Which side do you want to be on?
The Blaze has been covering the story of the 53% all week, explaining, "The 53% is a group of responsible young people organizing across the country. However, this group is not camping out in parks around the country and demanding the entire capitalist system be destroyed." The movement is a response the the "We are the 99%" meme that has emerged as Occupy Wall Street Protests have spread.
Now, what are the different cases being made for each side? The guys read some of the winners on air.
On the "We are the 99%" side/Occupy Wall Street
I'm the founder of an independent game development company. When we finally launch our product, we will be drowned out in a flood of Blockbuster corporate games and our message will be lost. I am the 99%. ("He's going to face competition once he finally gets up and rolling." - Pat ... "Where is the government to pay him for the crappy games he's making?" - Stu)
I am from an upper middle class family. I'm graduating from college this fall. I'm fortunate enough to have a job. I'm fortunate enough to have parents that can aid me with unexpected costs. I am fortunate to live in a state that has full scholarships dependent on GPA. So I have no student debt. I do not deserve more than anyone else because I have been this lucky but I feel responsible for my fellow human beings. We are the 99%. We are all human. Corporations are not.
I live communally with 100 people in Virginia. We run a miniature society with government and businesses we collectively own and products, produce lots of our own food. We aren't tuned in to TV or iPhones. We everyone earn $5,000 a year on average and all the money goes to the community. By sharing what we have, seven big houses, fifteen cars, a variety of talents and skills, we get by on very little. We have no leader and there is always plenty of food, comfortable shelter and no trouble getting bills paid. We're all lucky to be secure and happy with our lives. I choose to live this way because corporatism is destroying American government and society and because I am the 99%.
For the 53%/Non-Occupy Wall Street
I served in the U.S. military. I had a botched back surgery. I got out and I worked construction 50 to 70 hours a week, in pain every day. I went back to school at 30. I've worked for everything I have. I continue to work 60 to 75 hours a week. I support my own family. I don't whine, I don't pout to others what I have or what has happened to me or what I'm entitled to. Shut up. Get a job. Work for what you want. I'm tired of supporting everyone else. I am the 53%.
I work three jobs. I have a house I can't sell. My family insurance costs are outrageous. I don't blame Wall Street. Suck it up, whiners. I am the 53% subsidizing you so you can hang on Wall Street and complain.
I was middle class until I was 8 and then I became poor due to my parents' divorce. My mother worked a full‑time job, I had a paper route for a while, and so did she. She couldn't get food stamps or welfare because they worked, as a paper boy. We lived in crummy apartments. It was all we could afford, and at that time there were restrictions on children in most places. We lived in low‑income apartments for about eight years. I quit school, I got a full‑time job at 16, but I had to quit and I went to live with my sister to care for her three small children while both her and her husband worked two jobs to keep their small home. It was miserable there. Unfortunately their marriage ended and the house was foreclosed on. So I got a job through job corps and I got a GED. Thankfully God led me through a couple of other jobs and sent me as a supervisor in a stable workplace where I now make more than anyone else in my family. My income is now $56,000 a year. Thankfully my truck, my mom's SUV, and my brother's car are all paid for now, by me. I have never had cable. I've never had satellite TV in my whole life. My DSL connection is the only luxury I have, and I'm blessed to give 15% to charity. I never went to college. My GED scores I guess would say that I had done well according to my teachers. I love my country. I care very deeply about the state of the nation. I am the 53%.