I am the .06 Percent (Updated)

My name is Debbi Mack and I suffer from dystonia. My condition was caused by a stroke. One that should never have happened, since I was as healthy as can be before it happened. But sometimes life just isn’t fair and sh*t just happens, so … it did. To me.

Now, I’m one of roughly 300,000 people in North America (maybe, because I keep hearing different estimates) who have dystonia. Assuming North America has a population of roughly 529 million, that puts me in the .06 percent of people on this continent with dystonia.

Have you spotted the lie I’ve already told you? Just wondering.

Everything in this post is true. Absolutely. It’s the headline that’s false. I can’t be a fraction of a percent. Obviously.

And no one person can be 99 percent, either.

I wrote this post the other day about Occupation Wall Street.

When I said you should “question all information and think for yourself. Consider the source, if you can identify it, and then decide for yourself,” I wasn’t kidding around.

I’ve done some snooping research on the Internet and found out a few things about this so-called grass roots movement that “just happened.”

But, first, let’s go back to this Web site. Funny. No one gives their name. No one verifies their information. I guess we’re supposed to take these stories on faith.

Okay, assuming these aren’t complete bullsh*t made up, and the people depicted aren’t just posers are the actual people who wrote them, let’s go through and compare situations, shall we?

Oh, my … the first one (in this version) says:

I’m a small business owner, self-employed for almost 18 years. Two-thirds of my customer base has been off-shored, with the remaining third too terrified to spend a dime.

My healthcare insurance just went from $627 to $785 per month and since I’m a cancer survivor, I’m stuck with them.

I am the 99%.

And I’m PISSED.

Yeah … I’d be pissed, too. I’m also amazed you’ve stayed in business for nearly 18 years. Have you thought about diversifying your services? Seeking new customers? Going after a better market with more money to spend? Even going into another line of work? Or — God forbid — getting a job? Plus, being a cancer survivor means you’ve freaking survived, man! You lived! You are in luck! You can DO things. You AREN’T freakin’ disabled.

And all you can say is that you’re pissed?

That’s pathetic.

And you are not 99 percent of anything, okay?

Whoever you are, oh, nameless one.

Okay … next!

I have 3 brothers and no dad. I am too young to work. I can’t afford a driver’s permit. I can’t afford college. I can’t even afford food sometimes. My family and I can’t afford medical costs, We are the 99%.

Yeah. Life sucks sometimes. I didn’t get my driver’s permit until I turned 19. I took the bus everywhere before that. Or caught rides from my relatives or friends or their relatives. I didn’t have a college fund. I went to school on a government grant issued to poor kids, because my family was poor. On the grant application, in the space where it asked for my father’s address, I wrote “Unknown.” And it was true. I didn’t know where my father lived. At that time, anyway. Later, I found out and we were reunited. That was great. Too bad he didn’t live long enough to see me become a published author (I write fiction), because he was a writer, too. I don’t know if we had insurance. I guess so, because my mom worked as a lab tech at the time. So, I’m assuming we did. Maybe. But being a single working mother had to be hard for her, I’m sure.

Okay … one more?

I am a teacher.

I am well educated.

I have been accused by government officials that what I teach is a form of propaganda.

I have 26k left in student loans.

I am lucky to be loved, have a home and be able to speak my mind.

I AM THE 99%.

Speak out! WE ARE THE 99%

*sigh* Dude, you sound like a paranoid guy with a job and bills to pay. But look what you’ve got. Check the bottom line! The part about being loved, the home and being able to speak your mind. Hello! What the f*ck are you complaining about?

Whoever you all are, I’m afraid I don’t weep for any of you.

Because I have my doubts about your existence, anyhow.

Like I said, I’ve been looking into this whole thing. Do you know who’s behind all this? Do you know who created that Web site? An organization called Adbusters.

Yes, that’s the link to their Web site, and don’t they look cool? And here’s a Salon article about Adbusters and Operation Wall Street.

Nice, right? Okay, take a close look at this Web site. Read the whole thing.

Here are a few interesting parts:

Why do Adbusters writers and editors hate personal choice so much? Because their utopia would be a nightmare for most Americans. “What makes you think you have the right to drive around with a ton of metal wrapped around you,” asks the September/October 2003 issue, “the right to twist a tap and get hot water, the right to flick a switch and get your house warmed up?” Were the Adbusters group to get its way, hundreds of years of progress would vanish.

Can you imagine? If Adbusters had their way, instead of ending up with dystonia after my stroke, I’d have ended up dead or in a wheelchair. I only recovered as quickly as I did due to modern medicine.

Yeah, I really want to take orders from these guys. Right …

Reading Adbusters, one learns that the authors do not like people very much, particularly Americans. “About a third of Americans today are certifiably fascist,” declares Anis Shivani in the September/October 2003 issue. “Another 20 percent or so can be swayed around to particular causes with smart propaganda.”

Sadly enough, much of this may be true.

Adbusters generally prefers rage to discernment. “Let your anger out. When it wells up suddenly from deep in your gut, don’t suppress it — channel it, trust it, use it. Don’t be so unthinkingly civil all the time,” Kalle Lasn advises. “Rage drives revolutions.”

Hmm … now that Occupy Wall Street has expanded into Occupy the Universe …

Can you think of anyone else who might use similar words?

Not that I’m naming anyone specific, mind you.

Anyhow, like I said, I have dystonia. However, since I’ve developed my condition, I’ve done the following things.

I’ve organized a fundraiser for the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation.

I’ve taken a fantastic trip to Italy, which I blogged about here, here, here and here.

I continued working as a freelance writer and (occasional) researcher, while writing fiction. In 2009, I self-published my out-of-print novel, IDENTITY CRISIS. It’s the first book in a hardboiled mystery series about a female lawyer named Stephanie Ann “Sam” McRae.

I stopped freelancing at the end of 2009, in order to pursue fiction writing as a full-time business venture, despite the risks.

You can read more about me and my work on my Web site.

You can also read about My Life on the Mid-List on the blog with that name.

I also have three other blogs. You’ll find them on my Web site and here on the sidebar.

And I published a sequel called LEAST WANTED. Both books have been Top 100 Kindle bestsellers both on Amazon.com and Amazon UK.

And IDENTITY CRISIS hit the New York Times bestseller list early this year. Twice.

Even though I’m in the .06 percent.

But I am not the .06 percent. Because I am an individual, not a percentage.

I believe in personal choice and won’t be bullied by propagandists. Feel free to check out my bio.

PS: Hey, look, here’s a speech Naomi Klein gave at Occupy Wall Street. And it starts with the words, “I love you.”

Isn’t that sweet?

Well, I love you, too, Naomi. And never play poker with a woman who calls herself Honest Jane.

UPDATE: In light of a comment pointing out that the source of information about Adbusters was itself slanted and not necessarily trustworthy, I wanted to remind readers of the Chris Hedges article essentially laying down the Occupation Wall Street rhetoric. You’re either with us or against us, remember? So shut the f*ck up, follow orders and start marching!

Oh, and here’s an interesting article about OWS, Adbusters, George Soros and some other people. The source looks kind of, um, business-ish. Well, Chris Hedges got his say. So, it seems only fair …