Today I’m going to address the 99ers exclusively. Many among us are wondering why there is not a stronger propensity toward aggressive action among our people. Well, to get to the root of this question there must be a clearer understanding of who exactly we are. When on the rare occasion a 99er story makes it into the mainstream propaganda there is a generality that cannot be ignored. That is a middle aged man and woman standing in front of an $800,000 home with one or two brand new SUVs sitting in the driveway.
Their heart wrenching story goes something like this. The husband says, “I’ve lost my job, exhausted my 99 weeks of unemployment, and the only income we have coming in is my wife’s salary.” The view then changes to one of bare cupboards and a refrigerator with a scant few items contained within. The wife says, “We have gone from an income of $200,000 a year to the $30,000 my job provides. Our house payment is $2000 a month which my income barely covers and we have to dip into our retirement savings to make our car payments.” At this point the woman usually has tears in her eyes.
You see the reason we are having trouble uniting under an aggressive platform has been directly affected by the nature of the attack on the middle class, our new economic depression represents. In almost every so called recession since the Great Depression, the cut taken out of the middle class was almost exclusively from the bottom tier. And those in the upper income were hardly affected at all, regardless of age or work experience.
When the corporate elite attacked this time they went for age and seniority, and this was a fiscal decision. When they decided to cull the work force they went for those in the higher pay grades which is to say those who had been working longer, had escalated to the higher pay grades, and were closing in on retirement. This was of course at every tier. That is to say the older higher paid employees in the upper tiers were culled equally with those on the lower tiers.
So what we have at present is essentially a social split in the long term unemployed. We are all unemployed and hurting but the conception of the situation exists in two different realities. Those like the couple described above cannot yet conceive the true magnitude of the deprivation. How can the plight of someone living in an $800,000 home with two new SUVs sitting in the driveway, $30,000 a year still coming in and bank and retirement accounts still to be tapped, be compared with a man a wife with two or three or four children living in a tent city, homeless shelter, or on the street with no income and absolutely no hope? The fact is it cannot.
When I tell the 99ers that we are going to have to suffer a lot more deprivation before we see a true unity that might produce results, this is what I’m talking about. You will see people come onto the comment section and say I have not talked about the 99er issue in the day’s article. This is because the only thing they want to hear is that an extension is coming, which equates to, they can stop tapping their retirement accounts.
Those of us in the trenches know that it has gone far beyond unemployment extensions. We see the push to enslave some and completely eliminate the most of us. These people who still have wealth think that the whole thing is just a big mistake and that they were included through some error in some calculation. It makes perfect sense to them that it has happened to those they have always considered to be beneath them. What they fail to understand is that there has always been someone above them looking down and thinking the same thing.
And when you see them on television crying they are not reaching out to their fellow unemployed as a whole, but rather to their fellow elitists who have wrongly been put in the same situation. They will not reach out to us because to do so they would have to reach down, which might involve throwing a little of the lot they still have left into what is in reality an empty pot.
Only when they have lost everything will they understand that there has never been but one elite in this country, and that is those at the very top. They have allowed those in the middle and upper middle class the illusion of elitism only for the purpose of incorporating them into the cause of taking from those below them. They do not understand that in the end those at the very top intend to have it all.
No, if the 99ers were truly united among all who have been affected, we could march on Washington DC. But that would require those who still have wealth left financing the operation. And quite frankly I do not see it happening. They will continue on taking care of themselves with what they still have and what they have coming in until that is taken away.
Then when they are truly among us, they will be the first ones bitching and complaining because no one has done anything yet. To which we will do as we have done all along. We will tell them, “Yeah, we understand” and “Welcome to the jungle.”
As we have been here longer we will be a lot better adept in our survival techniques, which is going to cause rather just or unjust a bit of a role reversal. Because at this point they will be reaching out to us and they will be reaching up and they will be asking for food. To which we will not deny them as their humility will be the punishment for their past arrogance.
So all you 99ers out there still fortunate enough to have some sort of income and a roof over your head take a minute to think about what you are saying before you come onto the comment section to criticize those with nothing left but their will to resist and punish their oppressors.
