We are the 99 Percent
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Aimee4
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I made the right decisions. In the 1990s. BA at state school, cost $26k in student loans. Good job after I graduated from college. Paid off student loans, got MSIR at night. Now make $125k/yr. DH made similar decisions and makes a little more than I do. We are in the top 5% of Americans as far as our income. We certainly don't feel like top 5% in this area, but we know we are very fortunate.
That said, if I was to do the exact same things over the last decade, my student loan would have been close to $75k. Why? Tuition has increased 4 fold. One semester cost me less than $1k in tuition and fees. Now, it's over $4k. That's one semester. Average $3.5k more times 8 semesters, plus the interest on that... it adds up quickly. I had no problem getting a job. But today, that is no longer a guarantee. So those student loans keep piling on more interest, then go into default, so more fees... I sympathize with the "99%". I have close family that is unemployed or underemployed. My sister moved up her wedding 6 months so she could fall under her fiancés medical insurance after she was laid off. There is no one hiring her specialty (x-ray tech) within 50 miles of where she lives. Yes, we see "now hiring" signs here. But the reality is most of these people don't live anywhere near here. And it's not as simple as moving here. My brother's house payment is $800. He couldn't rent an apartment for his family of four for $800 here. I honestly don't know what the solution is. However, we elect politicians to figure it out. And so far, none of them have. This isn't a slam on Obama or Boehner or any politician in particular. Its ALL of them. They need to figure it out. |
Anonymous
But, I'm not sure what the protesters are trying to accomplish? They want 'economic equality'? What is that exactly. Everybody gets paid the same? Everybody deserves basic healthcare (yes, I do believe that) or everybody deserves a brand new car? Those people want to be able to find a job that pays a living wage. They want to be able to afford healthcare for themselves and their families and they want to be able to retire someday and not worry where the next piece of toast is coming from. Very simple! Well, then I guess they should make that known with a more concise message. I don't find that the protesters have any sort of cohesive message. And, I agree with you. It should be an important priority to get affordable healthcare, food, shelter, and I'll add in there education. Who's making all the money in healthcare, and why is healthcare in this country so expensive? Yes, lawsuits are part of it, but I work in healthcare, and I think insurance companies have been a HUGE problem in the healthcare delivery system in the US. Maybe we should start protesting for-profit health insurance companies. |
Anonymous
So now you are saying their mission is to change law? So why are they protesting on Wall Street if Capitol Hill is the problem. They need to be arranging meetings with their Congressman and Senators. Another example of no clear direction for this group. |
Anonymous
You misunderstodd. She didn't go back to her old job after staying home for a year, she found a new job, and her new employer went through 3 people before hiring her, because the previous three hires were total duds. Anyway, I agree with all you said about applicants having a huge sense of entitlement. Especially the younger ones. |
Anonymous
It's because the politicians are so indebted to corporations/groups that give them money. And, because we elect people based on sound bites and advertising campaigns. |
Anonymous
I did understand! I was just saying that if she's been there 2 years, I'm pretty sure her employer is feeling lucky to have her. I'm the 'medical office' poster. I'm not even the one who does the hiring in our office, but I know how frustrating it is for the office manager. |
Anonymous
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You misunderstodd. She didn't go back to her old job after staying home for a year, she found a new job, and her new employer went through 3 people before hiring her, because the previous three hires were total duds. Anyway, I agree with all you said about applicants having a huge sense of entitlement. Especially the younger ones. PP here. This is pretty much what happened. The previous employees just did not take things seriously enough. Missing work often, coming in late, dealing with too much private stuff at work (cell phone use, surfing net, homework etc.). I was worried because I had been a SAHM for a year, but I think my employer was just happy to find someone a little more mature. While this is not my dream job, it is definitely okay and I'm grateful to be employed. It is a mutually beneficial situation. As far as my dreams go, I try to fulfill those in my hobbies now. 
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Anonymous
| I agree that the movement is not organized enough, but hopefully this will change. |
Anonymous
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To give an example of education costs these days:
State school: 15,000 / Year (tuition and housing) Private liberal arts college: 30,000 Private Ivy league: 50,000 So educational debt posted is not unreasonable and even from top universities - students without experience have a hard time finding jobs. This also doesn't take into account grad school debt (masters, MD, MBA, JD, some PhDs). AND bankruptcy doesn't absolve the borrower's debt. So it's better to be underwater on a house than fresh out of college and jobless. |
Anonymous
You and your family made some poor choices. I know someone who went to community college and then Ivy (probably the same school as yours) and graduated with less than $50k in debt. Worked during school, no and very little scholarship money. Did you chose to live on campus rather than commute? Did you decide to live solely on loans rather than work your way through? You had lots of choices. You made the wrong decisions. BTW, my friend just got her MBA (while she was working) and got promoted at her job. Why aren't you working while going to grad school if money is such a big issue? |
Anonymous
There are beginning to be an awful lot of MBAs out there. |
Anonymous
No, it means that 9% (9.1%) of the people surveyed by the BLS reported that they had not worked in the past four weeks, were available for work, and had performed certain specific job-seeking activities. Unpaid family work, say in a family business, makes a person count as "employed", as does part-time work, underemployment, and so on. The official unemployment rate is the tip of the iceberg, and I can only hope we're not on the Titanic. |
Anonymous
The real issue isn't protesting for others to give you something to which you think you're entitled. These people aren't panhandling. It's to make these robber barons disgorge the illicit profits they have made and kept with impunity due to our unique (among supposedly developed countries) style of socialism for the rich. A cardinal rule of finance is that higher returns always entail higher risk. However, American-style capitalism these days apparently means that if you have bought enough votes, you get to bet the house at no risk, and if you fail miserably your minions in office will still bail you out at taxpayers expense, no questions asked. The fact that these bankers aren't languishing in jail at the moment is a complete outrage. These people are asking for a representative government that looks after their interests, something to which they ARE entitled and which no longer exists in this country except as a parody of itself intended for the TV cameras. They all pay taxes (or did at one point, or their parents did for them), and that wasn't for the privilege of being screwed by the politicians whose salaries they pay. |
Anonymous
Well, no, we elect people based on the soundbites and ad campaigns the corporations and wealthy present to us. Case in point: the Teabaggers were a tiny group of elderly malcontents at first, and were immediately adopted by Fox News and Glen Beck. Literally pushed to the front page of the newspapers and the lead on the cable networks every day. Contrast that with the current populist movement: it took nine days of protests and clashes with police in lower Manhattan before supposedly "liberal" NPR even deigned to cover them. We get the elected officials that big money and corporations give us. At the end of the day, propaganda is effective. The only solution is to wrench one of the two major parties away from the the monied interests. Since the chance of that happening in the GOP is effectively zero, you can do the math. |
Anonymous
You misunderstodd. She didn't go back to her old job after staying home for a year, she found a new job, and her new employer went through 3 people before hiring her, because the previous three hires were total duds. Anyway, I agree with all you said about applicants having a huge sense of entitlement. Especially the younger ones. PP here. This is pretty much what happened. The previous employees just did not take things seriously enough. Missing work often, coming in late, dealing with too much private stuff at work (cell phone use, surfing net, homework etc.). I was worried because I had been a SAHM for a year, but I think my employer was just happy to find someone a little more mature. While this is not my dream job, it is definitely okay and I'm grateful to be employed. It is a mutually beneficial situation. As far as my dreams go, I try to fulfill those in my hobbies now.
Just want to point out that--your anecdotes aside--it's pretty slimy to be trying to pin 9+% unemployment nationally on "lazy American workers". |