I am the 98%.
I don’t squat in parks. In fact, I try to be a good neighbor by not beating drums at all hours. I don’t ask to use my neighbor’s bathroom facilities, either, unless, of course, it’s an emergency.
I try to pay my bills on time. I try to make good financial decisions. Sometimes, I don’t, and I have to pay the consequences. That’s okay, because we all make mistakes. I just try not to ask other people to pay for them.
Am I hacked off at the way things are now? Yeah. I’m angry that people who thought they were achieving the American Dream were led down a yellow brick road to financial ruin by promises from mortgage companies and student loan officers, who were, in turn being pressured by the government to make bad loans, all in the name of “equality’ and “fairness.” I’m royally ripped that a lot of those folks – the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ones, in particular – don’t seem to be getting the same serving of guilt heaped on them as others are.
And I’m really, really stunned that a lot of the “99 percenters” say they still plan on blindly voting for the characters who either got us into this mess or made it worse.
What do I do when I get mad at policy makers? I don’t grab the chance to relive the Sixties. I get involved. I educate myself about the issues – and not just from organizations that support my political leanings. I don’t like conspiracy theories that make easy connections between a causation and something that has no real, profound effect. Conspiracy theories are for dunderheads or mystery writers.
No, when I’m ripped about something in this democratic republic, I call or write my elected officials. I get like-minded folks to do the same. I participate. I vote. I don’t wallow.
I’m the 98% out of the 99%--in the same income bracket, yeah, but not the same mental zone as the 1% occupying parks. Not. At. All.
No comments:
Post a Comment