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I have been on my own since I was 18. Earned a full tuition scholarship to one of the top colleges in the country through a whole lot of hard work. I worked through college so I could graduate debt free, and still graduated with 2 majors, 2 minors, fluency in one other language, and several unpaid internships. I only moved home briefly after college graduation (less than 3 months) because I graduated in the depths of the recession and it took a little while to find work, then moved across the country for a low paying job to get my foot in the door.
And then I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer. I am more liberal than ever.
I was lucky to have above normal intelligence. I was lucky to have found a job that offered benefits and didn't let me go when I got sick (as so many of my friends in the young adult cancer world ended up facing due to missing work). I had insurance. I had carefully cultivated good credit so that I could put my bills on credit cards . But I wasn't lucky enough to have been working long enough to amass a ton of savings, nor was I lucky enough to have a high paying job yet (though solidly average for a recent grad in a really difficult economic climate). I naively thought there would be help available from either government sources or charity. Nope. The only help I got was a food bank that gave me dented cans of pineapples and ramen.
What strikes me, and continues to fuel my activism, is what happens to people who weren't so lucky? Not everyone is intelligent - half of the country is below average after all. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a benefits paying job that works with you to get you through your illness. Given my experience in the young adult cancer community, I'd say that's actually quite rare. I know good, hardworking people in their 20s and 30s who are living in a car they can't afford to put gas in or a shelter because they lost everything (including their good credit, as I did) because they got sick. I sit on a board of a nonprofit that gives grants to people in their 20s and 30s who have survived life-changing diseases. We topped 100,000 applications this year and can only grant 2,000 of those - and virtually none in full. I pour through financial statements of 23 year olds whose education was interrupted due to cancer and now can neither pay back loans nor afford to return to school and are not qualified for decent paying jobs, 19 year olds who can't take medications to deal with pain because they're working 3 jobs and trying to go back to school, and more homelessness than I care to think about. I no longer can sleep through the night.
That's unacceptable. And that's why I got more liberal.
I have to wonder if all of these older conservatives have never witnessed or experienced such hardship in their lives. It's easy to think that everyone should pull themselves up by their bootstraps, until you know that there are times that you just can't.
Wrong. Millennials must accept that with the economics of globalization, their dream is, and will always be just that. A dream.
And that is actually one of the real issues. The other is automation/mechanization of jobs.
So what's the answer? You can't have a country full of Mds, lawyers, and politicians. Will there just be a huge under class on the government payroll to stop the revolution?
Nope, I sure didn't. If a person WORKS 40 hours a week, part of the compensation "should" be appropriate, such as vacation time, sick time, as well as maternity leave. What passes as vacation time/sick time/maternity leave in the states is a complete joke. So I approve of the way it's done in Europe, Sweden, etc., and you obviously do not, that's our disagreement. I'm certainly not trying to reinvent the wheel here, but I don't for the life of me understand why people wouldn't demand a better life for themselves and those around them.
because you dont demand better... you make better, as in you want a better life? make it yourself, go to school, get experienced in a field, learn something people pay for....
for everyone wanting free school, how come they arent willing to work for free afterwards to pay it back? employers do better, they pay for people to go back to school as well as employ them afterwards so they get a job when they come out... US has a better system than europe to me. everyone has a shot at college here, not all in europe have same shot. their free school system isnt open to everyone...
Some of them probably think they won't have to work. And wait until getting a fix for that phone bug takes 10 years to fix.
That has nothing to do with my post or the one I responded to. He was claiming that having a safety net was socialism, not that people believed they didnt have to work.
I have been on my own since I was 18. Earned a full tuition scholarship to one of the top colleges in the country through a whole lot of hard work. I worked through college so I could graduate debt free, and still graduated with 2 majors, 2 minors, fluency in one other language, and several unpaid internships. I only moved home briefly after college graduation (less than 3 months) because I graduated in the depths of the recession and it took a little while to find work, then moved across the country for a low paying job to get my foot in the door.
And then I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer. I am more liberal than ever.
I was lucky to have above normal intelligence. I was lucky to have found a job that offered benefits and didn't let me go when I got sick (as so many of my friends in the young adult cancer world ended up facing due to missing work). I had insurance. I had carefully cultivated good credit so that I could put my bills on credit cards . But I wasn't lucky enough to have been working long enough to amass a ton of savings, nor was I lucky enough to have a high paying job yet (though solidly average for a recent grad in a really difficult economic climate). I naively thought there would be help available from either government sources or charity. Nope. The only help I got was a food bank that gave me dented cans of pineapples and ramen.
