If you've got a bachelor's degree, you're part of the top 30% of Americans in terms of education - not really part of the 99%.
Was just looking through wikipedia stats on education in the US, in light of all the "I am suffering so much in my student debt!"/99-Percenter posts floating around. Student loans can be tough, sure, but I think it merits pointing out that people with bachelor's degrees from American universities are a distinct minority in the US. You're not exactly an unskilled laborer for whom the middle class is only a faint dream.
Edit: I should add, screw Wall Street, they ruined our economy. But complaining that you're in the top 30% and you had to pay for the privilege of your position is totally obnoxious, and I wish that was dropped from the 99%'s patterns of complaint.
Posted Oct 3, 2011, 11:39 PM UTC · edited
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You missed the point of the 99%. The 99% isn't exclusive to middle class or unemployed or disabled or welfare. Its the 99% of people who are seeing their quality of life wither while the 1% has seen their incomes skyrocket even as the adjusted wage has fallen across the board and unemployment is rising.
Its about the 99% for whom government policies that favor large business and money traders and hedge fund managers penalize.
Its not about education, its about American workers blue collar, white collar, lab coat and all. People who put in solid 8 hour days and more but see their efforts mean less and less each day in this screwed up economy where the 1% reap the majority of benefits from their hard work.
Its the people who can see that policies that favor the 1% are driving the middle class american way of life out of reach and squeezing the middle class.
Does that help you see who the 99% are?
You put it very nicely! You have a way with words.
My real point was about people who consider themselves ruined for life because of student debt. They write and speak like they aren't part of an elite and very lucky minority in America. The real economic burden in this economic crisis and in America in the last 30 years has been placed on people who are not like them - construction workers, blue-collar types.
Even if they're all part of the same 99%, there's a huge difference in the difficulties facing the two groups - ie, the difficulties facing those with degrees (and student loans) are much, much less formidable. And watching kids complain about student loans without also appreciating how privileged they are is frustrating, I feel.
To a degree I can see where you're coming from. An education is a special and valuable thing and it certainly aided me in my career, almost invaluable to me to allow me to enter my career field. I was lucky that my education was funded by a merit scholarship and I graduated with no debt. Even with student debt it can be a privilege and invaluable to that person. Launched into the right career a person can work off the debt and build a strong foundation for life.
But even with the inequalities in that 99% we are still a 99% together. The same policies that benefit the 1% unfairly, hurt all of us together.
As an aside, I will say that education opened up doors to the career path I wanted to follow but there are other careers that can be gained by hard work or experience or skill or interest. My sister never obtained a degree past high school but she makes a comparable income that is significantly higher than mine in a job she obtained by working hard and gaining experience. We in America have somehow manage to forget the importance of hard working trade and vocational jobs. We seem to value the "college-education" jobs as the only good ones. In our mainstream culture we've lost sight of the apprenticeship system and learning trades as a path to success.