I am not the 99%, and whether or not you are is your decision
the53.tumblr.com
the53.tumblr.com
He ignores the students who have to drop out and take care of the family when a parent gets sick or dies. He ignores the students who get sick or battle addictions or have mental health issues.
He ignores the parents who can't afford health care for their kids. The parents who have to cope with losing a spouse or a child. The parents who have to care for their aged parents.
When you're young, you don't tend to think about how close you are to losing everything. You don't think about how a car accident or a fire or cancer could completely derail your life and leave you with a debt that you can't manage.
He appears to have no empathy for people who lost everything by doing the safe thing: buying a house, working a job, and living the dream.
He also appears to not hold Wall Street up to the same standard as the 99%. Where's the part on his card that tells Wall Street it should have sucked it up and not asked for a bailout?
Isn't that what Occupy Wall Street is about? Wall Street getting a bailout while average people are told it's unpatriotic and un-American to ask for help?
"He appears to have no empathy for people who lost everything by doing the safe thing: buying a house, working a job, and living the dream."
How is buying a house the safe thing? A house is an investment and there is risk associated with all investments. If you aren't willing to take those risks, you shouldn't buy a house. Renting is still a viable option.
"Wall Street getting a bailout while average people are told it's unpatriotic and un-American to ask for help"
So two wrongs make a right? By wanting help you are just legitimizing the bailouts.
I'm Canadian. We Canadians grow up extremely aware of our behemoth neighbour. We watch your TV, your news, your movies. Your culture permeates our culture.
And your culture celebrates home ownership and working a job as the American dream. From Leave it to Beaver to Desperate Housewives and Weeds, your culture (and ours) is all about having a job and owning a home. It's part of the American dream.
How many people pursuing that dream lost their job and their homes? If you're unemployed and homeless through no fault of your own, how do you feel when you see bankers, who are at fault, getting bailed out by the government?
The Occupy Wall Street movement is about pointing out how unfair it is to bailout the rich without doing a thing for the middle class.
As for health insurance, does the author sound like he has a few extra thousand dollars kicking around to pay the deductible?
My problem with the whole thing is the level of entitlement that everyone seems to have.
I started seeing it a few years ago with the downloading of movies, software, advertising (just look at the adblock community) and games online. When questioned, many people say that nobody deserves a living (I've even seen it here on HN). This level of entitlement has now moved onto: a job, a college education, health care, and a home.
The Occupy Wall Street movement may have people who feel entitled to something, but I'd say Wall Street has a bigger sense of entitlement. Remember how upset they got when their bonuses were in danger unless they got bailed out?
If you're a tax payer, you're entitled to good government. You're entitled to be treated fairly and equitably. You shouldn't be short changed just because you're only middle class.
Entitlement is entitlement. Your argument is that of a child: he's doing something wrong, so I am too. Why can't they be above it?
"If you're a tax payer, you're entitled to good government. You're entitled to be treated fairly and equitably. You shouldn't be short changed just because you're only middle class."
You're right. I wish my taxes were lower for me. Maybe I should go protest?
In 2005, making 250k a year doesn't even put you in the top 1% of household incomes in the US.