Journalist Jesse Fruhwirth left City Weekly this spring to operate a vegan hot-dog stand in downtown Salt Lake City. Fruhwirth previously reported for the Tooele Transcript Bulletin and Ogden’s Standard-Examiner and was twice a finalist in the local Society of Professional Journalists competition for best reporter. He lately has embraced Occupy Salt Lake and has co-written the serialized street play Why Isn’t Anyone Helping Her that will be performed free Nov. 14-18 at noon at various Main Street locations.
Did your time as a journalist prepare you for this new activist role?
I saw my journalism as a form of activism, as a way of creating a more perfect world. But some of the cultural conventions of journalism—where you have to play the middle man, the referee—were constraining. All those years, I always wanted to play the game rather than just referee. So I am really happy to be in the position where I can now. All my career, I tried to expose people who were working hard and playing by the rules and still getting screwed. Those make for compelling stories, as well they should. Largely, the Occupy movement embodies so many different humanitarian goals that so many disparate activist groups are fighting for. So maybe it is my journalism background that makes me value this movement so much because I’ve seen this sort of broad spectrum of inequality and unfairness. This is one of the rare movements that’s bringing them all together.
Have you thrown away a promising career?
As a member of the 99 percent, I was dealing with pretty significant burnout issues in my career. A lot of American workers are working harder than ever but not earning any more real wages than they did decades ago. It wasn’t so much a choice to leave journalism as a survival mechanism. Frankly, I’m angry about the state of my industry and that’s what prompts me to stand up and fight back.
Why angry?
This ridiculous myth that any service that can’t sustain itself in a competitive, for-profit capitalist system is basically worthless and should be allowed to die. We should recognize that news and information is the absolutely required “grease” to keep the wheels of democracy turning and those wheels have largely already shut down and the state of news in journalism is a contributing factor to that.
What do you say to those who sympathize with the Occupy movement from the sidelines?
I would ask them to think about what financial state they would be in if they or someone in their family all of a sudden had a very serious medical emergency. Most American families are one illness away from poverty. While the economic contraction for the American middle class has been going on for decades, it’s worse than ever and more and more Americans are more likely to slip and fall to bottom of the economic heap than pull themselves from their bootstraps and climb the ladder.
What’s surprised you most about the Occupy movement?
That people are ready for revolution [laughs]. I don’t know whether the Occupy Movement is the roots of a revolution, or when the revolution comes, we’ll trace it back to this moment. But I know that the system we have right now is headed for collapse, the American empire will implode, and the question is what will step in to replace it? Will it be something more egalitarian and beautiful or will it be something even more fascist and ugly? I see it as the 99 percent mission right now to establish an alternative route away from the fascist direction we’re currently heading.
Actually, I'm getting tired of paying taxes for the 40% of people that pay ZERO income tax and then get access to more of MY tax money to pay for their laziness. If you want "fairness" then that's a good place to start, not stealing money from somebody that has more than you. They have more than you because they either worked for it or inherited it, not steal it like you guys want to do.
The owner of the company I work for makes a lot more money than I do but I wouldn't change places with him in a million years. He lives in a multi-million dollar house and has a multi-million dollar vacation home. I know that he has mortgaged his house multiple times to keep business going in the early years. Some months when business is slow he doesn't take a income. He works 7 days a week. He has all the stress of being a business owner. His taxes have gone up more in the last few years than I make. You want to take more money out of his pocket? You do that and then I and many more employees of his lose their jobs. How does that help anybody? Think!
Jesse,
I find it VERY VERY ironic that in this article you say
“As a member of the 99 percent, I was dealing with pretty significant burnout issues in my career. A lot of American workers are working harder than ever but not earning any more real wages than they did decades ago.” You left City Weekly to start your own business running a hot dog stand as a “survival mechanism”? Hmmm sounds to me like you were working really hard and not making as much money as you thought you deserved so you left for greener pastures. Sounds very capitalistic of you. “Survival” is a relative term. Maybe your idea of survival is a hot dog stand, a quaint duplex near 9th and 9th, a dependable car and enough money to raise a family with enough left over to help out your community. Maybe a CEO in New York worked hard all through high school to get a scholarship to a good college, stayed up late studying instead of partying and graduated top of their class so they could get into a good grad school, then put in 80 hours per week until someone finally realized they have what nobody else has, the skills to run a fortune 500 company. Now say they want to spend their money on 10 jets and 5 cars and 2 houses. Who are you to tell them that is immoral? If you’re so against the salaries given to the CEOs of these companies don’t support the companies. It’s as simple as that.
I’m glad you brought democracy into this discussion. Generally, a CEO’s salary is determined by a board of directors elected by the shareholders, these members of the board generally do not make “exuberant” salaries (under 80 thousand dollars if that makes a difference to you). If you have a problem with a CEO’s salary blame the shareholders and their democratic process.
I agree there are problems associated with wealth disparity that is not the argument. The point I’m trying to make is nobody has the right to determine how much money is too much money. If a CEO is paid 437 times more than a bottom line worker, it is possible that they are worth 437 times more TO THE COMPANY than a bottom line worker. Maybe they are doing a job that a bottom line worker cannot do. Just because I want to play in the NBA and I’m willing to work for 437 times less than Andrei kirilenko doesn’t mean the Utah Jazz should be forced to call me in for an interview. They get to decide what’s best for THEIR team and if there’s only one 6’ 9” Russian in town, guess what, he is worth more than 437 times the salary of a 5’ 6” kid from Salt Lake. This is a sad realization I’ve come to terms with, but, instead of rallying my friends to invade the plaza of energy solutions arena with tents and signs. I have opted to take a proactive route. Just like you I’ve started my own business, and I work very very hard every day for zero salary. If I ever make it big and I want to buy a jet, I don’t think you or anyone else has the right to try and stop me… even if I want 2 jets.
What’s your solution, Jesse? Once the wealth disparity reaches the magic 50:1 ratio or whatever ratio you decide is fair, we forcefully go into these companies and take the excess money away then redistribute it to the bottom line employees? Sorry, if you want to live in a society like that you’ll have to call up Doc Brown and see if his Deloran can take you back to 1990 when the Soviet Union was thriving.
Such utter utopian bullshit! How do you think most of the 1% made "their" money, Bill? More than I care to think about inherited it and have no plans to use it to lift up their communities or country.
Those that own companies, the faux-'job-creators," off-shored most of that labor force years ago and made sure that the idiot they own in Congress covered their tracks AND asked for more concessions in tax breaks and regulatory exceptions. Who paid for the roads and sidewalks and sewers and power lines that are created when a company builds a plant or a mall? Do you even know why people think the richest Americans need to start paying their fair share instead of buying-off the sociopathic idiots in legislatures and Congress so that they can buy even more homes and boats and planes?
And here's newsflash for people like you: Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, John Huntsman and others have formed a group that is dedicated to gifting their money for the greater good of mankind before they die. What's wrong with these people, Bill? Why aren't they like you?
Jesse serves up a pretty good vegan dog, if you're into vegan dogs. Plus his customer service is outstanding. It's funny but I didn't even realize it was Jesse at the stand until now.