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Yes! Magazine / Op-Ed
Published: Thursday 10 November 2011
“Not everyone at the top of the economic system thinks it's a fair one. Why Jesse Estrin—and many others—decided to stand with the rest of us.”
We are the 1% ... And We Stand with the 99%
This photo is of Jesse Estrin
I first realized that I came from wealth when I discovered that not everybody’s family had more than one house.
It was a further revelation when, growing up, it dawned on me that not everybody else went to the same kind of school I did. I began to understand that my experience of elementary and high school – going to nicely furnished schools with state-of-the-art facilities in a safe neighborhood of West L.A., and with very little diversity and an obsession with getting students into Ivy League colleges—was not the experience of the majority of other children my age. When you are surrounded by peers in the same financial bracket as yourself, it can take some time to recognize the bubble that separates you from the rest of society. This bubble is what I eventually came to understand as privilege.
It was a long and bumpy journey to come to terms with what this privilege of wealth meant, especially in light of the glaring differences of experience that I began to see all around me. By the time I made it to college, and began to get involved with social and environmental activism, I would find myself in the confusing position of listening to angry insults and generalized stereotypes about “rich people.” My new friends—people I respected and admired—were adamant about social justice but had a great amount of anger and resentment toward people with wealth. It was extremely awkward for me, and I found myself keeping my background hidden—even to close friends—and never outing myself as someone who came from wealth. I felt a tremendous amount of embarrassment and shame around it. Interestingly, I discovered that many of my friends who also came from wealth felt the same way. It was actually very isolating. It wasn’t cool to be a rich kid.
It wasn’t until I discovered Resource Generation, an organization that works with young people to leverage wealth and privilege for social change, that I found a network of other young people with similar backgrounds who wanted to talk about these taboo issues in order to make a difference in the world. Attending a conference they put on and meeting other young folks who came from the upper class and who shared a passion for social and economic justice was incredibly meaningful. I realized that for most people today, money remains a taboo subject that no one ever wants to talk about openly.
This is often especially true for those who have money, and many of the people I met at Resource Generation had families that were strict about never talking about wealth or where it came from. To break out of the silence and actually talk about money was itself a liberating experience.
Furthermore, talking about the ways it was most often accrued (through an unjust economic system with complex and subtle relationships to racism, classism, and oppression) was incredibly challenging, but at the same time empowering. It was through my own inner work around these issues—through workshops, conferences, and conversations with others—that I came to realize my shame and embarrassment about coming from wealth didn’t need to paralyze me and keep me silent. Only after I did this did I feel empowered to try and understand how I could best use my resources to change the social issues I felt most strongly about.
When the Occupy Wall Street protests began, I decided it was time for me to step up, publicly out myself as a part of the 1%, and share my outrage at the injustices that are occurring globally. I have to admit that this was scary for me, because I didn’t know what kind of reaction I would get. After all, this was a movement of and for the 99%, many of whom seemed to have anger towards the 1%. With the streets of San Francisco crowded with protesters shouting “We are the 99%!” and “Whose streets? Our streets!” I was less than excited to walk out into the open with a giant sign confessing my status as the 1%.
I remember my heart beating as I made my sign, and seeing my friends—many of whom I had never told about my economic status—reading it for the first time. It took them a moment to process it. I was surprised and relieved to feel supported by all of them, who encouraged me and commented that it was a powerful form of solidarity.
And this is the same reaction I found at the protest itself: Most of my fears quickly subsided as I found myself welcomed and embraced by the whole range of diverse people marching that day. I was embraced as an important part of the equation whose voice also needed to be heard, and whose solidarity is needed in the collective call for equality and justice. And although I know that cross-class alliances may not always be easy or smooth—considering the tensions that can often exist—I realized it is important for me to speak out about my story, even in the face of struggles or challenges that can come with it.
As it became clearer how, by being born into the upper class, I was given many unfair advantages in jump-starting a successful career, I became appalled at the accusation that many people aren't “successful” because they don’t “work hard enough.” While I and many others have more than we need, I am surrounded by friends who are struggling to make ends meet, get health care, and pay back massive student loans. While millions are struggling for survival, taxes for the wealthiest 1% have gone down! This is simply unacceptable. And the thing is—it is unacceptable to every other person of wealth that I know. That is why I—and many others in the 1%—are standing with the 99% in demanding a more just and equitable distribution of wealth. This will require effort from all sides—100%.
