- Picture From: Against Occupy
The 1%-
When occupy wall street started their campaign to have a more equal economy and also more equal opportunities to grow, they had to prove their reasoning behind it. Why was the economy unfair, why weren’t there jobs and money to be made? The occupiers feel in a large part that the main sources of the economic issues that we are facing right now are the fault of the 1 percent. They feel that the 1 percent are making money solely based on greed, and not because they are trying to have their needs met or fulfilled. The argument is, if people would give up some of their greed and provide more jobs, and/or provide the people who are working with higher paying jobs, much of the problems we see today would be gone. The occupiers feel that some of these things
In 2009 there was an estimated 1.4 million homes that were in the top 1 percent. These are the people that make up most of the money in our economy around 40 percent. They make about 24 percent of the nation’s income. The 1 percent owns half of the stock, bonds, and mutual funds. They only have about 5 percent of the nation’s debt. The top 1 percent are making more now than ever. They are making the biggest profits since the 1920’s. They are mostly CEO’s, lawyers, and other big business men.
There are many misconceptions with the 1 percent as well. There are many of the 1 percent that do not agree with the amount that they are getting taxed. They feel that the taxes should be lowered for those with smaller incomes and raised for those making more money. Many of these people have worked very hard to get where they are, and have not had an easy way into their current life. I feel that we need to look at individuals and get facts based on that, rather than facts based on numbers.
The 99%-
When people talk about the 99 percent, we are talking about the majority of the population that is making far less money than the 1 percent. In fact the bottom 80% makes up only about 7% of the nation’s wealth. Many of these lower income families are striving hard just to keep paying the bills. There are thousands of posts of average day people holding papers with their personal situations written on them. On the paper they right things like their financial situation, the changes they have seen since the recession, and also things that make them less than ideal employees. This is the embodiment of the Occupy Wall Street movement. People banding together to support and find solutions for one another. The 99 percent recognize that a good deal of their solutions come from the governments funding and money, but honestly feel that they are entitled to this money after years of waste less spending by officials. For many, the difference in salary and life style is very evident, to others there is a very thin line. To point out a few of the differences, here are some facts about the 99 percent. The 99 percent own most of the nation’s debt with very little or no stock options, bonds, or other assets to show for their hard work. Many work several jobs and have been put into difficult situations. These people are hardworking Americans who just need some extra support. On the other hand, there are many people who are unemployable. Obviously there are certain exceptions, but I feel that the media sometimes portrays the Occupy Wall Street movement as a big crowd of lazy hippies. While there are many people who can fit this description, I feel that a deeper look needs to be taken into the lives of individuals. This is one of the things that I actually like about the Occupy Wall Street movement. It helps people and the government to focus on individuals rather than a group. One of the craziest and saddest things is, that there are people in the 1 percent that don’t work or that are dead making more money than the 99%.
I feel that it is wrong to just lump everyone together as almost this cut and dry, good and bad type of system. If you look at the top 10% they make up such a huge majority of the nation’s wealth and benefits. I feel that it there is a big misconception of the other 9% in the top 10%. What will stop them from rising and doing the same thing as the 1%.
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Cooper's Rejects 