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wearethe99percent.com....are the stories even real?

Home ▸ Archive ▸ Serious Business ▸ wearethe99percent.com....are the stories even real?
O-Trap's avatar

O-Trap

Chief Shenanigans Officer

14,994 posts
Oct 15, 2011 2:40 PM
"I have a bachelors degree and am over $37,000 in debt for a degree that has not helped my career. I had a good job, but my position was downsized. I was unemployed for 13 months, and my wife took a job during the time to make sure we had some income.

I spent an average of about 12-15 hours a day either submitting my resume and filling out applications or building a home business. I was hired to a good job that I don't love and that does not pay well, but that offers good benefits, and my home business brings in a great income.

My wife and I still work at paying our bills, but we have done everything to make sure we could. We have accepted full responsibility for our own well-being, and have worked very hard to not be a burden on society, even when the option was available to us.

We give to others in need around us and we volunteer, because we believe that helping change people's attitudes is effective, while legislation is not. We believe it is our moral obligation to give to those on hard times, but who we can see are trying to break out of those hard times. We believe it is our moral responsibility to help instill a sense of self-sufficiency and giving (rather than taking) into the youth in the community.

My wife and I might be the 99% in this country, but we are the 5% in the world, so we don't dare act as though we haven't been blessed with more than enough."
Oct 15, 2011 2:40pm
O-Trap's avatar

O-Trap

Chief Shenanigans Officer

14,994 posts
Oct 15, 2011 2:41 PM
tcarrier32;934334 wrote:

Excellent.
Oct 15, 2011 2:41pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Oct 15, 2011 2:54 PM


Take note OC members. The 99% thing and the Occupy protests aren't really promoting a solution but rather the recognition of a problem as noted by this dude calling for lower taxes and less government.
Oct 15, 2011 2:54pm
S

sportchampps

Senior Member

7,361 posts
Oct 15, 2011 2:59 PM
I had a friend in high school who decided to drop put junior year when his mother got cancer. He got his GED and started working at a mall kisok to help pay for things for his family. When he turned 19 he had helped his family get thru his mothers cancer and had also saved up 10K to purchase the rights to the product the kisok sold. He then worked at the kisok for another year by himself working daily while going to the library and learning about marketing. He then took the product worldwide and is now making well over a million a year and has thousands of employees working for him. His product is squirmles the magic worm. It can be done you just have to work hard and not look for things to be handed to you. Also had someone i went to school with who started selling drugs in 5th grade moved to really hard drugs by high school. Has been living on welfare with a kid for the last 2 years. Last week he was out robbing cars at night when he was confronted by a home owner he went toward the home owner and was shot to death. Had he choose to leave the drugs behind he would have had a better life but he never got over them. Now a home owner may face charges for protecting himself.
Oct 15, 2011 2:59pm
S

sportchampps

Senior Member

7,361 posts
Oct 15, 2011 3:00 PM
Lets move to a flat 9% tax then or a consumption tax.
Oct 15, 2011 3:00pm
O-Trap's avatar

O-Trap

Chief Shenanigans Officer

14,994 posts
Oct 15, 2011 3:03 PM
I Wear Pants;934405 wrote:

Take note OC members. The 99% thing and the Occupy protests aren't really promoting a solution but rather the recognition of a problem as noted by this dude calling for lower taxes and less government.
Thing is, what he is calling for is something Wall Street isn't responsible for changing. Wall Street doesn't enact tax or business regulations.

Interestingly, though, a business partner recently approached me about doing the same kind of thing. I'm considering it.
Oct 15, 2011 3:03pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Oct 15, 2011 3:06 PM
Dear god, the Occupy shit isn't merely about the banks that compose Wall Street.
Oct 15, 2011 3:06pm
D

