Some wealthy people of the 1% are standing with the 99 percent…?

As noted below - a group of wealthy folk have launched a joint blog on tumblr (we were once a proud people who still had vowels) to present a message that some of the rich and wealthy are in support of the 99%.

The 99%/1% meme is part of the Occupy Wall Street protests that have been sweeping the world.  As a meme it's very attractive and goes right to the core of inequality and the disproportionate power that some have gathered to themselves.  But, does that automatically make all 1% folk evil?

Earlier I noted a report where Gingrich is making some political hay saying the 99%/1% meme is an instance of class warfare.  http://politics.7gen.com/2011/11/99-1-divisive-class-warfare-newt.html

Looking through the posts on the blog (see the links below) we see people - well, this is how I see it - I see people who are feeling unfairly maligned, and who want to essentially say that not all in the 1% are evil scum-buckets.

 

 

Wealthy People Show Support for Protests with new website: "We are the 1 percent. We stand with the 99 percent."

November 1, 2011

Washington DC – Resource Generation and Wealth for Common Good today announced a new website for wealthy people to show their support for the Occupy movement. Already over 100 members of “the 1 percent,” including young entrepreneurs, business owners and wealthy individuals, have posted their support on the new website “We are the 1 percent. We stand with the 99 percent.” (http://westandwiththe99percent.tumblr.com/)

“Those of us with more than we need and who believe in a more just distribution of resources can stand up and tell the truth about how the deck has been stacked in our favor. We need to say that we think it’s wrong too,” said Elspeth Gilmore, co-director of Resource Generation. “Just as the 99 percent has been a powerful rallying cry, the 1 percent has come to represent those who hold the majority of this country’s resources and have created—and benefited from—the financial and economic crises we now face. One hundred percent of us need a different world.”

Organizers were inspired by the “We are the 99 percent” blog that has been collecting the Occupy movement protester’s stories, and launched the parallel site We are the 1 percent, We stand with the 99 percent for wealthy people to join in, lend their voices and stand in solidarity with the protesters’ messages of challenging economic inequality and raising taxes on the wealthy.

Carl Schweser, founder of Schweser Study Program for the CFA (now called Kaplan Schweser), posted: “I made millions studying the math of mortgages and bonds and helping bankers pass the Chartered Financial Analyst Exam. It isn’t fair that I have retired in comfort after a career working with financial instruments while people who worked as nurses, teachers, soldiers, etc. are worried about paying for their future, their healthcare, and their children’s educations. They are the backbone of this country that allowed me to succeed. I am willing to pay more taxes so that everyone can look forward to a secure future like I do. I am the 1%. I stand with the 99%. (Which equals 100% of America.) Tax me.”

Farhad Ebrahimi, who has been involved in Occupy Boston says, “I have inherited an amount of money that is much more than I need. I AM THE 1%. My taxes are at a historical low, and the influence of money on our government is at a historical high. These are not good things! So what am I doing about it? (1) I am donating the vast majority of my money to social change organizations. (2) I am personally advocating for the repair of our broken system. I STAND WITH THE 99%. I am part of Occupy Boston. My money gives me no special influence here. That’s the way it should be.”

“When so many are struggling – to access healthcare, pay back their student loans, and make ends meet – the 1 percent has more than enough. Our networks include thousands of wealthy people who recognize our economy is out of balance and that wealthy people should pay more for the common good. It’s in the self-interest of the 1 percent to have a society that works all of us, and we anticipate many more will join us,” said Alison Goldberg, Coordinator of Wealth for Common Good.

# # #

Resource Generation organizes young people with wealth to leverage resources and privilege for social change and is a co-sponsor of the site along with Wealth for Common Good, a network of wealthy individuals and business leaders speaking out for fair taxation.

99%? 1%? Divisive? Class warfare? Newt Gingrich says so, but maybe that's the pot calling the kettle black?

I had a conversation this morning about how the "we are the 99% fighting the 1%" mantra of the Occupy Wall Street movement is itself a divisive idea.  It's pitting one group against another group.  It's a demonization of rich people.  It's painting reality with too-broad of a brush.  Just because someone is rich doesn't make them evil.  Not all corporations are evil.  Not all poor people are saintly.  The 99% meme is too simplistic, even though it's a very catchy idea.

The conversation went to developing a "we are the 100%" idea .. and searching for others discussing 100% I learned that Newt Gingrich discussed this exact idea in an interview with Larry Kudlow on Tuesday.  Okay, gag me with a spoon to find myself in agreement with Newt on anything.

“I am for 100 percent,” he said. “I think this idea of 99 percent and 1 percent is grotesque European socialist class warfare baloney.”  And President Obama is playing right along with that class warfare by expressing sympathy for the protesters, he added.  “I repudiate anybody who wants to divide Americans and I think that that there is a fundamental destructive quality to this 99 percent idea,” Gingrich said. “I think that it is shameful the president of the United States would engage in class warfare and pit Americans against each other in way which can only be destructive of the fabric of American society.”

See - while I somewhat agree with Newt's assessment, I believe he's using this meme to then slam Obama.  He's using a rhetorical/spin/twist to pivot from this idealism that 99%/1% is divisive, to then slam Obama for supposedly agreeing with the Occupy folk.

In other words - Newt himself is being divisive in that he's using this inclusive rhetoric as a weapon to slam someone.

Is the 99%/1% thing class warfare?  Maybe from the 1% perspective that Newt occupies it is.  Maybe he's feeling threatened.  Fact is that those 1% people are, well, people.

Gingrich: Idea of 99 Percent & 1 Percent is ‘Grotesque’