An Open Letter

Dear 1%,

We really kind of trusted you guys. It does seem a little foolish now, looking back on it…guess the joke is on us. But you seemed like you understood things like fiscal policy, global economics, and governance. At least you kept insisting that you did and after all, you went to all the best schools.

Frankly, we had other important things to do. Like building your roads and houses, educating your children (yes, some of us teach at those elite schools. Funny, isn’t it?), keeping your cities safe, growing your food. And fighting in your wars.

That last one has taken a toll on us these last few decades. Year after year, sending our sons and daughters and friends and lovers off in bright uniforms, seeing so many of them come back broken or in a box, such that no generation of any family escapes unscathed. It’s hard, you know? Well, we guess you kind of don’t.

Any minute now you are going to start telling us that we don’t know what we’re talking about and don’t know what we’re doing, and we need you to manage everything for us. Actually you have already started. Actually, you never stopped. It’s just that we tried it your way, and we don’t know if you’ve noticed, but that hasn’t worked out so well. For us, that is.

So some of us have decided we need to take matters into our own hands, and are trying to get everyone else involved. It’s clear you find it perplexing. What could be so compelling about a decision making process where everyone gets heard? even disabled people and gays who aren’t ashamed of themselves and unattractive women and people of color who aren’t dressed nicely. Yes, sometimes some of us don’t sound very professional, and occasionally it gets a little tedious. However, we might point out that your ideas about authority and efficiency are what got us into this mess. Also, we aren’t in a hurry.

You seem somewhat on edge of late, making bad decisions and all that…just between you and us, maybe a little bit disconnected from reality. You should try that “going Galt” thing you keep talking about. Have a nice vacation. We’ll even bring you room service for old time’s sake, since we’re not sure any of you know how to cook. We wouldn’t want you to suffer or go hungry or anything. We’re not completely inhumane.

Now, we know that you’re convinced that we need you to run everything, and we don’t want to hurt your feelings. But we really don’t.

Thanks anyway,

The 99%