I have had very little given to me in my life, the one exception was I had an incredibly generous aunt who paid my tuition and boarding through college but nothing more. I could have taken out loans to live the party life other student did, but I didn't. I survived scraping together cash for food, and the incredibly expensive supplies for my metalsmithing projects. When I graduated I worked hard to support myself, my husband and other friends who found themselves in the kind of need I had been in earlier. I’ve saved more money for retirement than anyone I know within 10 years of my age, and I make considerably less than the majority of my friends. I am the 53%. Here's the thing though. I don't think 90% of the people who identify with the 53% should HAVE to have struggled the way they have. I'm not talking about handouts, I'm talking about figuring out why college tuition has gone up %439 since 1982, while average family income has gone up %149 and fixing it. I'm talking about why an hour of work is worth so much less today than it was 30 years ago and fixing it. I'm talking about a world where working 2-3 jobs isn't seen as normal. I'm talking about a world where politicians see it as their job to FIX these problems. I have read as many of the letters posted on the 53% website as I can get through, and I want you to know that when I take action trying to work towards the same goals as most of the 99% movement I'm working towards a world where the 53% live a better life, specifically the portion of the 53% who are posting here and on the tumblr site. I want you to know that even though many of you don't see it this way I will keep fighting FOR YOU to live lives that are appropriate to your contribution to society, because that's the world I want to live in, and that is ultimately what the 99% are working towards. I know the responses to this post will likely not be pleasant, but I will not just look away. I will read them, and I will keep fighting for the 53% as well as the rest of the 99%. I will read the comments to try and understand where this response comes from. I hope that at least some people here will read this and seek to truly understand where the protests are coming from as well.
UPDATE: The 53% facebook group made sure I didn't have to see any ugly responses. They have taken down my link to this post twice.
