I mean, really. Who can resist a three-year-old activist who holds a sign saying he’s part of the 99 percent?
His mom, Jen, gave us permission to use his photo. Here’s what she had to say.
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As a (relatively) young person. This movement means so much to me for so many reasons. I have been very blessed in that I was given a debt-free education by my parents and managed to land a good job (in a small, privately-held company) that has grown with me over the last few years. My company is very generous in that they pay for my healthcare and contribute to my 401K, give me paid time off, and pay me a decent amount of money. However, I do have to pay for my husband and child’s healthcare out of pocket, and with the addition to taxes, this means I bring home exactly 50% of my salary after those two deductions. After we pay rent (1250.00 a month for a 2 bedroom apartment, which is a typical price here in Portland), that leaves me with not a ton left over. Certainly not enough to save for a down payment on a house anytime in the next decade…
A lot of the more conservative criticizers of this movement like to spout things like “They want us to be like socialist Europe!! They are COMMUNISTS!” blah blah blah…
What I have to say to that is that if I am ALREADY PAYING 50% between healthcare and taxes then what EXACTLY to I have to lose by suggesting that perhaps the “luxury” of what I enjoy (heh) be extended to all citizens. Why NOT look at places like Denmark where YES, they pay 50% in taxes, but everyone has healthcare, education, maternity leave, low crime rates, and … (according to Oprah) they are the happiest nation in the world..
So, that is why I am out there marching when I can. My three-year-old can even be seen out there with the Occupiers on Main Street in Portland, Oregon with his little 99% sign.
I can only say that even if this all comes to nothing, which at this point is NOT an option, I would rather have participated and shown my son that he should stand up for his rights than to sit here scratching my head and hoping somehow this government and American ideology will somehow “un-corrupt” itself.
Whew… end rant! 
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Well done, Jen!
Nicholas, I can understand what you are saying here. I am a developmentalist with a family science background, and using children to espouse a belief, before they can understand what they are doing, can very easily be harmful. Same goes for indoctrinating our children politically or through religiosity. (We had a terrible experience with a Bible Camp with one of our daughters – it took months to take the fear away.) But the reality is that we all do that with our children, one way or the other. They are brought up hearing us talk with friends, or discussing current events at the dinner table, or in your case voting at the voting booth with your mother. You may not remember what the issues were, or who your mother voted for, but you learned that voting was important. She may even have pinned the little button on your jacket. In our case, we have always told our children to stand up for what they believe – that no one else will do it for them. My daughter took her son to this event to show solidarity with the people who were there. My grandson may not remember what the issues were, but he will know it is important to attend events such as these. This is a family paradigm that is very important to us. He truly is a 99%’er, and my daughter explained why she is concerned for his future. If he was carrying a sign that was hateful and ugly it would be another matter. But again, each family makes those decisions for their children, right or wrong. I do hope you have the opportunity to have children some day because I believe you to be a person who will understand why it is so important to make sure the next generation has a fighting chance. If it means someone will take notice of a small child carrying a sign to remind them of those obligations, so be it.
I agree with you, Nancy. My sense is that our children choose us – just as we choose them – for specific soul reasons. Before we, all of us, come in, we have a grasp of the larger picture, I think, about the lessons we need to learn, the wisdom we may be able to impart.
We know the broad strokes and, sometimes, we know the finer details. Then we’re born and those in between life memories are dim, but never extinguished. This is where synchronicity enters the picture in many instances. They serve as reminders, they’re nudges from ur
greater selves to pay attention, to listen, to remember. When Megan was still in a stroller, not even a year old, Rob and I took her to a UFO conference we were covering for OMNI. We spent an evening on the beach with some truly strange people who were sincere in
their beliefs about UFOs. I remember one of these men was quite psychic and looked at Megan and then turned to Rob and me and basically gave us a reading about why the three of us had chosen each other. It spooked me. He had never met us before. But he
tuned in to something real. Children don’t forget much of anything. At some level, Jen’s son will remember that rally, will see photos of himself carrying that 99% sign…and he’ll get it. He may go on to and pursue totally different goals and agendas, but he’ll recognize
that event as significant in his development as the man he eventually becomes. The sign he carried was not hateful or demeaning. It said something about where we are as nation, a society, a people.
A question…would anyone think its cute if a 3 year old carried an anti-abortion or pro-life sign at a Tea Party rally? If not, why not?
