8807
letters and counting!
letters and counting!
You Are Guilty! | 0
Since you are the ones that began in the 1980's to speculate and play fast and loose with the money of others, you should be the ones laid off. No more lying about having to "keep talent" by paying crooks big bonuses. (Though I guess it does take a certain amount of talent to bring down the entire world economy.) Many of you should be in prison and in your heart (what little you may have left), you know it's true. You have fooled many into believing that regulation is to blame; but lack of regulation led the the fall into the economic abyss and if you are permitted to continue, we will never be able to climb back out. You don't need to worry though, you've salted away enough to live obscenely for the remainder of your life, even if you never draw another paycheck. You cry and bellyache about having to pay taxes - something the rest of us do and actually do willingly - it's what holds the infrastructure of the nation together. Pay me one million dollars and tax me at the rate of 75% and watch me cry. It would take me twelve years at my current salary to make what I'd have left over from the million. And before you snidely comment that I should get a better education to up my salary, I would add that my salary is that of a Master's degree; and I've had plenty of you so-called experts come to me for help, though you didn't think you needed to pay for my expertise. You are the true un-Americans, the destroyers of the American Dream. Personally, I don't think many of you will ever wake up and accept reality - you've lived too long in your gilded tower. As a matter of practicality, my family are cutting up credit cards, doing our banking with a credit union and generally avoiding doing business with Wall St. or the "banking" industry (a euphemism for the speculation industry). You are held in derision and contempt by millions - and we outnumber you. The wealthy have always thought they could hide behind their money, but take a good look at history (which, of course, you didn't study while getting your worthless MBA) and remember that the same thing could happen to you if you get too many citizens angry for too long. That is a fact of life. Start treating others as you demand for yourselves to be treated. Kathleen Rueppel San Antonio, TX 78218-2619
Private retirement accounts | 0
My father has been an extremely hardworking individual his whole life. He grew up in poverty in a small, west Pennsylvania steel town. He had a difficult time in school and he therefore felt limited in his employment opportunities to working in steel mills or as a roofer. As a son in an abusive household, he had no encouragement to strive for higher education. Yet, after having served in the army during the Vietnam War, he used his veteran's benefits to secure funding for college. Starting school with a substandard education under his belt, he struggled to catch up with his peers. Despite his difficulties in subjects involving heavy reading and writing, he passed his courses with high grades. Over the next 38 years, he continuously worked as an electrical engineer for several companies. He raised me in a strictly frugal environment where meals were simple and and were home-cooked, toys and entertainments were few, vehicles were driven to the point of collapse and repaired only within our own home garage, and any home improvements were carried out by my father and his close friends. My father is the quintessential example of the American Dream - a true hardworking, persevering, rags to middle-class individual. Yet today, in his 60s, my father is looking at his retirement funds with anxiety. Forced to invest the security of his future in the stock market, allowing it to be mismanaged by prodigal speculators, he's seen his life's retirement savings drop by half. The company to which he's dedicated decades of his life is now on the verge of collapse. With a sick wife, and is own retirement pushed indefinitely back into the future, my father is at the breaking point. A life of hard work and modest reward has taken the form of a cruel joke. In the meantime, he watches as his small Alabama neighborhood falls apart. Many of his formerly comfortable neighbors, many of whom are now unemployed and uninsured, have all but given up hope. The man across the street is an unemployed widower and only parent after his uninsured wife died of a cancer which, without having had medical coverage and the privilege of receiving an annual physical, remained hidden until it had spread through her body. Other un- or underemployed neighbors have been selling their vehicles and/or relying on yard sales to pay the mortgage. This country is crumbling due to irresponsible financial policy and a wildly unregulated financial system. Derivatives markets have created massive areas of poverty, huge devaluations of property, spikes in food prices, and simultaneously an infinitesimally small population of super-rich individuals. It's time for this to stop. We need now more than ever to reverse our priorities in this country and to stop allowing a small minority of elites to accumulate massive wealth by exploiting a broken system of investment. And we need to stop allowing companies such as yours to infiltrate all levels of government with lobbyists concealing parasitic interests. Thank you. - Ian Ian 11103
