Hi
First of all, congratulations. You've proudly exercised your right to free speech; even though what you say is both fundamentally flawed on many levels, and infuriating to the majority of people who read it. But hey, it's what people have fought long and hard for over the centuries, so, well done you! Now to tackle why your blog annoys people (or at least why it annoyed me), and why it fails to counter the idiologies of the protesters on Wall Street.
"My dad is a successful computer engineer. My mom gave up a career to raise me properly". Good for you. This is 100% luck on your behalf, and a good proportion of luck on behalf of your successful parents. You can work all the hours you want, but it may never make you successful; there are always extenuating circumstances. Your opening sentence sort of reminds me of when I was 13, and didn't have to worry about paying bills or the rate of inflation, or any of the other things you have to worry about as a grown-up. You've got a lot to look forward to in the real world.
"Our house is a little too small, but like my parents say 'live beneath your means". This I agree with, and is possibly the only thing on that card of ignorance which very few will argue with. It's debatable that if more people had thought like this, the financial crisis wouldn't have happened.
"Maybe you should have gotten a degree in Biology instead of Bitter Womens Studies". Hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it? I mean, as we all know, get a degree in Biology, and you're guaranteed a job! As for getting a degree, if you do go onto college or university, you may feel a little angry that you're paying $200 for a single text book, which you can not buy second hand, because the lecturers and private universities are getting a backhander from the publisher to slightly amend the course in-line with the 'new edition'. Of course, this will only apply to you if you can afford the minimum $12.8k p/a tuition fees for public colleges, or $32k p/a private (1)
"So could you quit crapping in alleys in New York, go home, and get a job at Mcdonalds?"
I admire your working spirit, really I do. Personally, i'd rather clean toilets than be out of work. However, much of the wall street protest isn't about the employment situation. It encompasses several aspects of todays world which are unfair, unjust, and downright disgraceful. One aspect is the financial situation. In a nutshell, the economic recession was caused by the sub prime mortgage lenders, and generally reckless gambling by banking conglomerates such as Lehmen Brothers, who closed with $613Bn of debt (2), and HBOS. The CEOs of these companies encouraged reckless lending, dishing out huge bonuses to those who made money, and offering no penalties to those who failed. These Banks (or 'bastards' as they're commonly known) were then bailed out by the Government (well, the taxpayer, really), at a cost of $12.8 Trillion (3). Shortly after the bailout, wall street traders were still reportedly receiving 6 figure bonuses. These people help make up the 1%, who make the 99% angry. Why should 20% of your salary go towards funding someone else's champagne and gambling addiction? When these banks went bust, and the banks called in their loans, alot of people lost their jobs, and/or their houses. The banks stopped lending to small companies, meaning they had to stop trading. My point here is that it's always the taxpayer who picks up the bill when the government screws up, or the banks behave irresponsibly. It's always the taxpayer who gets shafted one way or another, whether they have a job or not. As I said earlier, there's more to these protests than employment...
So that's the wall street situation (watered down; I'm no economist by a long shot!), but there's also everything else that goes on, which people are sick of too.
One such example is the influence which large companies have on the government; sometimes these companies lend the government money, which then has to be paid back in interest...or favours. Then there's the sheer level of corruption in politics. There's plenty of examples of this, but one thing which gets us Brits annoyed is the expenses scandal; politicians using tax payers money to get their moat cleared, or their bloody piano tuned :/ (4) These examples are the tip of the iceberg where immoral behavior by powerful people are concerned.
I'm only going to touch on this subject, as I realise that when this all kicked off, you were only 5 years old (assuming that it was you who created this blog, along with the cardboard sign). The Iraq war kind of annoyed alot of people. This was based on a lie (from a UK perspective a 'sexed up dossier' claiming Sadaam had weapons of mass destruction, which, according to intelligence held no weight whatsoever). Not only did this war cost around 112,000 civilian lives (5), but also $798 Billion (and counting) (6). We, the 99% paid for this. Unwillingly. This makes us unhappy. Incidentally, many of George Bush's friends either own or have owned large arms manufactures (7) (scroll to paragraph 11 for the good stuff!) Fancy that! ;)
So yeah, to sum up, we, the 99% aren't just whining about not having a job, and blaming everyone else but ourselves for it, like a teenager claiming 'it's so unfair' when he's asked to clean his room. We have alot to be pissed off about, and maybe when you get a little older and step into the real world, you'll be pissed off too, then you can join our super fun happy club against the bastards who pop champagne corks whilst the rest of us become homeless.
"Because even at 13, I know I will become part of the 100% of PRODUCTIVE members of society that will be supporting you in a few short years."
No, you don't. I love your optimism, even if I dislike your incorrect grammar, sentence structure and spurious maths (100% of productive members of society?). I'm glad you're looking forward to supporting people who have no intention of working, and instead have a dozen kids and earn more than you do through benefits. Like I said, this uprising isn't all about jobs. It's about changing a broken system. It's about the US being in $14 Trillion of debt (8), and paying interest on that amount...53% of which debt is public...12% is owed to 'individuals (9) So, what happens to the interest then? :/. This is a debt, of which the interest alone can never be paid off, no matter how long the 99% keep paying taxes for...
Well, bugger me, i guess I just 'let the hate flow through me!' Incidentally, I'm from the UK and play no part in these riots whatsoever. I have a job, a profession and a home. It was merely the sheer ignorance and sanctimonious attitude of your blog which drove me to respond in this way. Finally (i promise!) I thought i'd reference this email (essay), so you can see the other side of the coin. If you still can't, go to i-am-bored.com, where your blog is currently being scrutinised by a few members of 'the 99%'. Please feel free to post this on your blog, and I hope you and anyone who agrees with you sees the other side of the coin.
(1) http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=76
(2)http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lehman-folds-with-record-613-billion-debt
(3) http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/economy/the-true-cost-of-the-bank-bailout/3309/
(4) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5310069/MPs-expenses-Clearing-the-moat-at-Douglas-Hoggs-manor.html
(5)http://www.iraqbodycount.org/
(6)http://costofwar.com/en/
(7)http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/TiesThatBind.html
(8) http://www.usdebtclock.org/
(9) http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/DC-Decoder/2011/0204/National-debt-Whom-does-the-US-owe
