A few days ago, the New York Times had a story about who really makes up the 1%. It’s a wide variety of people, making a wide variety of incomes depending on where exactly they live (unsurprisingly, the top 1% in Connecticut looks a bit different than the top 1% in Alabama). Of course, not all of them, nor even a majority, are the kinds of investment bankers and hedge fund managers that many people are upset at for ruining the economy. The NYT story about the top 1% is about the top 1% by income; the top 1% by wealth is a different group, arguably more removed from the middle class than the top 1% in income earners. That certainly makes sense: a surgeon that is in the top 1% in income may only be one generation removed from a middle-class upbringing, while a top 1% wealth-accumulator has probably only known luxury.
One thing that the top 1% say, of any measure, is that those people in the Occupy Wall Street protests should probably be spending their time in better ways. In the NYT article, Anthony Bonomo, in that top 1%, says, “If those people could camp out in that park all day, why aren’t they out looking for a job?” It’s a common refrain, and not just from the top of the heap. Many people have said that who are nowhere near that 1%, who look upon the protests as the self-indulgence of a spoiled minority who are too lazy or too entitled to actually work.
Why don’t those damn hippies get a job? Well, the vast majority of them have a job, actually. But what about those slackers who don’t? This picture is all you need to know to reply to that:
There are currently four unemployed persons for every job opening. It is numerically impossible for every unemployed person to get a job. “Get A Job, Hippie!” may have made sense in 2000 when there was a bit over one unemployed person per job opening; today it is little more than a cruel insult. And this only counts the unemployed, not the underemployed or people who have dropped out of the workforce entirely. I’m sure if you counted the people who are part-time and looking for full-time work, or the people who have just plain given up, the numbers would be even worse.
It’s intellectually lazy to dismiss protesters as lazy no-goodniks who just need to take a shower, put on a suit, and start being productive members of society. The top 1% of income earners may work hard, and they may feel that they are being unfairly targeted in today’s economic climate. But the unemployed are even more unfairly targeted, and unlike the top 1%, they don’t have the income to help make them feel better.