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Saturday, November 17, 2012

1%

I just finished watching the movie "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. It was Ayn Rand's book, and eventually movie, that preceded "Atlas Shrugged". Last week I watched a documentary about the philosophy's of Ayn Rand. As proud as Ayn Rand was of her book, and the movie, she saw that people did not understand the concepts that she proposed. As she was born and lived her early years in Russia, from before it was the USSR, she saw how the government was pushing the people to not stand out, to put the good of the people first even if it stifled creativity. Both books showed how men of integrity were blocked and held back by those in power. Those in power didn't want anyone else to join them at the top unless they played by their rules.
Some outlaw motorcycle clubs can be distinguished by a 1% patch worn on the colors. This is claimed to be a reference to a comment made by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in which they stated that 99% of motorcyclists were law-abiding citizens, implying that the last one percent were outlaws. As a result, some outlaw motorcycle clubs used it to unite or express themselves and are commonly referred to as "one percenters". The comment, supposedly a response to the Hollister riot in 1947,[22][23] is denied by the AMA—who claim to have no record of such a statement to the press, and that the story is a misquote. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw_motorcycle_club#One_percenter
The identifying with being the 1%er, being unique, is a strongly held American concept. It is something to strive for, not something or someone to fear or take offense to. Everyone of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were 1%ers. Each a unique individual. Each with their beliefs in individual rights. Coming together to make a union of States to stand together against a ruler whose only desire to expand his empire. They knew that 1%, or even 1 person, could make a difference. They were opposed by those who didn't want things to change. Either those who had power and didn't want to lose it or those who would rather have safety and not freedom.
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin This was written by Franklin, within quotation marks but is generally accepted as his original thought, sometime shortly before February 17, 1775 as part of his notes for a proposition at the Pennsylvania
No matter what the Occupy Movement says, I want to be part of the 1%, if not financially then philosophically and spiritually, not, as I like to infer, one of the Sheople to be led to the slaughter.

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