Occupy Wall Street Claims They Speak For The 99% – Do They Speak For You?

Occupy Wall Street has going on for a while now, around 6 weeks or so, I believe. Unfortunately, I do not believe it has accomplished much. I don’t even think it has shed much media attention on the relevant issues or sparked much debate. That’s unfortunate, because I do believe the OWS movement has some legitimate complaints, though they aren’t expressed especially well. What I don’t like, however, is how so many of the protesters scream “we are the 99%” as if they are speaking for all of us. They most certainly are not.

I’m All For The 99%

I certainly don’t make anywhere near enough money to be part of the 1%, so in that sense, I am definitely a 99 percenter. I am for things like universal health care, restoring reasonable financial regulations such as the old Glass-Steagall Act (although I think it should be reworked and not merely reinstated), limiting the influence of capital on the political process, etc. So yeah, I agree with some of what many of the protesters are after. However, there are a few things I am adamantly against.

• Putting the “criminals” in jail - This is straight up childish and I hear it repeatedly. Perhaps some of the bankers didn’t make the wisest decisions, but with a few glaring exceptions, they aren’t criminals. And hey, it’s not like you’ve never made a mistake yourself. All this rabble-rousing for “throwing the criminals in jail” is silly and it’s rooted in revenge, not justice. I’ve even heard people seriously call for some of these bankers to be executed a few more times than I’m comfortable with. Seriously, people? Grow up.
• Ending free trade - It very well may be that free trade has been eroding American living standards, but guess what? Americans don’t have any more right to a high-paying job than anybody else. The poor need those jobs way more than we do. I’m fine with it and you should be too. Think of it as repaying the rest of the world for centuries of exploitation.
• Mandating a guaranteed living wage – I’m not sure exactly what this means, but it’s a stupid idea. Stop screaming about it and claiming you’re doing it for the 99% (of which I’m a part). No you’re not. You’re doing it for you.

So yes, I am a 99 percenter. We may be in the same boat, but you do NOT speak for me. I and I alone speak for myself and I resent you representing your movement as if you do. Let me repeat: you do not speak for me nor do you speak for anybody else. And I’m not the only one who feel this way.

Enter The 53% Movement

First let me state I do not back the 53% movement specifically. Just because you don’t earn enough to pay taxes every year doesn’t mean you are lazy or don’t deserve a say in how you are governed. That said, I can appreciate the sentiment they are expressing. Whilst many on the interwebs have dismissed the movement as a mere right-wing wingnut response to the Occupy Wall Street movement, I have seen no evidence this is the case. Hell, nobody would ever confuse me with a conservative and I love it! Specifically, what I like is the fact that a certain segment of the population is standing up and saying “wait a minute, I’m not rich but I don’t believe you represent my beliefs or best interest.” Bravo.

We can argue endlessly over which side is right and which side is wrong*, but that would miss the point. The point is, 99% of America is a massively heterogeneous group. No single movement could ever hope to represent the best interests of a group that large and diverse. In fact, I find it downright insulting that anyone would actually try. You are not the 99%. At most, you are the 0.000099%. Please don’t pretend you are something more, because it’s really annoying.

Does The 99% Movement Speak For You?

I have no doubt there are some people out there who completely agree with everything the 99% movement stands for. Good for you. But I also have no doubt that 99.999% people people don’t. Most people may agree with a few of the fundamental  tenants of the movement and disagree with others. And yes, there are fundamental tenants despite a lot of protesting to the contrary. Which side do you come down on? Or, if you’re like me, perhaps you come down on no side at all! There’s no wrong answer to this questions and, so long as we can keep it civil**, I think we can all learn a lot from each other.

* Oh, and for the record, both sides are full of crap. Now that we’ve settled that argument once and for all, let’s all do something productive with our time.

** I’m fully aware this isn’t possible on the internet, but it’s nice to pretend.