Social activist and Buddhist Joanna Macy writes about what she calls the “Great Turning,” our current moment in time as an epochal and historic transition toward a life-sustaining civilization. As I have tried to make sense of the suffering and injustice I see all around me, I am realizing that if we are to survive, we will have to see a rapid and major shift that includes not only economic change, but ecological and spiritual transformation as well.
One of the sayings that my grandmother used to tell us, over and over, was “to one whom much is given, much is expected.” I come from a family deeply committed to philanthropy and social justice, and have recently joined the board of my family’s nonprofit foundation dedicated to progressive and grassroots philanthropy. I have come to believe that those of us who have benefited the most from the system need to step up—especially at this point in time—and give back. As people who have first-hand knowledge of how the economic system is tilted in our favor, we have an obligation to speak out about it rather than remain silent and continue to receive its benefits.
Advocating for more equal taxation is one of the few concrete ways that those with wealth can stand up united to give back to the whole. This is critical if we are going to build a large and cohesive movement around redistribution of wealth and long-term change to our economic system.
At the end of the march in San Francisco we ended up on the front steps of City Hall. I found myself drawn to a group of people playing drums, singing, and dancing. Somebody came over and handed me a drum, and before I knew what was happening I was pulled through the pulsing rhythm and into my heart in the way only music can do. With our signs laid on the ground, suddenly we became a group of people using our bodies and voices to express our dissent, our desire for change, our anger, and our pain; but also our hopes, our dreams, and the pure, untouched human impulse to celebrate and make music in the face of it all.
Here for me was the defining image, the common heart of the movement, where all class difference falls away, where race and gender and sexual preference merge and entwine, and it is simply hearts coming together to forge a new way forward. This was enough to fill me with inspiration and with hope for the future.
Long after I picked up my sign and headed home, it was this image, this feeling of the pounding drums and stomping feet, that stayed with me and made me feel connected to and included in the very heart of this movement. And for this I feel grateful.
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62 comments on "We are the 1% ... And We Stand with the 99% "
December 08, 2011 12:49am
The 1% is a type of behavior, not a specific group of people. If you want to wage war, condemn the behaviors, but have compassion for the people.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bryan-alvarez/mindfulness-compassion-occupy_b_1129947.html
November 29, 2011 1:16pm
Oprah makes 350 million a year. She can live on 5 million, so the government should take the other 354 million and give it to those of us who have student loans, car insurance, and medical insurance. WalMart owners have enough money, so all WalMart profits should go to decreasing the national debt. Those extra-rich people can live just like the rest of us for a change.
November 29, 2011 7:37am
Just ran into this myself. Ridiculous, ain't it?
November 27, 2011 4:13pm
I wholeheartedly salute this wealthy persons solidarity as an individual, but it think that his proposal is actually part of the problem. One of the greatest contributions from occupy movements are the new attitude of struggle and participa...tion that brings the possibility of making serious cultural and social analysis. To say that all class difference falls away toward an abstractly pure "humanity" is to deny the most crude facts of this reality. This is a class war. It should be said out loud and reminded to ourselves constantly, for it has been a very long time ever since we were able to see it so clear and feel it so deep. Discourses like this, despite how emotional and sincere they might be, can only water down and disarm this movement if taken seriously, as proposals.
It's good that he wants to be taxed and all, but this is not what we should be striving for ultimately. The upbringing of the dispossessed neccesarily implies the cease of privileges for the ruling class. Are tax breaks enough to cover down or justify the fine mesh of exploitaition relationships that makes dudes like this one wealthy? What we should bring up and make explicit is a critique of the property system that allows privileges, and not be fooled by philantrophic treats or petty concession from the exploiters, which would surely come around as proposals from the desperated ruling class if the protests intensify.
Let's keep this in mind. This is a class war. It's not the 100% working together as one, it is the 99% against the 1%, for now.
December 08, 2011 12:50am
The 1% is a type of behavior, not a specific group of people. If you want to wage war, condemn the actions and have compassion for the people.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bryan-alvarez/mindfulness-compassion-occup...
