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We are the 99%

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This article is about the slogan. For the movement, see "Occupy" protests.
Solidarity poster referencing the We are the 99% slogan.

We are the 99% is a political slogan, Internet meme and implicit economic claim that emerged from the "Occupy" protests in 2011. It is a reference to the difference in wealth between the top 1% and all the remaining citizens of the United States.[1] It started as a tumblr blog[2] and became an Internet meme that went viral, showing a picture of a person holding a piece of paper with their story on it, ending with the phrase, "We are the 99%".[3]

New York Times columnist Anne-Marie Slaughter described pictures on the "We are the 99" website as "page after page of testimonials from members of the middle class who took out loans to pay for education, took out mortgages to buy their houses and a piece of the American dream, worked hard at the jobs they could find, and ended up unemployed or radically underemployed and on the precipice of financial and social ruin."[4]

The phrase was picked up as a unifying slogan[5] by the Occupy Wall Street movement.[6]

History

Graph showing changes in real US incomes in top 1%, middle 60%, and bottom 20% from 1979 through 2007.[7]

Origins of "the wealthiest 1%" and "the 99 percent"

During the 2000 Presidential candidate debates between Al Gore and George W. Bush, Gore relentlessly[8] and memorably[9] accused his opponent of supporting the "wealthiest one percent" rather than the welfare of everyone else.[10]

In 2006, filmmaker and Johnson & Johnson heir Jamie Johnson filmed a documentary called "The One Percent" about the growing wealth-gap between America's wealthy elite compared to the overall citizenry. The film's title referred to the top one-percent of Americans in terms of wealth, who controlled 38% of the nation's wealth in 2001.[11]

Joseph Stiglitz, a 2001 Nobel laureate and Columbia University economics professor, wrote an article for Vanity Fair in May of 2011 [12][13] [14] entitled "Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%" and claimed that the wealthiest one percent of U.S. citizens control 40 percent of the American wealth.[15] [16]

In 2011, Dan Rather reported[17] that independent media maven Priscilla Grim and her friend Chris launched the "we are the 99%" tumblr blog on September 8, that went viral.[18]

Variations on the slogan

  • "We are the 1 percent; we stand with the 99 percent"– members of the ResourceGeneration.org blog, along with Wealth for the Common Good ("a group of business leaders, high-income households and partners who work for shared prosperity") created a second blog called "We are the 1 percent; we stand with the 99 percent" for the "one percent" to express their support for higher taxes.[19][20]
  • "We are the 53%"– In response to the slogan, conservative RedState.com blogger Erick Erickson (along with Josh Trevino, communications director for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and filmmaker Mike Wilson[21]) launched a counter-slogan—"We are the 53%"—referring to what Erickson calls "... the half or so of Americans who pay income taxes".[22]

Economic context

The use of the slogan, "We are the 99%," is a protest of the trend since the 1970s for wealth and income to be concentrated in the top 1% of the United States population. According to the Congressional Budget Office, between 1979 and 2007, incomes of the top 1% of Americans have grown by an average of 275%, versus just 40% for the 60 percent of Americans who are in the middle of the income scale.[23][24][25][26][27][28] The top 1% of the American population controls about 40% of the total wealth of the country, the top 20% of earners took in 80% of household income, and the top 10% controlled 73% of wealth.[29][30][27][31][32][33][34] Since 1979, average pre-tax income for the bottom 90% of households decreased by $900, and that of the top 1% increased by over $700,000, as federal taxation became less progressive.[28][35] Over the last 30 years, the top 1% bore a smaller percentage of the tax burden and the 400 taxpayers with the highest incomes saw their income increase by 392% and their tax rate go down 37%.[29][30]

Cultural context

Following the Late-2000s recession, the economy in the United States continued to experience a jobless recovery. With market uncertainty due to fears of a double-dip recession[36] and the downgrade of the US credit rating in the summer of 2011, the topics of how much the the rich pay in taxes[37] and how to solve the nation's economic crisis, were predominant in media commentary.[38] When Congress returned from break, proposed policy solutions came from both major parties as the 2012 Republican presidential debates occurred almost simultaneously with President Obama's September 9 proposal of the American Jobs Act. On September 17, President Obama further announced an economic policy proposal for taxing millionaires known as the Buffett Rule. This immediately led to public statements by Republican Erie Boehner,[39] President Obama,[40] and Republican Mitt Romney[41] over whether the Democrats were fomenting "class warfare".[42]

