on the 53%

this morning i woke up to suggestions on multiple social networks that i learn about the conservative response to the occupy wall street movement. the response appears to consist largely of exhortations to "stop whining" because only 53% of americans pay federal income taxes, which means those 53% must be supporting the 47% of people who can afford to go stand around and protest because they're not working hard enough to pay taxes.

i know, right?

so here are links to some of the things i have already learned this morning.
Slate.com's overview of the 53% response
an open letter to that 53% guy from the Daily Kos (which is also a terrifically well-written explanation of the occupy movement as a whole)

i'm going to state an intention to update this post with more links as i find them. but you know how things tend to work when i state an intention for this blog.

later additions:
a NY Times article from April 2010 (!) explaining this very phenomenon in great detail--and calling for increased taxes on the wealthy. noteworthy: "at most, about 10 percent of all households pay no net federal taxes." and, "the picture starts to change when you look not just at income taxes but at all taxes. ... Add these up, and the family’s total federal tax rate was 14.2 percent."
a brief Mother Jones blog post where you can see the original 53% tumblr post and find out what 3 jobs its subject holds.
and in the interest of fairness, the actual 53% tumblr.

the more i read about this, the more i'm struck by a severe misunderstanding of what the occupy movement is all about. what the folks aligning themselves with "the 53%" fail to see is that the occupiers are protesting for them. we support the right of all americans to earn a living wage, to educate themselves and their children, and to pursue their own happiness. so many of these people are angry that they work 3 jobs so a bunch of hippies can sit on the sidewalk on wall street and complain, but they are missing some crucial facts! plenty of those "hippies" also work 3 jobs and can't pay their bills. plenty of them would gladly work 3 jobs to get closer to paying their bills--and federal income taxes--if they could find 3 people who would employ them. plenty of them are also veterans, educators, parents, union workers, and taxpayers.

last, i think: Washington Post blog on whether the occupy movement is "ironic" or "hipster." noteworthy: "The idea that because you can afford an accordion you ought to be prohibited from complaining is ludicrous."