dm27

Senior Member

199 posts
Oct 15, 2011 3:54 PM
After reading some of those stories it just sounds like a bunch of whining to me. My wife and I both went to a private school knowing we would have large amounts of debt (we didn't marry until after graduation). Unlike some of my peers, we barely spent any extra money on going out to eat and other activities. We both had campus jobs and saved 90% of it, putting it towards our tuition. We both worked our asses off at our summer jobs and were able to put large chunks of money down on our tuition for the new school year. Instead of desperately looking for a job 1 month before graduation, we both were networking and talking to people our sophomore years just to get our foot in the door. Once graduation came we were pretty much set with jobs, mine was in business and my wife's was in education. Even with all of that we still had a combined 55k in student loans. So instead of paying minimums and following the 10 year plans and splurging on mindless shit, we decided to be proactive and started paying down as fast as possible. We definitely are not rich, our combined after tax salary's barely eclipse 60k per year but we decided to rent and keep our cashed-offed vehicles. We scraped the bottom every month for every dime and put it on our loans. A little over a year later we are down to 25k on our student loans, have a nice emergency fund, started both a 401(k) and Roth IRA, and are on track to pay it all off by next July. So with a little "can do" attitude and financial planning you can make your own success and live comfortably on a little.
Oct 15, 2011 3:54pm
Glory Days's avatar

Glory Days

Senior Member

7,809 posts
Oct 15, 2011 3:58 PM
I Wear Pants;934457 wrote:Dear god, the Occupy shit isn't merely about the banks that compose Wall Street.
yeah yeah, its about The Man.
Oct 15, 2011 3:58pm
F

fan_from_texas

Senior Member

2,693 posts
Oct 15, 2011 4:11 PM
dm27;934572 wrote:After reading some of those stories it just sounds like a bunch of whining to me. My wife and I both went to a private school knowing we would have large amounts of debt (we didn't marry until after graduation). Unlike some of my peers, we barely spent any extra money on going out to eat and other activities. We both had campus jobs and saved 90% of it, putting it towards our tuition. We both worked our asses off at our summer jobs and were able to put large chunks of money down on our tuition for the new school year. Instead of desperately looking for a job 1 month before graduation, we both were networking and talking to people our sophomore years just to get our foot in the door. Once graduation came we were pretty much set with jobs, mine was in business and my wife's was in education. Even with all of that we still had a combined 55k in student loans. So instead of paying minimums and following the 10 year plans and splurging on mindless ****, we decided to be proactive and started paying down as fast as possible. We definitely are not rich, our combined after tax salary's barely eclipse 60k per year but we decided to rent and keep our cashed-offed vehicles. We scraped the bottom every month for every dime and put it on our loans. A little over a year later we are down to 25k on our student loans, have a nice emergency fund, started both a 401(k) and Roth IRA, and are on track to pay it all off by next July. So with a little "can do" attitude and financial planning you can make your own success and live comfortably on a little.

Nice work.
Oct 15, 2011 4:11pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Oct 15, 2011 4:25 PM
Glory Days;934575 wrote:yeah yeah, its about The Man.
Yes, one must be a hippie to think that shit hasn't been going too well for a while.
Oct 15, 2011 4:25pm
O-Trap's avatar

O-Trap

Chief Shenanigans Officer

14,994 posts
Oct 15, 2011 4:58 PM
I Wear Pants;934457 wrote:Dear god, the Occupy shit isn't merely about the banks that compose Wall Street.

I would certainly agree. I'm suggesting that the location of said protest only serves to make the group appear as though it doesn't know what it wants or what the problem is.
I Wear Pants;934613 wrote:Yes, one must be a hippie to think that shit hasn't been going too well for a while.
Ron Paul: America's Presidential Hippie Hopeful
Oct 15, 2011 4:58pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Oct 15, 2011 5:38 PM
O-Trap;934677 wrote:I would certainly agree. I'm suggesting that the location of said protest only serves to make the group appear as though it doesn't know what it wants or what the problem is.



Ron Paul: America's Presidential Hippie Hopeful
The Occupy things aren't about advocating for a specific policy. It's about recognizing the problem. I don't understand why that's so hard to get.

