World Changing Ideas: (The) Faces of the 99%

I know that I promised a break from Occupy commentary, but a friend just sent me some good news and I had to quickly share it...

By now, we've all seen the WE ARE THE 99 PERCENT Tumblr site that presents the personal stories of people who work hard, but who struggle due to circumstances beyond their control.

wearethe99percent.tumblr.com is an example
 of an independent Occupy signal amplifier

Perhaps you've also seen the WE ARE THE 53% response...?

This image is one of the most evocative that I've seen on either site.
It has unsurprisingly inspired some thoughtful responses.

It is important to our humanity that we have an opportunity to share our own story, and to hear the stories of other real people, so I'm happy to report that there is a new wave starting.

In fact, there appear to be two new waves starting independently. Go check out "Faces of the 99%" and "The Faces of the 99%" (Will the real "Faces of the 99%" please stand up! :-)

What I like most about these new initiatives is that they are attracting posts from "normal" people. By "normal" I mean "people like me" of course (isn't that everyone's definition of normal ;-) Seriously though, I guess I mean people who are not struggling under the current global economic paradigm (financially or ideologically).

People like me, and I imagine, like you, because you have access to the Internet and time to waste reading my blog. 

Increasingly, posters appear to be happy, healthy, comfortably employed people.

Like me though, these people consider themselves part of the 99%.

I'm very happy about this development for two reasons:

1) It means that the Occupy message is making its way deeper into the mainstream.
2) It means that one day, I will be able to put my own story up without worrying that others may feel that I'm putting theirs down.

A problem with 2 though is that I have appalling handwriting... So, since I will need to type my story up and print it out eventually, I thought I'd give it a trial run here first to see how it goes down.

So please let me know what you think of the following first quick attempt at my own 99% story?

I had a happy, middle class upbringing

In very nice suburb of Perth, Western Australia

(not too far from the beach)

We always had plenty of good food on the table.

I had excellent public primary and secondary education.

My Dad worked a bit too hard... (and still does!)

but that was (and still is) his choice (and I respect that.)

(Besides, he has done very well for himself - and what's wrong with that?)

I got an affordable degree from a world-class university.

I've had a series of fantastic jobs and I've traveled the world.

I've lived in Dublin, Boston, Silicon Valley, and now just outside Brussels.

I have a beautiful wife, two gorgeous kids, a dog, a cat, & six chickens.

I have a lovely big house and huge yard for us all to live and play in.

Life is very good for me

But...

I am heartbroken that my children have been condemned to an impoverished future

and...

I am furious that this has happened to further enrich the already obscenely rich

What do I want?

I want my kids and grandkids to have the same opportunities that I had

and...

I want everyone else's kids and grandkids to have the same opportunities that I had!

I am the 99%

www.OccupyWallSt.org

So? What do you think?