What’s your story?
Submit it here.
I’m on an internship for school. I’m not getting paid for it. I’m in a strange city. I don’t know anyone here. I have applied at almost every fast-food restaurant, retail store, gas station, and whatever else I can think of, but have heard nothing back. My bank account is almost completely empty. I’m writing this on the laptop I can’t sell because I need it for school, and while I write, I eat the last of my groceries. My car is almost out of gas. I don’t even have enough money to pay rent on the first of the month. I don’t have a lot of personal possessions that I can sell, and the ones that I can, I probably won’t get much for. I don’t have health insurance, and I dread getting sick or having an accident that leaves me in the hospital. If I give up now and go home, I won’t graduate. I’m already several thousand dollars in student loan debt, I hope to at least have something to show for it. But how long can I last at my internship when I have to choose between putting gas in my car and doing laundry? My life is a ticking time-bomb, and the last few seconds are counting down before my eyes.
I am the 99 percent. And I am out of ideas.
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I am a 24 year old college graduate. I have a B.A. in English. After 5 years of work to better myself, I am now working 40-50 hours a week making barely more than I did when I graduated from high school 6 years ago. I work 2 jobs and can’t afford to move out of my parents house even with a roommate. I have $33,000+ to pay in student loans. (I’m barely paying the interest.) I can’t find a full time job because I have no experience…no one will hire me so I can gain some! I’m stressed out and depressed. I feel trapped. The American Dream is dead for my generation. I AM THE 99%!!!
POST LINK:I am the 99% - I am a good man who has been taken to the edge of sanity by the world I live in. a world where people are rewarded disproportionately to their contribution to their fellow man. a world where a soccer player can earn enough in a week to buy a house, but where a nurse who saves and nurtures the lives of others is made to survive on a subsistence wage. I am the 99% and the time has come for us to take back our world.
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I am 25 and newly married. My life is not horrible but I am angered by my situation.
I work for a corporation that gives me very few rights (posting this I can actually get fired if I disclose the name of the company or myself).
I work long hours for straight commission. My company can change my commission rates at anytime they desire. I am forced to work even when the store is not open for no hourly wage. If I don’t make minimum wage in a given pay period they will pay me minimum wage but the next time I make more money than minimum wage I have to pay them back.
I have very limited health insurance with outrageous deductibles and after paying for it and paying income tax many of my bi-weekly paychecks are less than four hundred dollars and this is a full-time job!
If I want to make more money I need to move to a salaried position. I have witnessed many friends attempt to do this and they are slaves that have difficulty balancing personal life with the over abundance of hours and demands put on them.
The corporation is too cheap to hire more workers to make salaried workers jobs less demanding. They can not retain good quality employees because they refuse to pay more than minimum wage unless you are on commission or are salaried.
I am smart and a very quick learner but refuse to put myself in thousands of dollars in debt to get a piece of paper that says I am qualified.
I am very creative but any job that I see that I could possibly make a decent income at and be happy doing it needs a degree.
Many people I went to high school with have gone to college and have associate degrees which mean almost as much as a high school diploma in today’s job market.
The ones with bachelor degrees are lucky if they have jobs that pay enough to make a dent in their educational debt. These people still owe thousands of dollars to be a slave. They are no better off than I (I actually have an edge on them by not having tens of thousands of dollars in debt).
I am a slave to society. I work to make money and I can barely afford to live. My husband and I are in an okay position as long as one of the small cracks in the ice below our feet do not begin to spider and break apart.
POST LINK:Here is a great site to help you gather materials to spread the word. http://www.occupytogether.org/spreadtheword/
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I am a 29 year old male who is raising my one year old daughter by myself. I do not have my other children. I had to give up rights to my son, who is now 4 and I have never met, because I could not afford to pay the child support. I have tried to reach out to get the help I need from every angle possible and to every agency I know of that could help. I have not been helped by any of them. The below is what I have even sent to online help sites to obtain help. I still have not found any help from any of them.
“I really need help. I am a single father with full custody of my nine month old baby girl. I am struggling right now, financially; among other things. I will tell you about what is going on.
I am fighting for disability due to physical and mental problems. I do receive food stamps of $367 per month, cash assistance of $316 (which will be going to $100 within the next six months) and WIC checks for Savannah. This isn’t enough to obtain housing. I cannot find any housing with the county (Lackawanna County; Scranton, Pennsylvania) or within surrounding counties. I have tried all the agencies that help with such matters. Child Support does not come from the mother as she is on SSI, according to domestics. I have no other income.
I have lived at three addresses since Savannah was born. All three have bedbugs and fleas. I am tired of it. If something happens here, I have no where else to go. I have been forced to lie and say that I am residing somewhere else just to keep my welfare benefits because the other people I lived with and live with now have a high income and it would be counted.
I don’t know what to do. (Barred from jobs due to criminal record, lack of transportation, fainting risks, lack of experience, lack of education; and no other way to pay for our needs. I get so depressed because I am failing as a father. It is my duty to provide for her and yet I can’t. I have gotten so bad that I actually want to die, 90% of the time.
I don’t know what kind of help you can provide, but any help is appreciated.”
Some things have changed since those emails. I now reside in my fourth residence since my daughter was born. I am soon to be going through court again for my 7 year old daughter who I have not had any rights to see this far. I have been denied again for disability and now have given up. I have no education, no way to obtain education, no car, no way to get one, can’t drive anyway, no skills for labor, limitations on my labor abilities, no bank accounts, no inheritances, no trust funds, nothing to speak of except that I am on welfare. I am tired of getting screwed by the government. I am the 99% and I do OCCUPY!
Start here to answer your question: http://whattheheckhasoccupydonesofar.com/
POST LINK:We expect a future in which resources are equally allocated…. here is one vision: http://thevenusproject.com/en/the-venus-project/resource-based-economy
POST LINK:You can start by going to http://directory.occupy.net to find a local group, or you can go to http://occupytogether.org to get a broader view of the movement and what is needed. If you are ready to join us in the streets, go to http://occupywallst.org to get of the moment updates.
POST LINK:You can read all of our original reasons here: http://www.nycga.net/resources/declaration/
and if you are one who appreciates things illustrated for you, try looking here: #full" target="_blank">#full" target="_blank">http://zoom.it/MFXB #full
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I’m not asking for a handout or for sympathy. But I am trying to make aware the outrageous interest rates on student loans.
POST LINK:Because a successful movement that challenges corporate power is not something that the corporate media wants to report.
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Hi, I’m Anna and I’m young, because I’m only 14. But I see every day the world’s problem and we continue in this way of live. we are destroying our world! why governors do not understand this? I want my future, it’s not fair that much people don’t have health insurance!
I wonder how it is possible!
Well, I’m the 99% because I could not have a future.
(sorry for my bad english, I could have done mistakes…)
Anna
POST LINK:Here is one way to show your public support…
POST LINK:You can read the definition here.
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We are all the 99%. Don’t shame yourself about your circumstances, that keeps us divided and diverts the blame from the people who deserve it. Take pride in your poverty.
POST LINK:Very successful, check out some of the greatest hits here: http://whattheheckhasoccupydonesofar.com/
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I AM THE 99% AND SO ARE YOU
