I am part of the 53% and I support the 99%.

I am not yet 30. I have had eleven jobs. I have been paying taxes for ten years. Some of those years, I received my full returnable contribution due to educational expenses. Some of those years, I paid more than I had withheld. Some years, I was an independent contractor, as I currently am. For a brief period, I worked as a migrant farm worker.

My household has over $100 thousand in student loan debt because my family's college savings was lost in the first Bush stock crash and my husband's family worked crazy jobs just to stay afloat and the savings they did have were not sufficient to cover his education. We may never buy a home; we may never have children; we may never have any significant savings because we took the desperate step of paying for our education with predatory loans created to give banks access to a new, captive market.

I LOVE paying taxes. As the dependent child of a deceased vet, I know very well exactly the investment I am making. I am providing for the protection and care of children like me. I'm feeding the hungry and paying the people who keep things running. I am mostly pleased with the civilization my taxes purchase. I am not happy with the way my supposedly elected government is entrenched with corporate interests instead of citizen interests. I am angry at the way Obama's administration is turning its back on the transparency he promised us. I am incensed at the failure of this administration to defend citizens and indeed Obama's choice to assassinate citizens. I am horrified that Obama decried tear gas for protesters in Tahrir Square, but right here at home, he couldn't be bothered.

I love working. I love being productive. I love creating. I love helping. But I could do nothing without my education, and it will be my downfall. When did attempting to better yourself and improve your productivity become an immorality? I am not a leech. I have been failed by the system.


I am the 99%


**And, I will mention, I want this movement to fight harder to include the less visible. But, while their causes are important and completely deserving and things I fight for, this movement is about everyone who has been victimized by the corporatism that has possessed our government.