And the location of the protest isn't only Wall Street, it's all over. There were a ton of people on Federal and Market demonstrating when I left class today and there's events all around the country and world. This isn't a liberal or conservative thing which is why policy isn't being advocated since it wouldn't represent the group as a whole. The tea party can advocate policy because it's an entirely conservative based group for example. The Occupy movement isn't like that.
Oct 15, 2011 5:38pm
ManO'War's avatar

ManO'War

Senior Member

1,420 posts
Oct 15, 2011 5:53 PM
So they are protesting the system that gave them the opportunity to protest the system?

Makes sense.
Oct 15, 2011 5:53pm
O-Trap's avatar

O-Trap

Chief Shenanigans Officer

14,994 posts
Oct 15, 2011 5:56 PM
I Wear Pants;934763 wrote:The Occupy things aren't about advocating for a specific policy. It's about recognizing the problem. I don't understand why that's so hard to get.
It's hard to get because it seems like every single person involved is recognizing a different problem, but also because it seems to do as much to vilify a particular demographic as it does represent an acknowledgement of any problem itself.
I Wear Pants;934763 wrote: And the location of the protest isn't only Wall Street, it's all over.
It begun as the "Occupy Wall Street" phenomena and has spread. The fact that it has become a global phenomenon since doesn't answer the question why Wall Street was picked to start it, though.
I Wear Pants;934763 wrote:There were a ton of people on Federal and Market demonstrating when I left class today and there's events all around the country and world. This isn't a liberal or conservative thing which is why policy isn't being advocated since it wouldn't represent the group as a whole.
I think it's very obvious that it is neither a conservative nor a liberal thing, as both parties have exacerbated the problem, and it acknowledges that.

Interestingly, though, when the Tea Party started, it did the same.
I Wear Pants;934763 wrote:The tea party can advocate policy because it's an entirely conservative based group for example.
It didn't really start that way. Through a bastardizing takeover of it, it has become a conservative group, but it started out as Republicans, Democrats, Third Party, and Independents who gathered in protest of problematic Federal spending ... by both parties.
I Wear Pants;934763 wrote:The Occupy movement isn't like that.
I'm curious to see if it will become just like that, though.
Oct 15, 2011 5:56pm
O-Trap's avatar

O-Trap

Chief Shenanigans Officer

14,994 posts
Oct 15, 2011 5:56 PM
ManO'War;934784 wrote:So they are protesting the system that gave them the opportunity to protest the system?

Makes sense.
I'm not convinced they're all protesting the same thing.
Oct 15, 2011 5:56pm
C

Con_Alma

Senior Member

12,198 posts
Oct 15, 2011 6:08 PM
dm27;934572 wrote:... but we decided to rent and keep our cashed-offed vehicles. We scraped the bottom every month for every dime and put it on our loans. A little over a year later we are down to 25k on our student loans, have a nice emergency fund, started both a 401(k) and Roth IRA, and are on track to pay it all off by next July. So with a little "can do" attitude and financial planning you can make your own success and live comfortably on a little.
Awesome. What you do with your income is so much more important than what your income is.
Oct 15, 2011 6:08pm
G

gut

Senior Member

15,058 posts
Oct 15, 2011 6:24 PM
What they are really protesting is free market capitalism. I get that wages suck, but rather than demonstrate the ability to, or actually add,value they are basically whining that 3rd world countries are taking their jobs. It is, in essence, crying unfair that a guy in China can do the job just as well as you for 1/10th the cost. Not that there aren't other inequities at play there, but the heart of this is wanting a handout or the govt to step in in some other form because you simply aren't as competitive as you'd like to be. That's not the fault of Wall Street or Big Business - if you want to talk "fair", WHY ARE YOU more deserving of the job than the guy in China? Or does justice, fairness and humanity stop at the borders of the US?

Saddling companies with uncompetitive wages in the question of "fairness" is the quickest way to make America a 3rd world country for almost everyone, but certainly at least the 47%.
Oct 15, 2011 6:24pm
Iliketurtles's avatar

Iliketurtles

Senior Member

8,191 posts
Oct 15, 2011 8:12 PM
O-Trap;934194 wrote:I wish this guy was on OC. I'd rep him.
You can rep me for him since I posted it :).
Oct 15, 2011 8:12pm
Mulva's avatar

Mulva

Senior Member

13,650 posts
Oct 15, 2011 10:53 PM
I think it's sad that who you know is more important than what you know.

