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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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

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