Make no mistake. Unless there is radical change for the better in the very near future, which I do not see, there is going to be a real war in this country with real bullets, real blood, real death through murder and starvation. And every agony we will suffer will be attributed to our failure as Americans of the American race to fight for and protect one another from our common enemy, which is the international corporate elite that has taken absolute control of our government, and whom we are going to have to defeat in battle in order to reinstate our Republic under our Constitution, so that those of us who are left and our prodigy can once again live in peace and prosperity.
This is the ugly truth too many 99ers do not want to hear. But I tell you the longer it is ignored the worse it is going to be.
God bless this Republic, death to the international corporate mafia, we shall prevail.
not every 99er income is 800 hundred k. what about most like me 58 yrs old was making 50 k my wife makes 15 k. ive been layed off since may of 09, i am a 99er. we are now living on her income . its almost impossible. job creation for people my age does not exist. i dont think there is job creation for anybody its just the goverments way of saying to bad for you. a extendsion of uuenployment would help until they did create jobs in the meanwhile i cant find work here in ohio. senator rob portmant ran for office saying he had a plan for jobs, he must be keeping it to him self. good luck to all 99ers and anybody looking for work youll need it.
jack schaffer,
Reread the article. I did not say they made $800,000 a year. I said $200,000 between them. And by God the segment I saw, they were standing in front of an $800,000 house, with 2 new SUVs sitting in the driveway.
The only people who should be taking any issue with this article or trying to defend the elitist’s segment is the elitist segment.
With all due compassion, it is impossible for anyone still with a home and receiving income to relate to the plight of those homeless and with nothing.
At any rate, I wish you luck, as I do all 99ers.
Hello Henry~
i enjoy your articles. It is your words that make the situation of the 99ers crystal clear. I’m so glad that you are still around giving a voice to those who have nothing left – including their voices. I’ve been reading your articles for years since my husband lost his job, lost his unemployment, and still searching for a job that he can actually do at his age. Yep, we’re living on my measly income and barely making it. Living on $29,000 a year is really quite difficult and I often find myself looking for “things” that I can sell. These “things” were once my dearest possessions, but just like the food they bought, there is nothing left this week. We need someone to keep our voices alive, and I’m thankful that you are still here. Keep the faith, keep the promise of American close to your heart, and don’t EVER give up. The neo’s want to see us squirm and falter, but not giving into their fear is the best thing we can do.
Please keep the articles coming. It breathes life into all of us : )
God Bless America!
Henry, you hit the nail on the head, as usual.
Dear Kathy,
You talk about your “measly” income of $29k and how hard it is to make ends meet. I fear that you are one of those that Henry mentioned in his article. Twenty-nine thousand dollars would last me for 2 years. I have pared down the existance for myself and my 2 year old son to this point. I have just started a part-time job which I happened to get only because of who I know. I was completely without an income from September 5, 2010 (when my Unemployment Benefits were exhausted) until May 20, 2011. Talk about selling your prized family possesions to survive! Yes, I did. My new job so far has not been able to cover my bills, but with the help of food stamps we are surviving. I do not wish to undermine the pain that you are suffering in the situation that you are in, but I just want to make the point that to many 99ers out there your $29k sounds like a million. I hope that your sistuation does improve and that your husband is able to find some form of income. Please keep it real though and be grateful for you $29k a year.
Why such a harsh post to me? You have no idea of the hardships that I face. My post was meant for encouragement for all of the 99ers and you make it sound like I was purely boasting. People not supporting one another or encouraging one another is exactly what is bringing this country down. I am sorry that my post dismayed you, but your reply wasn’t exactly meant in kindness. That’s OK, I’ve developed very thick skin over all of this. I hope and pray that your situation improves and that all of the 99ers can get the help that they need.
How in gods name , does Barny Frank , and Nancy Pelosi , get re-elected ?
How in gods name , can we expect a way out , from “bill clinton2” ? the Obama administration ?
Always good for a chuckle , reading about the corporate devils , while tax free Jeffrie Immelt (GE) is watching “March madness ” picks , with the president …………..
This article hits home! I still haven’t found a job and I am worried about the future. I totally agree that “they” are trying to enslave or eliminate us. Like alot of you, I graduated college and attended school twice after that. The most recent being 2004-2005 for medical billing and coding. What a waste of time. Now I’m suppose to take a low paying job, one that will not support me. I wonder what will happen when it’s time to retire. Will I become an old woman eating cat food on a park bench?
As of now I live in my mother’s house and she and her husband got a reverse mortgage. Without any income from my sister or I they are barely keeping their heads above water. I fear I will never leave like I always hoped.