November 22, 2011 11:03pm
I applaud you and your story, and work. I have been so moved by this movement which I believe was inevitable. It has been misrepresented and under reported.I have gone to my local Occupy in Spokane, but was unable to stay. I made this video to show the sheer vastness of this movement.http://video214.com/play/fCdcbGX1S51ytiG57cJMzQ/s/darkJeanie Schneider
November 22, 2011 7:32am
I applaud you for your compassion for your fellow man, but it seems like we are all hung up on "fair share". If you want to give to help those less fortunate, then give. Give abundantly, give ridiculously, give with abandon, give freely without worrying if others are giving their "fair share". Your sign reads, "Tax me". Why must you wait for the government to tax you? --- just give it away. There are many organizations doing a fabulous job of getting the money and aid to the people who need it. It is in the act of GIVING that we truly LIVE OUT our compassion and love for others.
Stop Wellsfargo from "bullying" people into opening accounts with them by charging $7.50 for all non-account holders to cash a check.
November 29, 2011 7:38am
Just ran into this myself. Ridiculous, ain't it?
go vegan
November 12, 2011 3:09pm
Now this is a true-hearted man, a highly ethical man, who made sacrifices for himself. This man bears the signs of a good leader, this man of high values that he lives up to. How wonderful his bravery was an act of great virtue.
peace,
mickey
November 11, 2011 6:06pm
Thank you Jesse. It is comforting to know that many of the wealthy are on our side. I have had a suspicion that the movers and shakers, who tilt the balance of power in their (your?) favor, are a minority of the wealthy classes, and they would more likely be in the 0.1%. There are unscrupulous thieving S0B's in all stratas of society, and we all need to be protected form them wherever they come from on the percentage of wealth scale. The "controllers" and their partners in Congress and on the Supreme Court however don't seem to agree. Apparently prisons are for the poor and the super wealthy should be allowed to do as they wish.
So where do you go from here? The Koch brothers and their like spend VAST sums of money tilting the field in their favor. If so many rich folk really do care, isn't it time they countered them with equally vast sums of money? Can you enlist the help of Warren Buffet?
I'm hoping to hear soon that the wealthy are starting to spend their money to support us, and not just bang drums in the streets. I'm not holding my breath though. Banging drums really doesn't help much. We can do that ourselves.
November 11, 2011 1:23pm
Thank you for your story. I love how you describe your feelings when you joined the drummers, that you were all hearts coming together to a forge a new way forward. Music is the universal language, which can bridge so many gaps. It's sometimes indescribable when a group of people come together in an environment that allows us to just be human together. We are all connected because we are all the same no matter how much money we have, what color we are, where we live, what politics we fall for, what religion we practice, or anything else that would seemingly divide us. This movement is all about recognizing the connections between us and our interdependence on one another, and utilizing the energy that is created as a result. I hope we see more of you and others like you.
November 11, 2011 3:54pm
Well said, betsydoula--especially the part about the movement being about recognizing connection. I'd go even farther & say that if this fact isn't painfuly obvious after the economic debacles the world has experienced, then only a willful blindness can be to blame. Upon this revelation every political and economic attempt at remedying this mess should focus on the connection because therein lies what's malfunctioned. The fact we're an organism with circulatory and neurological connections in the forms of media, internet, and economy can no longer be looked at by anyone as idyllic, naive or not of the utmost pertinence--not unless we enjoy the hamster-wheel of useless deliberation and INaction.
November 11, 2011 11:25am
100% sounds better than 1% or 99%. Eliminate the upper class and lower class by rewriting the tax code to create a thriving middle class.
November 11, 2011 10:36am
Now, what Jesse needs to do is to hang out with Occupy more than once. I'd like to see him there camping out in the cold with the 99ers too. That would be awesome and a bold statement. It's great he went one time, but go back, Jesse.
November 11, 2011 7:32am
Beautifully expressed and the kind of energy that will make a difference when the 1% accept responsibility (both people and corporations). That's where equal taxation can and will make a difference. As Warren Buffett clearly states, he shouldn't be paying only 17% taxes as a billionaire, while his secretary pays 35% or twice that amount on her income.
When Clinton left office in 2001, the top tax bracket was 39 percent, and there was a budget surplus. Bush demanded a tax cut that was supposed to last till 2010 and was backloaded as a "tax holiday" through Dec. 2010. It's obvious what a disastrous outcome that created for our federal deficit.
