Uncertain As To Which Percentile I Belong To

A blog by a thirteen-year old has attracted a lot of attention, and the responses have been varied, from vitriol to adulation.

She creates her own responses to the Occupy Wall Street folks, writes them on a legal pad, posts them, and waits for the fur to fly. And it does.

OS emailed her as well, but in the interests of time, publishes his thoughts here.

I’m not certain which percentile I belong to, the 1% or the 99% or the 53%. I do not like crowds, so I’m not a candidate for attendance at anyone’s rally.

I don’t think I can ‘let the hatred flow’, although I do understand your sentiments. It is frustrating to work as hard as you do, and see people marching, demanding that your earnings be seized from your family and given to them. It may be time to think your response through just a bit. When you're thirteen, everything is concrete, nothing is nuanced. Believe me, these lessons will come later. In the meantime, a few thoughts to share with you.

I am so grateful to live here, in America. On its worst days it beats places like Zimbabwe and Poland, Venezuela and Cuba (on their best days) to pieces.
I have been poor here, and prosperous, and prosperous is better. It’s a potty little life, but my dear bride and I love it, even though it feels like all we do is work in order to have it. Only in America (and a few other places still) is this possible, and America is the best of the lot, still.

I am so grateful for my family, my church, my little town, my state, my friends, my work, my health, my hobbies, all of them imperfect and very modest. We drive old cars, and are grateful for our mechanic. I am grateful for the books and music and mutts and kitties that grace our little house. I am grateful we live in a society that allows people to gather in places like Wall Street, bang drums and act silly without fear of being put in a train to a camp far away. I am grateful we have a Constitution, and work to keep it in place with my votes and contributions, even though it means silly stuff happens from time to time.

I have seen friends struggle, and friends of our children struggle as well, and it is difficult to watch. None of them are hippies, I assure you. They did not create the lunacy that brought everything crashing down. I can’t call them names because they got caught in the downdraft.

Perhaps you should rethink doing this as well, just saying.

God bless.