I emailed Obama a suggestion, after all he is the President. I suggested Affirmative Action for those of us over fifty. Of course I should live so long. I lost faith in Obama a long time ago. Our lives have been destroyed and no one cares. I will continue to think of ways to help us. Affirmative Action was created so that a certain demography could get a fair break. Well we need Affirmative Action for that very same reason, discrimination against a certain class. Those over fifty.
My name is hopelessinnj because I feel HOPELESS! I am very depressed and shocked at what has happened. We all must find ways to fight this.
Hello hopelessinnj~
I’m your neighbor and feel for you. Please try to hang on and I know that things will get better. I will pray for you.
I have also email all of our state reps regarding the blatant truth of age discrimination. Its pathetic how people over age 45 are passed up for jobs, knowing that they have the best work ethics and experience. Please keep battling on this. I will keep doing my part to help wherever I can. What is being done to the American workers is a tragedy. While I have a job, my house is affected by unemployment. Yesterday we lost our cable/internet/phone, the only simple pleasure we had. I can deal without it, but it makes it hard to search for a cyberjob, which is pretty much what job searches have turned into. Please keep your chin up and try to think positive thoughts. I know it may be difficult right now, but I’m pulling for you, my neighbor!
i question how any of these assholes get reelected that’s why i say the vote is nothing but a scam how did bush get reelected twice and i guarantee obama will win in 2012 because the whole thing is fixed and this electoral college has to go i want to run i guarantee they would assasininate me in a day vote for brian s for president in 2012 if i won i would get the broom out and open up the prisons and take every one of these corporate polititians and throw them in with all the gangbangers and let them tare them apart
Make me Attorney General and I’ll help ya.
i’ll make you vice prez hope your not against the death penalty and the border shoot on site illegally crossing and legalize pot and make all strip bars affordable for all only kidding
Thanks for the promotion. Actually, I’m smokin’ a joint, sighting in my .50 caliber sniper rifle, with an illegal Mexican stripper cookin’ dinner for me. You can probably guess what’s for dessert.
Illegal Mexican stripper?
Maybe there is a way we can work out a deal to give some of them amnesty.
yea henry im telling you you got this clicking buisness started that will be part of my presidential speech click click click hooray click click click hooray press click for brian s if you want change
Sounds good to me !
What didn’t Von Braun like about the Clinton administration? Was it the peace, or the prosperity? Extending the republican tax cuts was the dumbest thing to do during a recession. Watching Paul Ryan’s budget committee meeting the other day was an excersize in futility. Instead of asking legitmate questions of the head of the CBO, the republicans used their time to try and justify their social Darwinian ideology. Its no wonder that congress has become inert. Their agenda is to extend this mess until election time and use it for political gain, their problem is they have no economic policy. Boehner and his lap dogs Cantor and Ryan are the real jokes, and we are the butt of them.
Dave NC,
You are goddamn right. Those lowlife Republicans are cutting our throats, just like those low life Democrats did when they had a super majority and a democratic president and could not have been stopped from passing a Tier 5 extension.
That’s why we the American people of the American race are breaking free of the false left-right paradigm and opting for a system that is neither left nor right, just Constitutional.
There are those who live in a false reality or a warped bubble if you will. They think the current decline in our economy and the dismantling of the middle class and destruction of the poor with not include or affect them in any manner. They feel they are somehow above and protected from this free fall constructed by the powers that be. In their smuggness they vehemently defend any and all criticisms leveled towards the performance of Obama and the current Administration. In their minds we who complain suffer from sour grapes. With their arrogance and possessions they state that if more of us had planned more wisely for our futures as they did, we would not have fallen into this so called recession/depression that’s occuring in this country today. Hmm. Is that so.
In the past having an open and honest conversation with these types of folks concerning the collaspe of our economy and the questionable state of affairs our country finds it’s self in leaves much to be desired. But lately I’m starting to hear some rumbling and valid concerns on their part. Their minds are finally opening up to hearing and discussing a different type of dialogue. It’s becoming clear to these nuckleheads that their security blankets are slowly eroding before their eyes. Their well thoughtout budgets and financial plans are becoming harder and harder to manage and maintain with each passing day. They are starting to see that they are no different from us, but rather, becoming more like a lot of us as time marches on. The ones who are being sacrificed as financial escapegoats for the wanna be priviledged in this country. To them I say, welcome to brokeback America. You will see, you are not exempt from this castatrope after all.