And let me make this clear, I don’t think the sign in the photo was bad at all, because it was actually true. But I’m curious to know where on the scale would a line be crossed? I’ve given several examples above of instances that made me cringe. I’m just curious what other people think if the situation was slightly different, such as a 3 year old holding a “God hates fags” sign, or a “Stop killing babies in the womb” sign, or “You’re going to hell” or some other sign stating something we disagree with. And remember, the parents who would give their child such signs to carry probably love their children very much and want them to grow up and be like them. So, that’s what I’m curious about…when is it okay and when is it not okay to give a kid a sign to carry that he or she was unable to write or understand?
way to go, jen! love the photo –
I don’t mean to be a killjoy here, but whenever I see a young child carrying a sign or at a rally, I don’t view it as them expressing their opinions because they are too young to have them. How can they understand the complexities of what is going on? And if they can’t read or understand the words on the sign, why would anyone think they are legitimately expressing their views? They are simply there because their parent(s) is there. It is nice that parents are exposing their young children to this movement, but let’s not get carried away and believe that the child understands the views of others or even of himself or herself.
The reason why I am not in favour of using children in this way is because when I lived in Georgia, I was shocked to see young children marching in the annual KKK march on the MLK holiday. I always felt sorry for those children who did not understand what their parents were involved in and it always broke my heart.
When I volunteered on the mayor’s campaign in 2008, his campaign manager asked my opinion about a rally they were planning where they were going to have a young child address the crowd about why he supports the candidate. I objected on several grounds. For one, it wasn’t even his kid or a nephew. But more importantly, I told the campaign manager, “It may look cute, but there is a reason why children don’t vote. At that age, they are just trying to please their parents and are unable to develop an informed opinion.” They ended up nixing the idea and I was glad. Later, it turned out that the mayor had a sex scandal involving a borderline legal teen and I kept thinking how creepy it was that he had wanted to use a young child to “endorse” him in a public rally.
As the one who wrote the post, I can agree with you to some extent, but the particular protests that my son and I have attended have been anti-war protests in particular. The main reason I chose these rallies is because they were protesting the nearly $4 trillion that we have spent on WAR, while we are closing schools and children are homeless and going hungry on the streets in our very city. Now, granted, my child does not know exactly what he is protesting, but I do hope to raise him to be the kind of person who values education and human life over needless warmongering. I really don’t think that can even be compared to a KKK march, really.
I don’t thinks kids are ever too young to be exposed to the democratic process, particularly when it concerns war, as Jen says, and inequality.
I’m not saying that its wrong to bring a child to a protest or political rally. All I’m saying is that my eyes roll whenever I see a young child carrying a sign that I know he or she did not write expressing something that he or she has no real concept about.
You certainly have a right to your opinion. But as his grandmother, it made me smile.
how many children do you have, may i ask?
sorry if i failed to make clear that my question above is actually directed to nicholas carroll – and not to nancy or jen –
I don’t have any children, but that question is irrelevant. I want children someday but I have not found a marriage partner.
My view is based on consistency. I don’t like it when racists or KKK or rednecks use children to pass down their prejudice and hate. Nor do I like it when I see evangelical Christians using children to preach Jesus to other people. I’ve seen it happen. Though I have no problem with people bringing their children to political rallies, I can’t help but cringe when I see them carrying signs I know they did not write. This was especially true at the Tea Party rallies.
All parents want their children to be just like them. No surprise. I don’t remember much about my life at 3 years old, but I do remember going into the voting booth in 1976 with my mom and thinking it was cool and I couldn’t wait until I was old enough to vote. But I don’t remember anything about the politics of that year or if my parents voted for Carter or Ford.
I admit that it is cute to see kids mimicking our own biases, but a deeper part of me cringes when I see it. I can’t make an exception just because the child is expressing my viewpoint.
If any you disagrees with my view, please watch “Jesus Camp” and tell me what you think when you see children repeating back what they’ve been indoctrinated with.
If I had a 4 year old or a 6 year old and was going to the Occupy protest, I would tell my child what I was doing and ask if he or she wanted to come along. It would be an educational moment for the child, but I would not ask him or her to hold a sign that I wrote. To me, that’s just tacky. Cute, perhaps, but unnerving.
as a mother of several children during the 60s-70s i can tell you that i totally agree with and support the efforts of all parents such as jen – my own children participated with me in many different politically-oriented activities, including protests and demonstrations – and would be the first to espouse those experiences as positive ones in their self-development –
Interesting (though we don’t have a socialist government in the UK). It makes you think though, I read recently that Vodaphone (the mobile phone company) made £3.5 billion profit but only paid £1,400 in company tax in the UK. There’s got to be something wrong somewhere! Our top rate income tax is 50% + National Insurance contributions.
At least you have universal health care for those high tax rates.
Since it is our generation that allowed the few to scalp the future of our children, and our grandchildren – we need to support of young in this protest. Anything less is abdication of responsibility on our part.
Nicely put, Nancy!
right on, nancy!