And I'm not the 1% either.
With the Occupy Wall Street protests still sputtering somewhere in the background, I have had plenty of time to read up on this movement. I wanted to understand why so many people in my generation were protesting. After lots of reading and conversing, I still have no idea what to take from it. Was every single person at these protests without work? And if not, then what the HELL were they doing protesting "corporate greed" instead of working to pay their own bills? I mean, don't get me wrong. I get it. We're dissatisfied with the current state of affairs and politics and everything in between. Other people in the world are standing up and raising their voices and they're actually being heard. It's a great idea that young people can stand up for something and actually cause change. I mean, hello. That's essentially what America is all about. But I think there is a big difference between demanding and creating change and becoming the social equivalent of a gnat that won't stop buzzing somewhere in your peripheral vision.
What bothers me is that this group of people claiming to represent the "99%" of people who have fallen victim to greedy corporations and their evil plan to ruin the world claim to be representing ME. I'm not one of the wealthiest Americans. In fact, I probably couldn't even dream up that kind of 1% wealth if you gave me the rest of my life to try. But I am certainly not one of the generalized rest who blame every problem they've encountered on corporate executives. What ever happened to being accountable for your own actions? By all means, hold corporations accountable. But we need to hold ourselves accountable too. We're spending more than we're making. We're taking out loans to go to colleges and universities we absolutely cannot afford. Why? Because we think we're entitled.
I will admit that I was lucky enough to not have to take out my own student loans. So I'm not going to pretend that I can sympathize with students who took out $200,000 to go to an Ivy League school and are now faced with the crippling weight of too many bills and not nearly enough income. But I am a 24-year-old girl who graduated from college in one of the worst job markets in history. I am among a group of young people who have been faced with a bitter-tasting reality that our 20's are not going to be nearly as carefree and easy as we once believed.
The job market sucks. The stock market is unreliable at best. Suddenly DIY projects and "Top Five Cheapest Foods To Eat On A Regular Basis" are at the forefront of the radar. I'm pretty sure there isn't a single person I know that is doing what he or she THOUGHT they would be doing after graduating. The most obvious reason I can come up with for what sets our generation apart is simple. We really do think we're entitled... but it's not exactly our fault.
We're a generation that grew up reaping the benefits of parents who wanted to show more affection, do more, give more, and BE more for their kids than their own parents had the opportunity to do for them. For the most part, I think my generation has been raised to believe in ourselves in a great way. We're confident and full of hope and excitement and self expression. We were taught that it's not always about winning and losing, but showing up and trying your best. We were given 8th place ribbons at swim meets and were told that our talents, while different from those of our peers, made us special. We were fed the belief that education was a right and any opportunity at the best possible education should be seized with both hands. We are the lucky ones. We were raised to understand that we really do matter. That what we have to say is worth it. Somewhere along the way, we came to believe that following our dreams was a right because this is America and our parents and peers believed that we were special.
So all of a sudden something that was always a constant when we thought of what it means to become grown-ups is no longer true. It's a shock to the system. People have to take jobs they don't want. Or that they're overqualified for. But that's the way of the world. It's time people put on their big kid pants and work through the change. It would be better than camping out in the middle of a busy city, accomplishing nothing but inconveniencing commuters and costing copious amounts of tax dollars in additional police forces and cleanup than most cities can afford in the first place.
Stop claiming to be representing the 99%. If we're going by the statistical book here, I definitely fall into that bracket. But there's a different statistic I find much more comprehensive. I'm a part of the 53% of Americans who pay taxes and work my butt off to contribute to things I don't necessarily believe in. I'm 24 years old and I'm realizing that the glittering image we grew up with of what it means to be in your 20's and working and thriving and having fun doesn't exist. Our 20's are a transitional period where we're supposed to figure out where we're going and what we're doing and look good while doing it. Don't get me wrong... Being twenty-something is still plenty of fun. But the world is different now than it was when we were younger and more wide-eyed. It's time we start adapting to it. Because let's be serious, who says we can't become the 1%? Or at least get a little closer. No one in those corporations and privately owned businesses ever got rich from sitting in a tent on a Wednesday afternoon holding a sign. They got there by working hard and making sacrifices. And they're also out there doing good. They're helping people when they can and donating time and money to causes that make a difference. Financial success and corporate greed don't have to be synonymous with each other and it's sad people make it seem like they have to be.
