My thoughts on the Occupy movement are pretty scattered, much like the movement seems to be. I don't know everything about it, and I'm not sure anyone does or can. But that doesn't stop everyone, myself included, from having seemingly very strong opinions about it. (Except for maybe Brad, he seems pretty immune to getting too worked up about it, and graciously listens to me blabber on about it all the time in an effort to try and sort my thoughts out loud and make sense of all my jumbled musings. Thanks,babe. You're incredible!)
I've heard many comments thrown about like,
-"Those occupiers just need to go get a job and quit whining!"
-"Maybe if they would get a job instead of standing in the street, they wouldn't be part of the 99%"
-"I got a college degree, worked during college, graduated without debt, and have a job. I'm not part of the 99% because I work hard."
-"I can't believe I'm paying taxes to support those lazy people."
And my honest, knee-jerk reaction is to think, "people who say those things are ignorant and they need to go live in poverty for a couple months." And then I stop myself, because if I believe that, then I would be making the same broad generalizations about them that caused my knee-jerk judgement of those commentators. Ironic, huh? I need to repent.
I'm trying to sort out why I have that knee-jerk reaction to those comments. Some of my attempts at an explination are:
-I know good people that do have jobs and work hard everyday, and do support ideals from the movement. Smart people, well-educated, people with jobs. People I look up to. So obviously those comments are off base, because I know that the occupiers are not a bunch of whiny unemployed people.
-My understanding of the 99% is not that "99% of America is lazy and whiny and wants a free handout." In fact, the people who go out to the protests have got to be something other than "lazy" when they spend their days camping, marching around, holding up signs, and sometimes risking arest for something they strongly believe in. ("Lazy" is what I am right now, just sitting at my computer and making comments about the Occupy Movement without actually doing anything productive about my opinion.) The 99% came from the understanding that 1% of our nation's population owns something like 40% of the nation's wealth... I could look up the exact info, but I'm being lazy right now. :-) ok, so I decided to be slightly less lazy and look up some sites, most cite (2003-2007) that the top 1% of the nation holds anywhere from 34.8%-42.1% of our nation's wealth. Just google "1% owns how much wealth").
-I got a college degree, worked while in school, and graduated without debt. I work hard. If I was to leave that statement as it was, it would be a half-truth, and thus a lie. I was also very blessed. I received Pell Grants to help pay my tuition and books and other school supplies-- in other words, money from hard working taxpayers. I went to a school where 70% of my tuition was subsidized by faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who paid their tithing (10% of their income donated to the LDS church). I received half-tuition need-based scholarships from my University to help me pay for books, materials, and my laptop. And I had a part-time student job as a custodian. I worked hard, yes, but all my hard work wouldn't have meant anything had it not been for those HUGE financial blessings.
-Taxes do more than welfare. And sometimes, welfare programs if used with discretion can be a huge blessing to people that are working hard. Your taxes supported my family, and we tried to use it wisely and are grateful for that program during the time that we needed it. I know my family can't be the only ones who tried to be wise with our blessing of state assistance. Not everyone that receives it lives on it and is a bunch of lazy bums. Not everyone that needs a hand-up is looking for a handout.
I know wonderful people on both sides of the spectrum, and I hear news about all the corruption on both sides.
Example 1. My Papa has worked hard every day of his life as best I know. He served in the US Navy when he was younger. He taught my family the meaning of hard-work and loving your family first from the day he stepped into our family. He has sacrificed his health and body to work some of the demanding jobs he has held, and still struggles to feed his family and lives with my aunt and her sons, instead of his own home with my grandma. But he has far too much pride to ever ask for any help, and so I see him physically weaker every time I see him. It makes my heart cry from the injustice of it-- a man works works his body until it seems almost broken and still struggles to make ends meet. In a perfect Zion world, a man and family that works that hard would at least be guaranteed to have their basic needs met.
