The 99 Percent Solution

The evolution of the slogan heard ’round the world.


July 13 Adbusters proposes Occupy Wall Street.
August 9 OWS supporters in New York City hold a meeting for “We, the 99%.”
September 8

We Are the 99 Percent Tumblr launches.

September 17 Occupy Wall Street protesters take Zuccotti Park.
October 3

#OccupySesameStreet Twitter hashtag takes off.

October 5 Anti-OWS We Are the 53% Tumblr mocks the 47 percent who supposedly don’t pay taxes (not true).
October 6 Joe Biden slams banks on behalf of “99 percent of the American people.”
October 6

Rush Limbaugh declares occupiers “perpetually lazy, spoiled rotten, 99 percent white kids.”

October 7 Trademark applications are filed for “I Am the 99%” and “We Are the 99%.”
October 7 “The 99% Declaration” calls for national general assembly.
October 10 Mitt Romney says, “I worry about the 99 percent.”
October 11 We Are the 1 Percent: We Stand With the 99 Percent Tumblr launches. Actually, You’re the 47% Tumblr pokes fun at the 53-percenters.
October 14 We Are the 1%, Bitches Tumblr launches.
October 15 We Are the 99 Purrcent cat-themed Tumblr launches.
October 16 White House spokesman says Obama will represent “the interests of the 99 percent of Americans.”
October 17

Awwccupy Wall Street baby-themed Tumblr launches.

October 17 Trademark application is filed for “Part of the 1%.”
October 21

Trademark application is filed for “The words ‘occupy this’ with an arrow pointing down.”

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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