14 Reasons People Are Occupying Wall Street
We Are The 99 Percent is an amazing website where people tell their stories of economic peril. If you ever wondered why people want to occupy Wall Street, well now you’ll know.
“In the past two years I have:
Been foreclosed by B of A after paying on a house of 13 years
Had to drop out of college and cancel my dreams
Lost my gf of two and a half years
Watched as my parents got divorced and moved away
Quit my minimum wage job where the cooks were lowest paid in the state
Decided to fight for freedom and not the American Dream
I am the 99%”
“I have a degree; an Associates of Arts. I stopped there, because I’d nearly exhausted the savings my parents had for me. And by 2008, I’d seen just how far a degree would get me: deep in debt. with little chance to every pay it back. A degree has become little more than pricey slips of paper, mocking us from their frames and envelopes. It took me three and half years to get that slip of paper. I’m one of the lucky ones, with no debt.
But I also have no job. And no dreams, no this is slowly becoming a living nightmare. I had a minimum wage job, in another city, but I couldn’t support myself on $7.94 an hour. We had barely been getting by on two paychecks. Now I’m back in with mu parents, living off their generosity and my own meager savings. I’m applying to every job I can find out here. But so few places are actually hiring, and I am over-educated or under-experienced for nearly all of them. Or both.
I played by the rules. I got good grades, went to college, and got a degree. I graduated in 2009, to no prospects. Nothing for me. Fast food joints don’t even call me back.
I feel HOPELESS. I’m already depressed, untreated. I often find myself thinking of suicide, because I see no future for me. At all. The current reality depresses me more than anything else. There is nothing here for me to work towards. Nothing substantial for any of my friends either.
My best friend is pregnant with their first child. At 7 months pregnant, she lost her job. She has since been rehired, but her insurance won’t pick back up for another 45 days. She’s due in 2 weeks. His family is well off, but they’re not rich. They help, but they can’t support them completely on the medical bills.
So is that what we’re supposed to do now? Live off our parents? All of our parents are stuck as well. They’re torn between their own daily expenses and retirement funds, or supporting their grown children. Again. That is not a desicion they should be forced to make.
We all played by the rules, and we were robbed blind.
We sat back in blissful ignorance, and let them do this to us.
We are the 99 percent.
And we are sick of playing by these Greed-driven rules.”
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- GoroPrask 14 Reasons People Are Occupying Wall ... and thinks it’s WTF, OMG & Fail
- yvonnej thinks 14 Reasons People Are Occupying Wall ... is OMG
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craigrb a year agoMy suggestion to us occupiers
I’ve been waiting for someone to take the lead and organize a march on washington DC at The White House and Congress.
We need to organize all occupied city demonstrators and move this on to DC.
While the winter weather conditions will not be friendly to our cause, I am suggesting we set a date of April 15, 2012 (tax day).
Who’s up for this????
Please note, this suggestion will be NON-VIOLENT and PEACEFUL demonstration. -
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jeremye5 a year agoIf you are going to college to get a worthless degree just because it is easy to pass and wonder why you can not get a job, stop complaining. You decided to go to college just to get that diploma. Go for something that is challenging and that will be worth it in the long run. Get off your ass, stop standing around in a park complaining how you cannot get a job or how you have no money. Get out there and work for it. Nothing in life comes easy. There are people dying all over the world and your complaining how you cannot buy more materialistic crap. If you own a car, or have running water, or are able to have one meal a day, you are better off then half of the population in the world. Im sick of hearing about this.
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- dennisvank thinks 14 Reasons People Are Occupying Wall ... is Fail
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katebennett1966 a year agoLast year I was misdiagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I was fired for a bogus reason because I became a liability. A year later when my disability ran out and I was correctly diagnosed with a thyroid problem I wanted to go back to work but the State of California denied me unemployment as I searched earnestly for a job. They denied my unemployment because I did not earn enough income on disability and did not subsidize my disability income. I subsequently lost my home and have been homeless for three months now. My son is living separate from me. I am the 99%! Our Government is corrupt and it’s their relationship with large corporations that are making people like me suffer. People are losing their jobs because big businesses are going overseas seeking cheap labor. The list goes on. People are mad, people like my 17yr old son who will wake up Christmas morning in a strangers house, away from me for the first time in his life. My son is the 99%. He is part of the movement and he has a right to be mad. God is taking care of me and I am fortunate for that reason alone.
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kenns a year agoDear Mr. President, There is a very large demonstration being planned for January 20th, 2012 at the Federal Courthouse at 700 Stewart street in Seattle, - and at every Federal Courthouse in the United States.. There are many groups organizing and “gearing up” for this demonstration. I will be promoting and advertising it. This “occupy movement” has only just begun. I suggest you figure out your plan of action and response; The rules of engagement; - Need a way better understanding of what is going on; - than during WTO in Seattle. Treat the people like they are the enemy, and they will become it I feel the occupy movement does have a basic underlying message; Stop letting money decide political elections; And regulate corporate lobbying (and all lobbying) making it a public forum. Right now lobbying is mostly two old white guys sitting across from each other in an office. “They” have probably worked with each other or went to the same school; And “they” have promised you a job when you get out of politics, — tripling your present salary!. The “lobbyist” used to be a “politician”, it worked for him!. Who owns who? - That’s a “Person-hood”. “I” was at the WTO protests in Seattle Washington, (with thousands of “other” really awesome “people”, and a few “freaks”) when a bunch of “anarchists” started busting windows with crowbars. We surrounded them, and they got in a circle with their crowbars. I tried to get the “Seattle police” to come arrest “these anarchists”, that were only fifty feet away and threatening violence and breaking windows… The “Seattle police” would not budge from their “police line”, making all of “us” the “enemy”…. (There were thousands of “union” and “other” people sitting and standing in the street, - it was a relatively peaceful protest until the windows started breaking…). ” I” am not the “enemy”. January 20, 2012 – Move to Amend Occupies the Courts! Move To Amend is planning bold action to mark this date — Occupy the Courts — a one day occupation on Friday January 20, 2012, of the Federal Courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States and as many of the 89 U.S. District Court Buildings as we can. (I am inspired by Doctor Martin Luther King who said; “a true revolution of values”, … “there comes a time when silence is betrayal”., “people are not gonna be silenced”.). Move to Amend will lead the charge on the judiciary which created — and continues to expand — corporate personhood rights.