Facts about the One Percent: Support and criticism of the wealth disparity claim

A chart showing the disparity in income distribution in the United States.[43] Wealth inequality and income inequality have been central concerns among OWS protesters.[44][45][46][47] CBO data shows that in 1980, the top 1% earned 9.1% of all income, while in 2006 they earned 18.8% of all income.[48]

The richest 1% of Americans own more than half of the country's individually held stocks, according to the Federal Reserve."[49]

Support

The amount of wealth the 1 Percenters control has ranged from 19% in 1976 to 44% in 1929 and has a strong correlation with the stock market.[50]

Criticism

The Top 1% in the United States starts with household annual incomes greater than $593,000. According to Josh Barro in the National Review, "'99 percent' is so expansive a designation that it includes most of the bankers working on Wall Street."[51]

See also

References

  1. ^ Zaid Jilani."5 Facts You Should Know About the Wealthiest One Percent of Americans". AlterNet, 10/4/2011.
  2. ^ Daniel Indiviglio. "Most Americans Aren't Occupy Wall Street's '99 Percent'". The Atlantic, 10/5/2011.
  3. ^ Harry Bradford. "'We Are The 99 Percent': Stories Of The Great Recession's Victims". Huffington Post, 10/3/11.
  4. ^ Anne-Marie Slaughter. "Occupied Wall Street, Seen From Abroad". The New York Times, 10/6/2011.
  5. ^ Behind the Occupy Wall Street slogan 'We Are the 99%'
  6. ^ Outside of Wonkland, 'We are the 99%' Is a Pretty Good Slogan
  7. ^ Kenworthy, L. (August 20, 2010) "The best inequality graph, updated" Consider the Evidence
  8. ^ Bruce Bartlett Responding to the One Percent Attack. Posted October 9, 2010. Accessed October 19, 2011. "In his debate with George W. Bush on Oct. 3, Al Gore relentlessly attacked Bush's tax plan as a giveaway to the rich" ... "accused Bush of providing tax cuts to the "wealthiest 1 percent."
  9. ^ Paul Sperry Al Gore, message machine Posted: October 06, 2000, Accessed October 19, 2011. "Quick, what's the one phrase you remember hearing during the debate? Probably the one you heard most. That's right, "tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent." Gore hit that point no less than five times in 90 minutes in order to sour voters on Bush's proposed tax cut" ... "Gore sprung his "wealthiest 1 percent" line about three times in just the first 10 minutes or so of the debate." ... "Yet, Bush and his advisers had to have known the barb was coming. Gore is a shameless class warrior brimming with anti-rich agitprop. Bush could have easily shot the "wealthiest 1 percent" salvo down every time Gore let it rip..."
  10. ^ Rick Pearson Gore Details Proposal To Strengthen Medicare [[Chicago Tribune] Posted September 26, 2000, accessed October 19, 2011. "Consider this fact: [The Bush] budget plan spends more on a tax cut for the wealthiest 1 percent of taxpayers than their budget invests in health care, prescription drugs, education and national defense all combined. I think those are the wrong priorities"
  11. ^ Phillips, Peter (2006). Censored 2007:The Top 25 Censored Stories. Seven Stories Press. p. 207. ISBN 1583227385.
  12. ^ Columbia University roster of Nobel laureates by year, accessed October 20, 2011
  13. ^ the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%. Vanity Fair. May 2011. Accessed October 20, 2011
  14. ^ bobswern Joseph Stiglitz' Unpretentious Must-Read On Income Inequality: "Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%" Daily Kos. Published April 3, 2011, Accessed October 20, 2011
  15. ^ Irish in New York rally support for ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protesters
  16. ^ Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%
  17. ^ Dan Rather: Force Behind OWS ‘Is a Woman Operating Out of Her Apartment in New York’
  18. ^ Who’s behind the “We are the 99%” anti-Wall Street movement?
  19. ^ Melissa Bell. "Occupy Wall Street protests get support of the one percent". Washington Post, 10/13/2011.
  20. ^ Amanda Walgrove. "Occupy Tumblr: We Are the 153 Percent". The Faster Times, 10/13/2011.
  21. ^ Suzy Khimm. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/conservatives-launch-we-are-the-53-percent-to-criticize-99-percenters/2011/10/10/gIQA70omaL_blog.html Conservatives launch “We are the 53 percent” to criticize 99 percenters], Washington Post, posted October 1, 2011, accessed October 11, 2011