Any politician who says we can fix the deficit and budget WITHOUT raising taxes on the richest people in America is totally irresponsible (as well as new tax code remedies for the top 20 corporations who paid NO taxes in 2010, due to loopholes, and some of whom actually got refunds). No wonder we have a jobs crises. The same corporations have outsourced them overseas. It's time to vote those politicians out of office in the upcoming elections of those who refuse to raise taxes on the richest Americans and corporations so our country can start to return to fiscal sanity with sensible, doable solutions.
I applaud this contribution from someone living in wealth of the 1%, who has to the courage to come forth and speak out by taking personal responsiblity. Hopefully it will inspire others to do so as well.
November 11, 2011 6:50am
We need more Jesse Estrins. Actually he is not an isolated example. While Republicans give you the BS that these are "job creators" and its sinful to tax them because if you do no jobs will be created, a poll published in Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal showed 68 percent of millionaires said they should be TAXED MORE.
I remember in 1993 when a Bill Clinton got a Democratic Congress to raise the top bracket in the income tax from 35 percent to 39 percent you would have thought the world would come to an end as one Republican in Congress after another got up and predicted a Doom's Day Recession.
But Clinton left office having overseen the creation of 23 million jobs and leaving behind the last federal budget surplus. Then George W. the Schlemiel Bush -- a man who had four oil companies, ran each into the ground and was repeatedly bailed out by the Saudis as his father was climbing up the political ladder -- took over. George II had a Republican Congress lower the top tax back down to 35 percent. And were are the jobs?
I tell you where they are. They shipped them to countries like India, Pakistan, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Mexico and other Third World countries. Companies even got tax breaks for doing so, making our people jobless.
But Bush wasn' t through wrecking the economy. His massive deregulation and lax enforcement of existing consumer financial regulatory laws led to the worst recession since the Great Depression with the loss of eight million jobs, collapsing banks, the near loss of General Motors and Chrysler, the demise of Enron, the housing collapse, and Bernard Madoff running of a Ponzi Scheme throughout most of the Bush administration.
Actually some of our best economic times came when the top tax bracket was 81 to 91 percent. Of course, it's true that there were loopholes in the law and nobody actually paid that much. But those taxpayers were actually paying around 50 percent -- much higher than either 35 or 39 percent.
So Republican BS that low tax rates either under Herbert Hoover's "trickle down" theories or under re-manufactured "supply side economics" as it was renamed by Arthur Laffer and Milton Friedman don't do what that they are supposed to do. And don't forget many of the jobs under Reagan were created under huge spending especially the massive military build-up.
Reagan and George H. W. Bush together spent more than all the presidents before them. George the Schlemiel doubled the national debt and left behind a debt greater than all previous presidents. The way to bring about balanced budgets is not to deflate a deflated economy with massive spending cuts, but to grow the economy and put 14 million unemployed with many more underemployed back to work. Infrastructure work -- desperately needed for crumbling roads, bridges, dams and other projects -- would put many unemployed construction workers back to work. So instead of having to pay these people unemployment benefits they would be paying taxes and causing increased demand. But Republicans aren't interested because it would put the economy on the way back to recovery. They want to tank the economy and blame Obama. That, my friends, is blind partisanship and plain out being unpatriotic and it's about time time people hold them accountable.
November 10, 2011 10:45pm
Thank you for your honesty. In the City by the Bay, the City of St. Francis we need to make sure as in all cities, that those of us who have the means, which can be anything from helping others to get their voices heard to getting the right people in office that will help us get affordable housing and help for PSTD vets who are still on the streets from Vietnam, or the Youth who were kicked out on the streets by their families and marginalized people get help they need. WE all are not perfect- none of us and we need to stop the anger of the past from informing our future. We need to use our anger for what Robert Thurman calls cool heroism. he says " F inding one's relation (connection) to all beings, acknowledging the evil potential in one-self, feeling sympathy for the evil person - one gets the strength and energy to be an activist and to try, by voting and organizing, to stop harm caused by others. This is cool heroism: developing a tolerant, deliberate, and wise energy.
