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The 99%, part 1

By | October 28, 2011

This what I have been saying all along: Most of the folks who say they are “The 99%” have very little in common with the actual “The 99%” – even though they almost all characterize themselves as “the lucky ones.” They usually have much more in common with the 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30%.
See http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com:

“I am a 26 year old man, I have a 2 year old son. I have worked for Wells fargo and JP Morgan Chase, both of those jobs were outsourced overseas and I was forced to sign a non disclosure agreement to get a severance package. I now work at a hospital where for the past 2 years they haven’t given out raises and as of January 1st 2012 i will be laid off due to the economy… When my debt to income ratio collide and i can no longer afford food or rent, I’ll get a third job and see what happens.”

“I worked a great job for a few years and then did MBA to try and achieve ‘the dream’. Took out over $50,000 in student loan debt. Got a job on LaSalle St. after the MBA and became one of the 1%. After 8 years, Boss got a better job and shut down the company. Can’t find a new job because I am in my 40’s, competing against well qualified people 10 years younger than me. 2 years of draining my savings and I am back in the 99%. I did what America told me to… I am sending this from an anonymous email and am afraid to show my face in case my former 1% friends see me.”

“I went to school out of state full-time last fall. My dream was to become an educator to help shape the future of our children, and ultimately our country’s. Although thankful to have one, I took a $4 and hour pay cut when I started my new part-time job. By the end of the school year I was getting less than 14 hours per week. Now, I am living with my parents again (my Dad works 2 jobs, even without me in the house), college is on the back burner, and I am over $20,000 in debt to an incomplete degree. I am currently jobless and have been searching for close to 3 months… 99%.”

Who else are in “The (roughly) 99%”?

Individuals who make $500K/year or less, in The 99.4%
(Male baseball player, cardiologist, President of the United States).

Individuals who make $250K/year or less, in The 99.1%
(Airport CEO, Supreme Court Chief Justice, neurologist).

Those who make $200K/year or less, in The 98.6%
(pediatrician, State governor, Congressman).

“i came back to school to finish my degree because i wasn’t going to be another single mom statistic… we are the lucky ones: i have a car (and was able to get a loan to buy it). my daughter is in preschool through a federal grant program… we eat well, thanks to food stamps… we have a laptop and a camera… i make a ‘living’ on borrowed money. we are the 99%.”

“My grandmother died of colon cancer when she was in her 30s. My uncle nearly died at the same age, but he pulled through. Another uncle ended his own life when he was diagnosed. My mother and I haven’t had cancer, but we’ve both had our colons removed… I had my surgery when I was 17, and I’ve needed semi-annual checkups ever since then. They’re about $600 even with the insurance I won’t have again for another year. I earn just over the national minimum wage. My husband has insurance through his job, but he can’t cover me because, well, I’m a man, and we live in Texas. My mother, my family, everyone I love… We are the 99%.”

“The 81.4%” make less than $60K per year.
Do you identify with the 99%, or the 81.4%?

“The 75%” make less than $50K per year.
Do you identify with the 99%, or the 75%?

“The 66%” make less than $40K per year.
Do you identify with the 99%, or the 66%?

“Sixteen & ‘gifted,’ I put myself through college… I had to drop out at 19 because it became too expensive. I’ve worked at a grocery store for 7 years… 6 months ago, my hours were cut. I had to supplement my checks with vacation hours. They ran out fast. So did my credit cards… I had to give up paying my credit cards & loans to afford rent & food. I am now over $40k in debt, & struggling to save up enough for a bankruptcy lawyer. I am 25, & 2 months pregnant with my first child. We are the 99%.”

“My school is in ruins. There are holes in the wall, vandalism in the entryway & bathrooms & halls, and we don’t have textbooks. We are a ‘last ditch’ school. There isn’t a single student who’s not disabled, mentally ill/unstable, or who didn’t flunk/get expelled from their old schools. This school is all we have left, and our parents can’t take us anywhere else if it fails due to the lack of funding. We need help. We are the 99%. Please, at least put us through high school.”

Representative members of “The 66%”:
Plumber $37,000
Math teacher $36,000
Sous chef $34,000
Auto mechanic $30,000
Repo man $28,000
Nursing assistant $27,000
Apartment maintenance worker $24,000
Delivery driver $19,000
Line cook $17,000
Cleaning lady $16,000
Bouncer $14,000
Counterfeiter (no data)
Astrologer (no data)
Undocumented-worker “coyote” (no data)
“Exciting opportunity! Great area!” (??) $33,000

If you are an E4 (Corporal, Specialist, Petty Officer 3rd Class, Senior Airman) who enlisted in 2008 when the economy collapsed, you probably make $25,476 yearly, and are in “The 55%.”

“I am a veteran that lost most of a leg in Afghanistan (at age 18)… I am a College Graduate with a ‘good job,’ I am a lucky one. I am able to pay my bills most of the time. We still live check to check. My (almost) wife is a teacher who pays for books for her classroom, she buys the supplies… Between the two of us we have 60K in student loans. We share a three bedroom apartment with family… I am ashamed I can’t provide for my family. I am the 99% and we are watching you.”

“I became a sex worker in part because I was caring for my grandmother and couldn’t afford to balance her, a job, and university. Thanks to my education, however, I am overqualified for most of the jobs I apply for. I’ve just come out of an unpaid internship because it was my only hope towards paid work… I am the 99%.”

If you are a minimum wage worker in Oregon, working full time hours, you will count yourself very lucky to earn:

$8.50/hr x 40hr per wk x 85% of gross as take-home$
x 50 weeks per year (allow 14 days unpaid for illness/absence)
= $14,450 per year.
You are in “The 33.5%” (under $15K/yr).

Minimum wage worker in Illinois = $8.25/hr > $14,025 = also “The 33.5%”.
Minimum wage worker in most states = $7.25/hr > $12,325 = still “The 33.5%”, though $2K poorer.
Minimum wage worker in Wyoming or Georgia, $5.15/hr > $8,755 = unfortunately, “The 25.4%” (under $10K/yr).
Disabled person receiving SSI, $674/month > $8,088 = also, unfortunately, “The 25.4%”.

“In 2007, my wife and I both worked good jobs. We are both educated, we didn’t use credit cards, and qualified for a decent home loan. I worked for the Auto industry managing car loans. When cars collapsed, the bailout went to the manufacturers – not to dealerships… I lost my home, lost car, my life savings spent on the birth of my son because we had no health insurance. We did everything we were supposed to do to have a successful life.

“I’m back in school, and it’s expensive but the only one that would take a 40 year old law student was a private school. Debt is mounting fast… We live with my parents, who also lost most of their savings.

“My wife was laid off this week. By the end of this month, we will be totally broke. I don’t know how I can finish this semester. Half a law degree is worthless – but I’m already $25K in debt… What did I do wrong? Where was my mis-step? What was my big mistake?… I am the 99%.”

Oh, and by the way, “The 50%”: What is the median income for people of color in the US? At the median, half of the people in the group make more, and half make less:
$23,738 is the median for Black men; $19,470 for Black women.
$22,256 is the median for Hispanic/Latino men;
$16,210 for Hispanic/Latina women.

What’s my point? 99% does not tell the whole story. 1% might tell most of the story, but 99% doesn’t. The story of the people who use the term the 99% is a story of terrible precarity. The story of the 1% is the story of terrible exploitation.

What does all of this have to do with doctoring? Stay tuned.

To find your own percentile:

http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2010

For your state’s minimum wage laws:

http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm#content

To see military pay scales:

http://www.navycs.com/2011-military-pay-chart.html

Estimated salaries:

http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/home

Income by race:

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0701.pdf

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