Please Sign the petition to amend the Constitution for revoking corporate personhood at: movetoamend.org
It’s Time to GET MONEY OUT of politics
Bailouts. War. Unemployment. Our government is bought, and we’re angry. Now, we’re turning our anger into positive action. By signing this petition, you are joining our campaign to get money out of politics. Our politicians won’t do this. But we will. We will become an unrelenting, massive organized wave advocating a Constitutional amendment to get money out of politics. Please sign the petition! http://www.getmoneyout.com/ http://open.salon.com/blog/kennspace/2011/10/28/corporate_occupation_of_the_united_states_1 -
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jenovadark a year ago
Because of the 1% to 99% income inequalities, the United States has the highest rate of child poverty in the developed world.
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- georgego 14 Reasons People Are Occupying Wall ...
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maria sanchez a year ago
and occuping Walll Street is going to get them….on TV? a website? Not really seeing HOW this going to get anyone a doctor (what?), a job, or the house they apparently couldn’t afford either…Did anyone do research on these folks? Could it be that some of them are simply undesirable as employee’s? How do you all know they aren’t drunks? or created a poor work enviornment for other’s? You all have no idea WHY they are in a particular situation?!…Employer’s do get to select who they want…Holy Crap…Life can suck and kick you just when you thought you could breathe..but this isn’t the answer. I WOULDN”T HIRE anyone at that protest…the way some are acting, the way they are impacting others shows no respect and apparently no concept of reality. They seem more of a liabiltiy than an asset..a worker comp claim in waiting.
Pray they all find their way soon…and figure out how to be the King/Queen and not the pawn. -
- leelad 14 Reasons People Are Occupying Wall ...
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womanpants a year ago
Oh. My. God.
I am so sick of people whining about the debt they’ve gotten themselves into by going to college. It’s not necessary. Actual skills are more bloody useful than a piece of paper. You’ve gotten yourselves into the debt, so quit trying to blame everyone else. -
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Prescott Moncrieff a year ago
I dunno. My family started off dirt poor in a third world country. My parents worked their asses off, got laid off several times, and we still made it. At one point, my father didn’t have work for over three years, but we were fine since we lived well below our means when he was employed. Undergrad on full scholarship, Masters on full scholarship. If you’re “overqualified” for most jobs, dumb your CV down. It’s not lying, it’s omission, and you’ll have a better chance of getting something to hold you through the clusterfuck we’re all in. There’s always a way.
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deleond2 a year agoAll this talk about college. Dont go to college just because you want a nice pretty piece of paper. Try to have a plan for what doors that degree will open for you before you start to spend money on it. The experience I got working at Whataburger and WalMart has done more good for me compared to what I learned in college.
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Riff a year agoOkay - my one big issue with these people, while I support them otherwise: Someone needs to pop this bubble of “higher education”. Students should not feel pressured to spend thousands of dollars and years in university when all they want is a job. That should NOT be the main function of university.
Companies shouldn’t expect a four-year degree to mean anything - practically everyone can get one from SOMEWHERE now - so why pretend it’s important?
Higher education should be available to everyone who wants it - but when I say that, I mean people who want to be in academic disciplines.
The whole stigma of vocational schools as not as valuable as a traditional college education needs to be eliminated completely. Think of how many people in our workforce could save money and time by pursuing a much more focused route of study instead of having to fill out division requirements for the sake of reaching some minimum bar on their resumes. The global service industry (providing our first world expertise to developing countries like Brazil and India) is a huge mine for jobs that hasn’t been pursued nearly enough. Train people for that. It may be utilitarian, but our world needs a massive overhaul with rising population and diminishing jobs (I mean, what are we gonna do when machines can do everything for us?). -
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joshuay a year agoAnd the #1 reason many younger people can’t get a job these days. When you show no effort in the basics such as grammar, math, and science, you are doomed to be the “99%”. The only people that I feel sorry for are the ones that lost their jobs because of downsizing or other factors outside of their control. I don’t feel sorry for those that got a degree that’s in a worthless academic study, or those that lived off of their parents, getting no experience in anything other than school. Real life sucks, I know because I live it every day. Work hard, have a generally good disposition about life, and get a skill in something that can’t be easily replaced and you WILL find a job.
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Jessica Morgan a year ago
ummm… I can’t tell you how uncomfortable #12’s shirtless picture makes me feel. Maybe if these people would take off their black chipped nail polish, take the peircings out of their faces or crack open a dictionary perhaps they would be able to find a job. Seems logical to me. I agree that times are tough but c’mon.
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