Extremism | 0
You have benefitted from government just as much as the welfare recipients so I figure you owe America some pay back. James E Shifflett Jr Charlottesville, VA 22903
Occupy the Boardroom! | 0
The lack of governmental regulations on wall street practices led to the derivatives SCAM, which was perpetuated on markets throughout the US and Europe. These immoral, and economically insane practices caused, to a great extent, this incredibly painful economic downturn for millions of people, including many of you who work in investment companies. We need SANE regulations in place to prevent this from ever happening again, as we all know it WILL, as long as these kinds of practices are still legal, which they are. Please stop funding congressional members who are any party to allowing Wall Street the laissez faire attitudes that have dominated our economic policy. It CLEARY DOESN'T WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Margaret Dunlevy 10025
Your subject here | 0
The time is here! We all live on the same planet. You 1% people can't ignore the inner voice inside you any longer. The one that knows what the right thing to do is. Come down out of your ivory towers. How much does one person really need? There really is enough for everyone to live a good life. Join us. Use your wealth and good fortune to help heal the injustice that has been done to the 99% and our beautiful planet Earth. We all need each other! The time is NOW! Rosemarie Wiegman Tacoma, WA 98404
Endi Wall Street gambling | 0
America is being destroyed at an accelerated pace by gambling on Wall St. Placing insurance bets on stock futures creates nothing, it’s a con. Shipping factories and jobs overseas dooms our country. You have catapulted our future into being nothing more than another banana republic. Stop destroying the middleclass, our movement is growing around the world and will end corporate greed. Be part of the solution and not the problem. Sid Klum 92115
Better use of their (and our) money | 0
I do not have a personal bone to pick with the banks, but a general one. Since, as Elizabeth Warren has so eloquently pointed out, they could not succeed without the help of tax-payer supported services, they owe something to society well-beyond their shareholders. They should put a reasonable portion of their money to serve the larger society, those who need help, not just to make profits for a few who need nothing. Joan Ferrante 14420
sharing and justice | 0
It's time for big changes in this country (and everywhere else on earth). The money you hand out for bonuses is obscene. The whole corporate structure is obscene. If we don't fix our environment now with clean energy and clean up the messes we've made there won't be a habitible earth to live on. WE must focus on solutions and stop feeding the problems. A whole new consciousness is required - a new way of thinking. Get in the ballgame or leave the stadium. claudia martinez stratford, OK 74872
corporate power | 0
Hello. I have a PhD in economics and I agree with the OccupyWallStreet folks that corporations have become too powerful in our democratic system. We regular folks have nearly given up in terms of fighting for our interests. It's simply too difficult to do without your money and access. But it is time to fight back! Linda Stanley CO 80526
Wealth Creation | 0
According to Adam Smith, wealth is created by the excess value of labor. A wage that affords the common man the means to shelter, feed, and clothe his family is consistent with common humanity. The first Henry Ford, (famous socialist?) when accused of being a traitor to his class by 'spoiling his workers' replied: 'I pay them well, so they can buy my products'. Businesses hire when they have demand gor their products and services - what good are tax cuts when you don't make enough money to even pay taxes? To impoverish American workers but keep them spending nonetheless by the lure of easy, but in the end unaffordable credit is the road to collapse. What is an economy and a commonwealth such as nation for? Does it exist to immeasurably enrich the few and oppress and exploit the many, or, too promote and ensure the general welfare and universal human rights? The Capitalist System works only well if prudently regulated, if left unfettered, it's suicide gene, greed, will kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. Look in the mirror at yourselves - is the present rotten system what you want lo leave your children? 'Money and Democracy don't mix'- Jefferson. 'A great disparity between rich and poor is the most common and most FATAL flaw of Empires' -Plutarch. Do you 'Masters of the Universe' really want to send our country down that path? Sincerely, Greatgrandma Brigid Brigid Nosal 12865
corporate greed | 0
