I am trying to deliver an important message to a very important man, can
anyone help ?
This is my open letter in response to the distinguished Mr. William H Gross
comment found here
And the MP3 of my open letter is here - https://app.box.com/s/o58p0c2njvdror4hnde6
November 01, 2013
William H. Gross
CEO
PIMCO
840 Newport Center Drive, Suite 100
Newport Beach, CA 92660
Dear Mr. William H. Gross,
Before I begin I would like to thank you for sharing a brief moment of your
time with me.
I will be lucky if this letter makes it past your army of secretaries,
assistants and lawyers but I am going to give it a shot any way. (The man who
has nothing to lose has nothing fear)
I am writing to you today because I recently came across your Scrooge
McDuck article - http://www.pimco.com/EN/Insights/Pages/Scrooge-McDucks.aspx
in which you a made a very profound statement. Well, it is a profound statement
at least in my opinion - "Having gotten rich at the expense of labor, the
guilt sets in and I begin to feel sorry for the less well-off."
I want to personally thank you Mr. William Gross for making that
statement. That is the first real
'ray-of-hope' I have seen in quite some time.
You see Mr. Gross, I happen to be one of those few that fall into the
other 1% - the bottom 1%. Hell, at this point I am not really sure I even fall
into that group. One of my friends has a
joke - "I didn’t graduate in the top 20%, but I sure made it possible for that part of the curve".
I am asking a simple favor of you Sir.
I would deeply appreciate for you to share enough of your time to hear
my story from the perspective of a laborer. Nothing more, nothing less. I understand your time is extremely
valuable. I haven't done the math but I
can guess that being worth the staggering sum that you are; you have probably
made my lifetime salary in the few short moments it has taken just to get to this far.
I will do my best to keep this brief in consideration of your valuable
time.
I grew up in the 80's. The Era of MTV and rock and roll. I was taught as a toddler to share my toys in
the sandbox. I learned that hugs feel better than hits. I learned about the 10
commandments, don' kill; don't steal; honor thy mother and father. You know - the easy stuff. I was taught in school to get a job and work
hard and earn your way in life.
I was a carpenter for 15 years, until my back went out and I had a back
surgery. I worked 40 and 60 and even 72 hours a week for 9 months straight with
zero days off, just like I was taught to do in school.
During that time making an honest living as a laborer, I have been evicted
several times with a wife and children. I have had several vehicles that I
worked for and 'Earned' taken away simply because I couldn’t earn quite enough
to pay for insurance.
I have re-educated myself and tried to do the best I can to conform to
higher standards. I received my
GED(General Education Diploma) the same year Dave Thomas founder of Wendys received
his. I borrowed $24,000 and achieved an associate’s
degree in computer science - top of my class with a bunch of other industry
professional certifications as well (I am compTIA A+ certified as well as
MCP/MCSA)
I worked my ass off during the time re-educating myself building Compaq/HP
computers as a 'temp' for $10/hr and what reward did I get? Deeper and deeper and deeper in debt.
When I was a dumb carpenter i was worth $15/hr without an education - the
best I could do after $24,000 re-education was $10/hr manufacturing or tech
support (I got fired for taking a week-end off to build a house with habitat
for humanity - imagine that). I gotta
tell you, a career change at 30 after a back surgery is not the easiest thing
on the planet to achieve.
I have tried to sue my own govt for disability - DENIED !!! Wow, they took the money out of all my
paychecks for just this circumstance.
Hell, some of those paychecks came from rebuilding an aircraft carrier. I guess my life just isn't worth the measly
$117,000 it took me 15 years of hard labor for.
Hey, it's not like I didn’t work dammit!!! (Sorry about to expletive but I
got worked up)I worked so hard I had to have a back surgery - and I still have
the medical documentation and government denial of benefits to prove it.
Now where am I at? Well, thank the
great creator I have a really nice aunt who did just well enough to let me live
in her basement - the next thing from here is under a bridge somewhere, I guess
'out of sight, out of mind' is where I will ultimately end up.
The American Dream has gone from 'work hard when you’re young and retire'
to 'work harder for less until your
dead'. Can we please go back to the old
way - work hard and retire. Question: Do
you know why people steal from the companies and people they work for ? - Hint:
it involves a paycheck big enough to
survive on. (It would be nice to say 'Live on', but at this point I am
sure 50 mil Americans on welfare would at least like to survive)
So in response to your statement - "Having gotten rich at the expense
of labor, the guilt sets in and I begin to feel sorry for the less
well-off."
I don't want you to 'feel-sorry' for me Mr. Gross. We all make our own choices, obviously mine were less than adequate. I have no
qualms taking responsibility for any of the choices I have made; after all that
is what made me what I am today.
What I would prefer Sir, is your empathy and your compassion.
When I first started writing this I was thinking of asking for some of your
money, but then I would just be a common beggar. (Not to mention that, it's probably the
fastest way to get this letter canned by the armies of secretaries and
assistants and lawyers).
If I could ask you for one thing kind Sir, it would be that you continue to
express your opinions about our dire economic fate and most importantly your
feelings openly and 'PUBLICLY' with your
peers. A man of your great stature
surely has the respect among his peers to at least bend their ears.
Thank you once again kind Sir for your time and patience,
respectfully your humble servant
p.s.
If you want to adopt a new friend with a 20 year immediate pay $100mil
annuity I'd probably still be O.K with that.
Eh, who knows - stranger things have happened - TIs the Season
May you and your family and friends have a wonderful holiday.
btc: 1M1NYFPUjJbBLqvrbHSTsDWeEL5GRfFwSD
Join the bitcoin revolution - http://www.bitbillions.com/?refid=1PaCWzbDeHkfd1deXLKFEDgBjVmWwprxWK