People are afraid that if they let go of their anger and righteousness and wrath, and look at their own feelings - and even see the good in a bad person - they're going to lose the energy they need to do something about the problem. But actually you get more strength and energy by operating from a place of love and concern. You can be just as tough, but more effectively tough. It's like a martial art. "
November 10, 2011 10:25pm
Keep relying on something imaginary to get you by! Wake up!
November 11, 2011 1:50am
What an odd, hateful comment. As a fierce advocate for the 99%, I bear no ill will toward those in the 1% who use their advantages for the good of everyone. In fact, I welcome their support. Occupy Wall Street is not about class warfare; it is about transparency and accountability. This man is welcome in my big tent; you and your bitterness are not.
November 10, 2011 10:50pm
I s this a charitable response? I s this not acting just like the way you don't want people to treat you? Please consider . We need to stop all harm and that begins right here and now with our words. NONE of us are perfect. What are we teaching our children with our words? To continue to hate?
Robert Thurman: " Finding one's relation (connection) to all beings, acknowledging the evil potential in one-self, feeling sympathy for the evil person - one gets the strength and energy to be an activist and to try, by voting and organizing, to stop harm caused by others. This is cool heroism: developing a tolerant, deliberate, and wise energy.
People are afraid that if they let go of their anger and righteousness and wrath, and look at their own feelings - and even see the good in a bad person - they're going to lose the energy they need to do something about the problem. But actually you get more strength and energy by operating from a place of love and concern. You can be just as tough, but more effectively tough. It's like a martial art. "
November 10, 2011 9:24pm
for more info on interview mentioned here-- go to: http://www.nowpublic.com/indira_singh_interview_april_2005_part_one
November 10, 2011 9:24pm
for more info on interview mentioned here-- go to: http://www.nowpublic.com/indira_singh_interview_april_2005_part_one
November 10, 2011 9:07pm
Bravo You!You just reassured me that we are all indeed 100% in this together, and that even with the current division between 1 and 99, the boundaries are being broken down and truth and goodness are prevailing. I wish I could shake your hand.....Instead, I offer these words penned very clumsily 15 years ago but which seem relevant today...THE TURNINGSomewhere across the mountainsOver plains where winds blow freeWhere rivers roll their messageFrom the source out to the sea;The tide has turned and shiftedNew waves break on the shoreThe winds of change blow swiftlyLike they never have before.The stirring has been feltIn the heart of Mother Earth,Man and woman, boy and girlAre emerging from rebirthOne by one, their eyes are openedAwakened from deep sleepTheir pulses rise and quickenAnd the memories start to creep;The beat of tribal rhythmsEchoes hearts that know release,As the wisdom of the ancient onesWhispers in the trees.Memories emerge to hauntFrom another place and time;Through the veil they seek the answersTo the yearnings of the mindThe search for valid meaningThe longing to touch the truth;The overlay of old waysOn the landscape of their youth;The sacrifice of comfortThe calling to belong,Passion ignites the passive onesIn search of that long lost home.Beneath an arc of stars,Spirit walks the earthly plain,As each heart evokes The DreamtimeTo reunite the tribes of man.
November 10, 2011 8:24pm
It's especially interesting that Jesse says that he and like-minded friends quite openly approve of "redistribution" of wealth - a concept that is totally taboo to the more Neanderthal of the Republicans. These are the same repubs who renamed "estate duty" "death tax", very smart PR but totally far from the truth.
I think these people are "would-be 1%-ers" and are driven by a sort of fanatical desire to climb, climb with the feet in the faces of others. They are very different from the more rational - and humane - types like Jesse, or Soros or Buffet.
November 10, 2011 8:26pm
Relief.
I teach in a masters in Social Justice Program in Detroit, MI at Marygrove College. I am making this part of the required reading for our Foundations course. It is a perspective that is coming from a person who is conscious of privilege and its benefits as well as the injustices this continues to spawn. You are believable because of how you tell this story, your story. Yours is an important voice and I thought I would tell you how I will carry your voice to students who are from the urban core in Detroit and who know all too well they are not lazy and that something is a work in the "system" that bears down on them and their families. You have personalized this truth and it is far more real coming from you than from those who rage against the 1%. It is an equalizer in a very unbalanced storm. Thank you.
November 10, 2011 7:55pm
Beautifully said, deeply appreciated, and much needed. Thank you.