I am an investor as well as a mother, grandmother, and busy family member. The malfeasance that the big banks perpetrated to almost completely bring down this country is beyond despicable. And it was done with such arrogance, such hubris. Your nerve is galling, please understand that. I intend in the near future to move my money to local banks and credit unions. I have absolutely no trust in the larger financial world. None. The multinational corporations, including you, the banks, would just as soon sell your mother as well as bring on another financial catastrophe. It's all about you. Please understand that it really IS about the 99%. You just keep misinforming yourselves. Betty Head 12009
Occupy the Boardroom! | 1
Hello there, I have no sob story myself. I live a good life within my means, and I am lucky. However, I worry about the future of our country, with such a huge income gap between the few and the many. If you, the very wealthy, are indeed able to preserve this way of living, you may have 10 beautiful homes, cheap labor to work for you, and inexpensive gas to fuel the giant vehicle that will drive you through all the smelly, polluted, and crumbling societies living closer and closer to your front door. You will eventually be a very rich man living in a very poor country. That would suck, don't you agree? Thank you for considering these thoughts, Dana WInograd Dana Winograd 87505
Time to clean up your act folks! | 1
We're right back in the era of the robber barons! I'm resigning from the American Dream as dictated by Wall Street as much as I can until you guys shape up. And I'm encouraging my friends and family to likewise. Outrageous salaries and perks must go! Veronica Egan Mencos, CO 81328
our economy | 0
It is outrageous that the wealthy, banks and corporation are gobbling up the money and acting like it's a good thing. They are destroying every facet of our life and world. wendy dannett 10025-9313
LIFE is more important than MONEY | 0
If you are receiving this message, that means you have been identified as one of the people responsible for our nation's current economic situation. I'd like to start off by thanking you for taking jobs away from the hardest workers in this country. Thanks to you, the people who know the meaning of back-breaking labor have seen where all their hard work will get them in this country, the land of opportunity. You have proved to our nation's laborers that when this country is in crisis, their hard work is nothing more than a funnel to supply their hard-earned tax dollars to the richest people in America. Many of these hard-working Americans want to see their tax dollars funding the next generation's college education, improving our communities, or funding a clean energy economy (which most other industrialized nations have been moving toward for over a decade). It is clear that this vision for America--the America that has a future--is not the America you want. Instead of putting money toward the things that can actually improve an economy, you have done the unthinkable and stolen a nation's future. Perhaps you think that money isn't everything, and maybe you think that what you have done really doesn't have an impact on the world; maybe you think everyone else will just move on. Maybe this is the reason you think you haven't affected history. You couldn't be more wrong. The future I described above, the future of a prosperous nation moving forward as one, supporting our childrens' educations and communities and environment--this future is further out of reach now than it ever has been, and that's thanks to you. I have been working since I was 13 years old so I could be independent and go to college, even though my parents couldn't afford to pay for my education. Now I am 24 and have a Bachelor of Science degree, and I still work over 40 hours a week to make just enough money to make ends meet. You are nothing like me. You probably won't understand most of this. You are disgustingly rich, compared top most Americans (and to most people in the world). You are responsible for people like me having to work so hard without ever moving up in the world. I don't want to be like you--I'm not asking that. I don't want a job or a salary (or bonus) like yours. I just want to have a home where I can raise a family and teach my children to be good people who take care of their neighbors and their community. I just want to have a job that makes me happy, not rich. I just want to know that there will always be food on my table for my family. I just want to live in this country without feeling ashamed of the way it is being run. You are part of this. Make the right choice. Blow the whistle. Request a pay decrease. Feed the poor--we are the people who serve your food, drive you through the city, do your laundry, and clean your house. We are what makes your world function. We are the heartbeat of this country. And we are all beginning to realize what we are capable of doing together. We will succeed with or without you. We are too big to fail. It's up to you which side you want to join. Lindsay Becker Columbia Falls, MT 59912
There are more posts. See the most recent.