  22. ^ Mark Memmet. For Those Who Aren't Fans Of The '99 Percent,' There's The '53 Percent', NPR, posted October 11, 2011, accessed October 11, 2011
  23. ^ Hiltzik, Michael (October 12, 2011.) “Occupy Wall Street shifts from protest to policy phase.” Los Angeles Times. Accessed October 2011.
  24. ^ Johnston, David Cay (March 29, 2007.) "Income Gap Is Widening, Data Shows." The New York Times. Accessed October 2011.
  25. ^ "By the Numbers." Demos.org. Accessed October 2011.
  26. ^ CBO: Top 1% getting exponentially richer, CBS News October 25, 2011
  27. ^ a b Trends in the Distribution of Household Income Between 1979 and 2007, a CBO study October 2011
  28. ^ a b "Tax Data Show Richest 1 Percent Took a Hit in 2008, But Income Remained Highly Concentrated at the Top." Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Accessed October 2011.
  29. ^ a b Income Inequality Is the Achilles Heel in the GOP Strategy to Demonize Occupy Wall Street Mitchell Bard in Huffington Post October 26, 2011
  30. ^ a b It's the Inequality, Stupid By Dave Gilson and Carolyn Perot in Mother Jones, March/April 2011 Issue
  31. ^ What caused the wealth gap? interview with Jeffrey Sachs by Alice Karekezi. Salon, Tuesday, Oct 11, 2011
  32. ^ Occupy Wall Street movement takes stand against 1 percent, Kansas State Collegian, By Brian Hampel, Published: Thursday, October 20, 2011
  33. ^ Phillips, Peter (2006). Censored 2007:The Top 25 Censored Stories. Seven Stories Press. p. 207. ISBN 1583227385.
  34. ^ Nick Turst (October 18, 2011). "Occupy Wall Street: 992 Arrested at Price Tag of More Than $3.4 Million". AlterNet. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
  35. ^ Top Earners Doubled Share of Nation’s Income, Study Finds New York Times By Robert Pear, October 25, 2011
  36. ^ Sponsored by. "America's jobless recovery: Not again". The Economist. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
  37. ^ "Does a secretary pay higher taxes than a millionaire?" PolitiFact. Accessed October 2011.
  38. ^ Global Stock Selloff: Is another financial crisis coming?
  39. ^ JIM KUHNHENN Obama Unveils Deficit Reduction Plan, 'Buffett Rule' Tax On Millionaires. Associated Press. September 19, 2011, accessed October 19, 2011.
  40. ^ ibid.
  41. ^ Boxer, Sarah B. "Romney: Wall Street Protests 'Class Warfare' - Sarah B. Boxer". NationalJournal.com. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
  42. ^ "Obama Unveils Deficit Reduction Plan, 'Buffett Rule' Tax On Millionaires". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
  43. ^ The Paris School of Economics World Top Incomes Database
  44. ^ Stieber, Zack (October 7, 2011.) "Media-Savvy Protesters Join New Era of Unrest." The Epoch Times. Accessed October 2011.
  45. ^ Alessi, Christopher (October). "Occupy Wall Street's Global Echo". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved October 17, 2011. The Occupy Wall Street protests that began in New York City a month ago gained worldwide momentum over the weekend, as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in nine hundred cities protested corporate greed and wealth inequality. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  46. ^ Jones, Clarence (October 17, 2011). "Occupy Wall Street and the King Memorial Ceremonies". The Huffington Post. Retrieved October 17, 2011. The reality is that 'Occupy Wall Street' is raising the consciousness of the country on the fundamental issues of poverty, income inequality, economic justice, and the Obama administration's apparent double standard in dealing with Wall Street and the urgent problems of Main Street: unemployment, housing foreclosures, no bank credit to small business in spite of nearly three trillion of cash reserves made possible by taxpayers funding of TARP.
  47. ^ Chrystia Freeland (October 14, 2011). "Wall Street protesters need to find their 'sound bite'". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  48. ^ Michael Hiltzik (October 12, 2011). "Occupy Wall Street shifts from protest to policy phase". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  49. ^ Robert Frank. The Wild Ride of the 1%
  50. ^ Protests Target 'One Percent,' But Who Exactly Are They?
  51. ^ Josh Barro. "We Are the 99 Percent—Even Rich People". National Review Online, 10/5/2011.

Further reading

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