With the Occupy Wall Street protests still sputtering somewhere in the background, I have had plenty of time to read up on this movement. I wanted to understand why so many people in my generation were protesting. After lots of reading and conversing, I still have no idea what to take from it. Was every single person at these protests without work? And if not, then what the HELL were they doing protesting "corporate greed" instead of working to pay their own bills? I mean, don't get me wrong. I get it. We're dissatisfied with the current state of affairs and politics and everything in between. Other people in the world are standing up and raising their voices and they're actually being heard. It's a great idea that young people can stand up for something and actually cause change. I mean, hello. That's essentially what America is all about. But I think there is a big difference between demanding and creating change and becoming the social equivalent of a gnat that won't stop buzzing somewhere in your peripheral vision.
What bothers me is that this group of people claiming to represent the "99%" of people who have fallen victim to greedy corporations and their evil plan to ruin the world claim to be representing ME. I'm not one of the wealthiest Americans. In fact, I probably couldn't even dream up that kind of 1% wealth if you gave me the rest of my life to try. But I am certainly not one of the generalized rest who blame every problem they've encountered on corporate executives. What ever happened to being accountable for your own actions? By all means, hold corporations accountable. But we need to hold ourselves accountable too. We're spending more than we're making. We're taking out loans to go to colleges and universities we absolutely cannot afford. Why? Because we think we're entitled.
I will admit that I was lucky enough to not have to take out my own student loans. So I'm not going to pretend that I can sympathize with students who took out $200,000 to go to an Ivy League school and are now faced with the crippling weight of too many bills and not nearly enough income. But I am a 24-year-old girl who graduated from college in one of the worst job markets in history. I am among a group of young people who have been faced with a bitter-tasting reality that our 20's are not going to be nearly as carefree and easy as we once believed.
The job market sucks. The stock market is unreliable at best. Suddenly DIY projects and "Top Five Cheapest Foods To Eat On A Regular Basis" are at the forefront of the radar. I'm pretty sure there isn't a single person I know that is doing what he or she THOUGHT they would be doing after graduating. The most obvious reason I can come up with for what sets our generation apart is simple. We really do think we're entitled... but it's not exactly our fault.
We're a generation that grew up reaping the benefits of parents who wanted to show more affection, do more, give more, and BE more for their kids than their own parents had the opportunity to do for them. For the most part, I think my generation has been raised to believe in ourselves in a great way. We're confident and full of hope and excitement and self expression. We were taught that it's not always about winning and losing, but showing up and trying your best. We were given 8th place ribbons at swim meets and were told that our talents, while different from those of our peers, made us special. We were fed the belief that education was a right and any opportunity at the best possible education should be seized with both hands. We are the lucky ones. We were raised to understand that we really do matter. That what we have to say is worth it. Somewhere along the way, we came to believe that following our dreams was a right because this is America and our parents and peers believed that we were special.
So all of a sudden something that was always a constant when we thought of what it means to become grown-ups is no longer true. It's a shock to the system. People have to take jobs they don't want. Or that they're overqualified for. But that's the way of the world. It's time people put on their big kid pants and work through the change. It would be better than camping out in the middle of a busy city, accomplishing nothing but inconveniencing commuters and costing copious amounts of tax dollars in additional police forces and cleanup than most cities can afford in the first place.
Stop claiming to be representing the 99%. If we're going by the statistical book here, I definitely fall into that bracket. But there's a different statistic I find much more comprehensive. I'm a part of the 53% of Americans who pay taxes and work my butt off to contribute to things I don't necessarily believe in. I'm 24 years old and I'm realizing that the glittering image we grew up with of what it means to be in your 20's and working and thriving and having fun doesn't exist. Our 20's are a transitional period where we're supposed to figure out where we're going and what we're doing and look good while doing it. Don't get me wrong... Being twenty-something is still plenty of fun. But the world is different now than it was when we were younger and more wide-eyed. It's time we start adapting to it. Because let's be serious, who says we can't become the 1%? Or at least get a little closer. No one in those corporations and privately owned businesses ever got rich from sitting in a tent on a Wednesday afternoon holding a sign. They got there by working hard and making sacrifices. And they're also out there doing good. They're helping people when they can and donating time and money to causes that make a difference. Financial success and corporate greed don't have to be synonymous with each other and it's sad people make it seem like they have to be.
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