November 10, 2011 7:52pm
A big part of the "wealth" problem is our system of inheritance. Through no work or skill or talent of their own, millions of people are handed millions of dollars, properties and businesses. To me, this is a major corruption of the American ethos, that you earn your way and contribute to society as an equal. Perhaps we should tax inheritance more, or turn part of excess funds over to foundations to distribute to those who have great ideas, not just great grandparents. Having so much unearned wealth also creates guilt, which in turn, can lead to denial and cynicism or even hatred of the poor.
November 10, 2011 10:35pm
This is why capital gains and the inheritance tax were traditionally kept higher until the repugs came along.
November 10, 2011 6:14pm
greed,jealosy,hatred,lust etc.-all seem to be part of everyone of us-in some way or another as part of our fallen human nature-What's the answer? Simple-Turn to JESUS CHRIST AND REPENT-FORGIVE AND YOU SHALL BE FORGIVEN!LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF -LOVE GOD ABOVE ALL ELSE-NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!!!!!
November 11, 2011 1:57am
Oh, please. Not the Jesus thing. Exactly why do you think your self-anointed duty to "minister" is welcome in a serious discussion about the need to unite not divide? FYI, Bill: If one needs Jesus in order to be moral, one is not moral at all. True morality comes from within, not from hanging onto a fairy tale invented to control the masses.
November 10, 2011 5:52pm
Evolution is substitution, so be aware that money never made a difference. Only the difference that makes a difference makes a difference. That would be intellectual property, oddly at some strange crossroads for the aliens to a broader understanding of a base of a pyramid than the one standing, obviously monetarily constructed. I wrote earlier about this, and it got removed. Let's say that Indira Singh's interview on Guns and Butter in 2005 is about as important for changing out this Old Guard as important gets.
November 10, 2011 9:24pm
for more see: http://www.nowpublic.com/indira_singh_interview_april_2005_part_one
November 10, 2011 5:52pm
Anono: This man has decided of his own free will to help in whatever way he can people who have been treated unfairly. He says nowhere that he is a poor little rich kid. He has nothing to repent for. All he said was that he was worried about how the 99 percenters would react to him once they knew he was wealthy. You, on the other hand, sound totally jealous of his good fortune in life. It makes me wonder if you, if you were born yourself to such wealth, would be as caring and generous as he apparantly is. By knocking him you knock yourself.
November 10, 2011 5:52pm
Thank you Jesse. Your OP-ED is deeply moving and suffused with wisdom. Your life and very being are even more inspiring. Such compassion, courage and wisdom--such fully articulated and realized humanity--are seldom found in one person in such abundance. You deserve to be recognized and honored for this. Thank you.
November 10, 2011 5:11pm
Thank you for your willingness and candor. I think we need to be focused on the 1/10th of 1%. The ruling elite of the world and their minions.
November 10, 2011 4:33pm
Thank you, Jesse. This was a deeply moving article and I applaud you for it.
November 11, 2011 7:03am
Like FDR Republicans consider this writer a traitor to his class. Too bad. But the bottom line a recent poll published in Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal shows 68 percent of all millionaires believe they should be paying more. The trouble is the Financial Godfathers of the Republican Party -- John Birch Society revivalists billionaire brothers of Charles and David Koch -- and the Tea Partiers they finance control the GOP -- the Greed Old Party. See my post below about the myth of Trickle Down Economics re-manufactured and re-named Supply Side Economics. Ray A. Cohn
November 10, 2011 4:15pm
Thank you for supporting the change that is necessary to restore an America in which I can take great pride. Just out of curiosity, what is the name of your family's non-profit foundation?
November 11, 2011 7:04am
I want to second your sentiments. Ray A. Cohn
November 10, 2011 4:11pm
Having lived both wealthy (not in the 1%) and poor lifestyles, I would imagine that the 1% whom we despise has quite a few bad apples but not a majority. Most haven't bribed politicians for tax cuts and wars, or taken part in trashy Wall Street deals. This is ALL THE MORE REASON TO PROSECUTE THE BAD APPLES, INSTEAD OF LETTING THEM OFF. One bad apple can rot the barrel. Let's hope more like Mr. Estrin have the guts to come out in the name of truth and responsibility. Hopefully they will listen to Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility." Or Professor Dumbledore, "We are not judged by our abilities, but by our decisions." Don't even get me started on Shakespeare.