The end of my thoughts on the topic.
Oct 15, 2011 10:53pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Oct 16, 2011 1:23 AM
gut;934835 wrote:What they are really protesting is free market capitalism. I get that wages suck, but rather than demonstrate the ability to, or actually add,value they are basically whining that 3rd world countries are taking their jobs. It is, in essence, crying unfair that a guy in China can do the job just as well as you for 1/10th the cost. Not that there aren't other inequities at play there, but the heart of this is wanting a handout or the govt to step in in some other form because you simply aren't as competitive as you'd like to be. That's not the fault of Wall Street or Big Business - if you want to talk "fair", WHY ARE YOU more deserving of the job than the guy in China? Or does justice, fairness and humanity stop at the borders of the US?

Saddling companies with uncompetitive wages in the question of "fairness" is the quickest way to make America a 3rd world country for almost everyone, but certainly at least the 47%.
Untrue. Bailouts and the like are pretty much the opposite of free market policies and these protests are generally against those.
Oct 16, 2011 1:23am
Tobias Fünke's avatar

Tobias Fünke

formerly "sjmvsfscs08"

2,387 posts
Oct 16, 2011 1:49 AM
I Wear Pants;935154 wrote:Untrue. Bailouts and the like are pretty much the opposite of free market policies and these protests are generally against those.
+1

But you had to do the bailouts are all of these poor people would definitely be poorer right now.

I'm a Republican and all, but in my opinion if you're "too big to fail," then you're too big to exist. Chop 'em up.
Oct 16, 2011 1:49am
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Oct 16, 2011 2:00 AM
My point was that many on the right are objecting to these protests because they see them as leftist/Democrat thing. It isn't. It's a "we're tired of this bullshit thing". Whether you want higher taxes for the super rich and corporations or lower taxes to allow businesses to operate more easily or better healthcare available for all or the government out of healthcare you should be supporting this movement. Like I said, it isn't (at least now) about the solutions but rather saying "this isn't working" and trying to get a dialogue going. We've been hearing about change from Democrats and Republicans for a long time now and frankly not much has changed.
Oct 16, 2011 2:00am
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Oct 16, 2011 2:02 AM
Tobias Fünke;935166 wrote:+1

But you had to do the bailouts are all of these poor people would definitely be poorer right now.

I'm a Republican and all, but in my opinion if you're "too big to fail," then you're too big to exist. Chop 'em up.
I would agree and I would have made that part of the bailouts. "You guys fucked up and now you're going to fail but you're so large that doing so might irreparably damage the economy. So we'll bail you out but we're splitting you up so you assholes can't do this again."
Oct 16, 2011 2:02am
G

gut

Senior Member

15,058 posts
Oct 16, 2011 5:06 AM
I Wear Pants;935154 wrote:Untrue. Bailouts and the like are pretty much the opposite of free market policies and these protests are generally against those.
I think the issue is a lot muddier when you consider the govt contributed in no small part to the collapse to begin with. If it were all of their own doing, I'd agree, but saying the bailout is anti-free market when you didn't have a free market to begin with is somewhat circular logic. You can't be for or against govt intervention only when it suits you - if the govt contributes to a fuck-up they share responsibility in fixing it just like you would expect any business or person to. The govt housing mandate to Freddie and Fannie and the absurdly low interest rates were absolutely necessary ingredients to the financial meltdown - in other words, if the govt doesn't meddle in the free market to begin with they more than likely don't need to intervene later with the bailout.

The govt was a stakeholder in that mess and just like any other stakeholder they have to bear some of the loss. Except other than GM/Chrysler, it's not a handout - the govt gets their money back, plus interest, from the Wall Street bailout. So, again, I'm confused as to what exactly they are protesting and why target Wall Street. Well, I know why but their target is misguided - I haven't noticed any protesters outside the Capitol or the White House. These idiots are looking to the govt for a solution when the govt is clearly the biggest part of the problem.
Oct 16, 2011 5:06am