Mizori-DC,
Well said!
When the ship goes down all classes of passengers drown equally in the same water.
One would think that fact to be not all that difficult to grasp but arrogance is not any less blind than love. It always takes the fall to teach. It’s just that the deeper in the hold you are the sooner you see the incoming flood. We who grease the engines and stoke the fires have long known what was going on….but who was listening?
They are listening now.
Mizori-DC, their time is gonna come.
The transom has absorbed so much water, that it can no longer be maintained !
I am now reduced to my child support payment of $450. My rent is $750. I’ve sold my personal belongings since I’ve been laid off in July 2009. I’m 48, use to make $60,000 a year. For the first time since I was 18 and started working on my own, I have no idea how I’m coming up with the other $200 for rent July 1. That’s not counting things like car insurance, utilities, and personal care items.
I have applied to soooo many jobs I can’t even count. Everyday I’m pounding the pavement trying to find something, anything, even jobs I NEVER thought I would work. I never worked fast food when I was a teenager, but guess, what? I’ve been applying to those jobs as well with no luck.
My daughter is 15…think I may have to see if she has better luck than her “old” mother….
I live in PA and my last EB check was 6/11/11. I’ve been unemployed since 8/24/09. I’m 49 and have applied to hundreds and hundreds of jobs and rarely even get a rejection letter or email from any of them. I have had employers call me twice for phone interviews, tell me they are referring me to the hiring manager, and then never hear from them again. I’ve also had a recruiter tell me to take everything off my resume that’s older than ten years because it’s showing how old I am and potential employers will just toss it in the rejection pile. In the almost 2 years that I’ve been unemployed, I’ve only had 5 interviews. I’m not sure what I’m going to do at this point. I have two kids, one who will be a senior in college the other a senior in high school. We have three cars between us and my only income now is the child support that I get for my son. I have worked since I was 16 with only maternity leaves for both kids and 4 years when I quit work to stay home when my youngest was 2 months old. I can’t believe that this has happened to me and there are more days than not where I just don’t see it ever getting better.
You have it right on every item. I am 51 and have one week left on my 93 weeks of coverage in N.Y. I was laid of just one month shy of twenty years of seniority & six months shy of vesting my pension. My company sent me to have a physical & paid the doctor to rate me inelligible to be C.P.R. certified which they made a part of my job description,so they got rid of me! Additionally, I was the Unit Chair of my branch of S.E.I.U.200! The union tried for me to no avail. If they can get rid of me,no one is safe. I have written my congress person,senator & the white-house to no avail.Not even getting a response. The only difference between the parties is with one they try & distract you with THREE CARD MONTY & the other attempts to lull you with GUESS WHIS SHELL HAS THE PEA UNDER IT!!! If it wasn’t so sad it might be funny that we keep buying this crap year after year. I just put up almost all of my personal items onto e-bay to try & survive for a few months. Never thought I would be in this possition at 51. I even have an Associates with a 3.675 G.P.A.,another year done towards my 4 year degree & an I.Q. of 160 plus.
It has been 41/2 years of being unemployed for me. My wife works a part-time job and brings in a whopping $14,000 a year. We have 1 car, a house that’s now worth about $30,000 and is falling apart, and have begun selling off anything and everything just to make ends meet (which they don’t). I am 53 years old,have worked since I was 12, and now have 2 herniated discs which doesn’t stop me from working but stops employers from hiring me. I have NEVER wanted to ask for help but what do I do?
To Everyone,
Everything that you write is so true and then some! To Alan, have you tried to apply for disability? I have and it is very difficult but try anyway! Get all of your medical documentation and hire an attorney..SS will try and tell you that you dont need an atty but that is just not true..As for myself, I will be living on the street as of tomarrow…BTW, I was denied medical/housing assistance but plenty of illegals w/anchors get everything for free. I am told that I can sleep on the street! This is just wrong! I lost my job Feb 9 and with back/knee/foot problems etc it is almost impossible to find one…
your only getting 30 dollars a month are you shitting me what state are you livin in im getting 200 a month tell what state this is im sure i will never go there that’s f–cked up i feel for you you couldn’t feed a mouse that in a month