November 10, 2011 3:57pm
Thank you, Sir.
November 10, 2011 3:14pm
I will simply thank you for having a conscience that allows you to see that things need to be done, and then for getting busy doing them. I have no problem, nor . have I ever envied, the super rich. I've always admired Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt; JFK; Andrew Carnegie, who was by no means perfect, but who fought to give public libraries to the people; the Rockefeller family, who were early robber barons in the US, but whose children support all sorts of charitable organizations. I do believe that to whom much is given, much is expected, but even those of us with much less, have a duty to be kind and to pass on the kindness of others.
Most of us have no wish, no hope, nor ambition to be rich, but most of us would like to at least have "enough" and a little extra to feel safe & secure. We want to be able to make a living that allows us to see our children clothed, fed, and educated, and have medical attention when sick. The little extra is to have enough occasionally to do something fun and special. Bread and Roses...the necessities and some beauty. You have nothing to feel guilty about, none of us can help what family we're born into. You obviously had family who raised you to be caring and responsible and that is all any of us wish our children to be. I'm sure your parents are proud of you.
November 10, 2011 3:09pm
The 1% comes in various sizes: those at the top this group, the global wealth heavy weights have so much that they really don't know the exact amount or what they own. To them, money is like cool filtered air that comes naturally. Some of the lower part of this 1% has a heart, like this gentleman, who knows after having secured enough fortune that would last a few generations (just consuming without any interest or putting the wealth to work), there in no value in hoarding for hoarding's sake. Welcome to humanity, Sir, and congratulations for learning to transform! Hope the rest of your group learn from you and that you do not try to take control of the OWS to deliver them gagged and bound to the 1%!
November 10, 2011 2:49pm
Angry much?
November 10, 2011 2:34pm
There are so few 1%'ers who are not so socially sheltered and insulated that they still possess genuine empathy and compassion for ordinary people, and who also remember the Biblical truism that "to whom much is given, much shall be required". Those few of the 1%, such as Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy, became heroes to the poor, the working class and the middle class because they possessed a deep awareness that the only way the nation could truly prosper, flourish and become what the Founders originally intended was for every single citizen to have the opportunities to have their creativity developed and nurtured and to use that creativity to become productive, prosperous citizens. And when they used the power of government to make this possible, America became the model for other nations to imitate and follow.
Unfortunately, these lessons of the past have been deliberately obscured, and while the vast majority of the 1% have become socially isolated and ossified by their vast material wealth and in the process, lost their compassion and empathy toward ordinary people. And while most of the 1% continue to ruthlessly exploit the 99% at every opportunity, it's heartening to see a few among the 1% who have not lost their empathy and compassion for ordinary people and who've made the decision to reject the exploitation, inequality and injustice which have been inflicted upon the 99% and do the morally right and honorable thing by joining the fight for social, political, legal and economic equality and justice for every single American.
November 10, 2011 2:19pm
Sorry you are NOT the 1%. Those are the global folks controlling tens or hundreds of trillions of dollars.
Millions and billions just aren't what they used to be in the daze of inflation.
And so you know: the US Treasury has a special address where donations can be mailed at any time. No need to wait for tax law changes.
November 10, 2011 3:06pm
How many more times to WE have to be subjected to another baseless and untruthful partisan hack talking point. YOURS that is.
November 10, 2011 2:28pm
Boo F@#*!ng Hoo! Being spoon fed from birth and having everything handed to you must be horrific! Though what a concept dreamed up by the cancervative BS machine , derail the reality of economic injustice and inequity by making the wealthy the victims of such. What gaul to compare the suffering of being excessively wealthy even remotely with the agony of being homeless and hungry. Do you honestly think anyone should have sympathy for your position of priviledge? "Oh wo is me, I'm rich." Why did it take the 99% rubbing your face in your own poo to make you come out of the closet? Or is it that you just want to be on the winning side so as not to loose your upper classdom? If you're serious about your "repentence", then give it all away and move in under a bridge somewhere and dine out of a dumpster for a while. Or at least vote for a tax and spend spread the loaves and fishes around democrat instead of a cut, slash, starve, shoot, kill, pollute and evict republican this time around.