Example 2. I have an aunt who, when she was a teenager, seemed like she had made choices that today might be a life's sentence to poverty. She had 2 children as a teenager. But she was blessed with a family that supported her, helped her get through high school. Years later, she would graduate with a Bachelors of Science for a local college. She'd get a job, and later be able to go and get her MBA at another local University. She's now a successful financial person at her company. She's not a greedy person-- in fact, she's quite the opposite. She has opened her home to my grandparents. She often helps out struggling family members, she buys the family's food. She's generous and kind, And she's even told me that, GASP!, she wouldn't mind paying MORE in taxes if it meant that it helped pay off the nation's debt and help those who are struggling.
Example 3. Medicaid paid for my first pregnancy and birth since Brad and I were still in school-- working hard but making hardly any money. We didn't choose to apply for food stamps until there was a day when i called my parents, who have things tough financially themselves, if they could just put $5 on a shared wal-mart gift card so we could go buy some food that week. My mom convinced me that I had to put my pride aside and do what my family needed at the time, and that was food stamps. Brad was working as much as he could as a student, and I stayed home out of necessity since any job I could get would only pay for quality babysitting for Naomi and not make us any better off than if I was at home, able to raise my daughter myself. While receiving food stamps, I tried to buy healthy meals for my family, and invite friends over for meals to share the blessing. Now that Brad has a good job, we don't continue getting food stamps and are happy to share our substance and abundance with others when we have it.
Example 4. I also know a person who for some unknown reason to me, has absolutely no apparent will to do anything productive in society. Who sits at home watching tv and sleeping, making no effort to even get a job. Hell, this person even somehow can miraculously get other people to fill out his/her paperwork to get welfare. And it's mind-boggling. I don't know many people like this, just one, so I know that they exist, but it's not what everyone that gets welfare looks like. And this person isn't out at the Occupy protests; this person is still at home sleeping or watching youtube, and likely doesn't even know about the Occupy Movement or what it stands for.
Example 5. Huge companies are getting government bailouts and the execs are getting ridiculous end-of-year bonuses. I'm not against an end-of-year bonus, but companies that need to be bailed out shouldn't be rewarding their top execs that put them in those positions. (google: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailouts)
Example 6. congress members appear to be in the money-holders' pockets. through campaign contributions, lobbying, and out-right bribes, wealthy corporations and individuals can control someone who should be a "representative of the people." but when they answer to who's paying them, it's not most of the country, unfortunately. and even worse, when a tough challenge is placed before them, they will choose to just not do anything and wait until they are re-elected instead of doing their jobs (google: super committee failure).
See! It's freaking complicated! there are so many different situations, so many good and honest and hard working people that get screwed. there are corrupt people in positions of power. and there are people like me, who are very blessed to live the average life. i don't know why i was so much more blessed to get out of the cycle of poverty when so many i love are still trapped in it. i'm not anymore special than they are. some of them work harder in a day than i have or ever will work in my life (except maybe when i'm giving birth-- i'll give myself some serious credit for that one!), but we still have food and now we have health insurance. i don't know why people who work every day until their bones are weak have to still stay up at night wondering how to feed their family. and i don't know why there are people who can get away with treating their employees that way.
i don't know why our government system has become so corrupt, and the money changers on wall street seem just as corrupt, and they seem corrupt together. but as a good American citizen, I (and all other American citizens, including the occupiers and non-occupiers) have the right and RESPONSIBILITY to contribute to the well-being of said society. a few hundred years ago, there were some crazy people with radical ideas that believed their government had become corrupt, and charged too much in taxes, and they weren't going to just keep working with their heads down and deal with the injustice. these people helped form our nation. it's a part of our heritage, and so i have to respect and pay attention to the Occupy Movement. I may not agree with everything they say (because, let's face it, those in the movement have contradicted themselves a few times and are still trying to figure out what they are fighting for), but it deserves my attention. it deserves my constant self-reflection and participation in my community and in the democratic process.
more ramblings to come, i'm sure... this just got too long to keep going. here's a reward for sticing to the end:
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