We Are the 99 Percent

This is from a web site that I check in on every so often. It is never a pleasant experience perusing the entries there. The site is called "We are the 99 Percent," and it consists of testimonials of people from all over the country, all ages and conditions, and how they are affected by the economic downturn which has been anything but that for the 1 percent. They have been accumulating for months now, and there are so many that if you started today, it would doubtless take weeks to read them all. And they are, pretty much without exception, heartbreaking.

Real people are behind these words. The victim below, typical as can be, is facing the prospect of becoming homeless, with her husband and three children, next month unless some miracle intervenes to save them. And it would take a miracle from the heavens, because this country has lost its heart and its sense of obligation to just plain people who are suffering.

Meanwhile a strong movement in the country seeks to cut benefits to these suffering Americans even more, spend more on war and tax breaks for the already fabulously wealthy, people for whom tales of unshirted woe like the one below is as foreign as the depths of the sea.

This is just one victim, just one, of the corporate bacchanal that now defines this country.

 

This is the sign I made today, and plan to stand at a busy corner in the rain.  I do not live in Oregon, or Washington state.  I am disabled, my husband lost his job due to illnesses which include Stiff Person Syndrome, scaring on his brain (could be MS) hypothyroid, sick sinus syndrome (requiring a pacemaker at 37), and now something showing up on his liver. 

We believed that it would only be a short time before he would be better and be able to get back to work.  That was two years ago.  His unemployment benefits have run out, and now with all his diagnosis we are able to finally pursue disability for him.  My SSDI and child support come to a monthly total of $2346.00 monthly.  Our rent - we can’t afford to buy - is $1150.00 a month.  We are currently $195.00 overdrawn, and the overdraft protection has been turned off by the bank.  We have no more gas in our car.  I will get the last half of child support next week; coincidentally that is exactly $195.00.  The next SSDI check won’t be here until June 1st.

We have not paid our utilities, or car payment in two months.  We have a six month old who needs diapers.  He was our 1% miracle - as in birth control is only 99% effective.  Go figure.  If my husband’s disability is not approved soon we will be homeless by July.  Because our situation is dire now, we have written letters through his SSDI attorney for compassionate allowances.  However, once we are homeless our situation is no longer considered “dire”.

We will survive this.  Our marriage will survive this.  But, I am putting my country on notice.  I will not accept this any longer, I will not back down, I will not forgive, and I will not forget.  I will fight for change, I will fight this oppression.  My family is the 99%, and I am PISSED OFF!!!