I am the 53%

[desflood]

I'm not that old, but even I remember a time when a family could live in a reasonably nice neighborhood on a single salary while the other parent stayed home with the kids.

In some places they still can if they choose to make a few sacrifices. It's not the impossible "American past" dream everyone makes it out to be.

[RandomGuy]

Open Letter to that 53% Guy

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/1...to-that-53-Guy

Plenty to read but here is an idea of how the letter flows:

In the picture, you’re holding up a sheet of paper that says:

I am a former Marine.
I work two jobs.
I don’t have health insurance.
I worked 60-70 hours a week for 8 years to pay my way through college.
I haven’t had 4 consecutive days off in over 4 years.
But I don’t blame Wall Street.
Suck it up you whiners.
I am the 53%.
God bless the USA!

------------------(response)

Look kid, I don’t want you to “get by” working two jobs and 60 to 70 hours a week. If you’re willing to put in that kind of effort, I want you to get rich. I want you to have a comprehensive healthcare plan. I want you vacationing in the Bahamas every couple of years, with your beautiful wife and healthy, happy kids. I want you rewarded for your hard work, and I want your exceptional effort to reap exceptional rewards. I want you to ac ulate wealth and invest it in Wall Street. And I want you to make more money from those investments.

Who does that former marine think is going to pay for any uninsured illness or bills he can't pay if he gets sick?

If it takes 70 hours of labor to "get by" with no insurance, what happens if he breaks an arm?

I keep asking these questions, and still don't get any decent response by the market worshippers, whose "suck it up" answers always glibly gloss over the fact that we all end up paying for it anyways, using inefficient market mechanisms.

[George Gervin's Afro]

I love the Modern World.

[boutons_deux]

How much does the 47 percent pay in taxes? Plenty.





http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/1...%29&key=454674