seemed normal to me so

No, $100,000 a year is a goddamned fortune, gwen. Like….my god. I grew up in a family of five that lived off $25k for like four years straight. It was hellish, most of the time. 

so yeah this guy is an asshole and things he owns need to set themselves on fire.

like I don’t want him to get hurt or have his house burn down

i just want it to be irritating, like

“Oh, fuck, I really wanted to eat that PopTart, but it spontaneously combusted.”

or

“Where did the remote go, honey? Damn it, ashes again?”

or

“Honey, do I have to take a bath? The shower curtain just disappeared in a flash of flame.”

oh my god

Look, mister, I live in a household of 3 which used to be 4. You know how much my house’s annual income is? £9,000. Nine. Thousand. Pounds. Give or take, it varies. In dollars, this is about $17,000, but in real world terms that would only be if we lived in the US. I would say it is equivalent to around $12,000 in the US, really.

And I do not consider myself that poor. Like, we have internet, and Sky, we never have issues with the bills being unpaid, food is always there (though now my parents don’t get child benefit for me I am more responsible for that; remember, this is my parents’ household and that is their income, not mine).

And see here’s the thing: I come from a mixed-class background. We USED to earn $100,000 per year (yep, used to live in the US and all). And you know what?

THAT. IS. RICH.

That is so rich! Sometimes I recall it and it’s like, wow, what the hell? We had a fancy car and air conditioning and broadband in the nineties (for Dad’s work) and one of the first DVD players and my friends had a fucking POOL and it was RIDICULOUS. Someone had their own pool what the fuck.

So look.

If I can’t do what you can?

IT’S BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT ONE OF THE NINETY NINE FUCKING PERCENT.

When we had $100,000 per year, we didn’t need help. Now we have £9,000 per year, WE DO. This is not because we suck. It is because if we have less than you to work with ACHIEVING LESS THAN YOU IS ABSOLUTELY REASONABLE. My Dad worked in IT, now he and Mam are gardeners. OF COURSE WE NEED MORE HELP.

You being able to do something proves it’s possible in YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES. That is all. And you’d probably like to believe your circumstances are everyone’s because it means if you succeed it’s because you’re better, BUT THEY AREN’T. If someone in a different set of circumstances achieves something different, i.e. not as much and they need help, that may well end up being because their circumstances are different. Basically, SHUT UP.

Just. You are rich. Do not act like you getting by ‘proves’ poor people don’t need help. Have you ever had trouble paying all the bills month after month? Getting enough food? Eating healthily? Leaving the immediate area due to petrol costs? Keeping yourself well clothed? Have you ever worried you would lose your house, your car, your anything in the immediate future? I mean, if you earn A HUNDRED GRAND I know you probably answered ‘no’. And I don’t mean ‘did you think, hmmm, this seems a bit pricey’, I mean ‘did you think hmm, if I buy a coat for the winter will I be able to eat for the next week’ kind of shit.

just

go away

I’ll be over here, feeling that of course I am owed the right to a basic standard of living and that if I cannot manage it myself because I was coincidentally born into not-that-well-off circumstances and a time of huge unemployment, of course people should help me, because helping people is a moral obligation where it is reasonably possible for the person in question. And feeling no guilt, at all, about being on benefits so that I can fucking survive and eat and so on.

Dear Sir,

This letter represents the worst a person can be.

I am a twenty-four year old caucasian woman. I have a minimum wage job, but I also have several inheritances and a trust fund. I’m never going to have any student loans, I live in one of my family’s spare apartments, and I have several people I can rely on if I ever find myself in trouble of any type. I, like you sir, am incredibly privileged, and as such I wholeheartedly disagree with the sentiment of this shit you’re spewing out.

How on earth do you justify 1% of the people controlling such a large percentage of the wealth? They didn’t get it by pulling themselves up by their bootstraps or some other homespun nonsense; it was attained on the backs of the 99%. They were everywhere around the 1%, helping them in every possible way, and all they’re asking for now is to be treated fairly rather than as second-class citizens. 

I honestly don’t care if you consider yourself a member of the 99% or not; you’re a white male with a well-paying job and a graduate degree, but it’s certainly possible that someone with that amount of privilege could be part of it.

However, by proclaiming to the world that you ‘don’t begrudge the 1%’, you encourage people to just sit back and accept the terrible situation they have been forced into.

That sort of sanctimonious apathy is, quite frankly, one of the most disgusting thing that I’ve ever heard. The fact that you aren’t willing to use your privilege to help others is even worse.

Utterly appalled,

Me

I wish I had something to contribute to these excellent and well made points but to honest I’m not entirely sure what this Occupy Wall Street business is about and living in the UK what if anything I can do. If anyone would like to clue me in, feel free. 

In the meantime…

Are you guys saying it’s wrong to go to school, save money and work hard? Or are you just saying he’s in the 1%?