What strikes me, and continues to fuel my activism, is what happens to people who weren't so lucky? Not everyone is intelligent - half of the country is below average after all. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a benefits paying job that works with you to get you through your illness. Given my experience in the young adult cancer community, I'd say that's actually quite rare. I know good, hardworking people in their 20s and 30s who are living in a car they can't afford to put gas in or a shelter because they lost everything (including their good credit, as I did) because they got sick. I sit on a board of a nonprofit that gives grants to people in their 20s and 30s who have survived life-changing diseases. We topped 100,000 applications this year and can only grant 2,000 of those - and virtually none in full. I pour through financial statements of 23 year olds whose education was interrupted due to cancer and now can neither pay back loans nor afford to return to school and are not qualified for decent paying jobs, 19 year olds who can't take medications to deal with pain because they're working 3 jobs and trying to go back to school, and more homelessness than I care to think about. I no longer can sleep through the night.
That's unacceptable. And that's why I got more liberal.
I have to wonder if all of these older conservatives have never witnessed or experienced such hardship in their lives. It's easy to think that everyone should pull themselves up by their bootstraps, until you know that there are times that you just can't.
It's true that not every person is of equal intelligence and that some people are born with natural abilities
that others lack. That doesn't prove that society owes these people anything. So a man might have an IQ of 85, which would limit his prospects in many aspects of life. Is it the duty of the more gifted to take care of this man and to deal with all the poor choices he is likely to make? If you think that society owes this man anything then what does the man owe society? Should there not be a fair exchange?
I have been on my own since I was 18. Earned a full tuition scholarship to one of the top colleges in the country through a whole lot of hard work. I worked through college so I could graduate debt free, and still graduated with 2 majors, 2 minors, fluency in one other language, and several unpaid internships. I only moved home briefly after college graduation (less than 3 months) because I graduated in the depths of the recession and it took a little while to find work, then moved across the country for a low paying job to get my foot in the door.
And then I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer. I am more liberal than ever.
I was lucky to have above normal intelligence. I was lucky to have found a job that offered benefits and didn't let me go when I got sick (as so many of my friends in the young adult cancer world ended up facing due to missing work). I had insurance. I had carefully cultivated good credit so that I could put my bills on credit cards . But I wasn't lucky enough to have been working long enough to amass a ton of savings, nor was I lucky enough to have a high paying job yet (though solidly average for a recent grad in a really difficult economic climate). I naively thought there would be help available from either government sources or charity. Nope. The only help I got was a food bank that gave me dented cans of pineapples and ramen.
What strikes me, and continues to fuel my activism, is what happens to people who weren't so lucky? Not everyone is intelligent - half of the country is below average after all. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a benefits paying job that works with you to get you through your illness. Given my experience in the young adult cancer community, I'd say that's actually quite rare. I know good, hardworking people in their 20s and 30s who are living in a car they can't afford to put gas in or a shelter because they lost everything (including their good credit, as I did) because they got sick. I sit on a board of a nonprofit that gives grants to people in their 20s and 30s who have survived life-changing diseases. We topped 100,000 applications this year and can only grant 2,000 of those - and virtually none in full. I pour through financial statements of 23 year olds whose education was interrupted due to cancer and now can neither pay back loans nor afford to return to school and are not qualified for decent paying jobs, 19 year olds who can't take medications to deal with pain because they're working 3 jobs and trying to go back to school, and more homelessness than I care to think about. I no longer can sleep through the night.
That's unacceptable. And that's why I got more liberal.
I have to wonder if all of these older conservatives have never witnessed or experienced such hardship in their lives. It's easy to think that everyone should pull themselves up by their bootstraps, until you know that there are times that you just can't.
Not exactly. The majority of people, by definition, are "average". And average is in a range IQ of 85-114, which covers 68% of the country. The number you are talking about is the "median" intelligence of the country, and even then, you are going to find a large number of people right at the median number.
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." Somehow, that phrase has always seemed both noble, and unfair at the same time. Especially because so many do not live up to their ability.
And that is actually one of the real issues. The other is automation/mechanization of jobs.
So what's the answer? You can't have a country full of Mds, lawyers, and politicians. Will there just be a huge under class on the government payroll to stop the revolution?
I don't know. We can't turn back the clock. Tradesmen can do well if we take care of the illegal immigration problem. Im counseling my children to either go into medicine, law, or some kind of international business. And medicine and law are becoming more sketchy. The 3rd option seems like the best bet.
How about international business law with a side of tax evasion and money laundering. That could lead to either a very lucrative career or serious jail time. I'd bet on the former.
I don't know. We can't turn back the clock. Tradesmen can do well if we take care of the illegal immigration problem. Im counseling my children to either go into medicine, law, or some kind of international business. And medicine and law are becoming more sketchy. The 3rd option seems like the best bet.
It's not just illegal immigration. Many employers disregard many labor laws on the books which can make it very difficult for legit employers to stay in business.
So part of their compensation should be FREE STUFF.
While you argue you didnt make such a claim, you CLEARLY did..
I as a small business owner, would be bankrupt under your proposals, so while you for the life dont understand why you can have your FREE ****, I for one wonder why you think I should pay you for work you ARENT DOING..
People ask for a living wage, you cry poor mouth. What you call FREE STUFF others call fringe benefits. Without fringe benefits like health insurance and vacation people are no longer employees. They are consultants or may as well be. If you are paying bottom dollar with no benefits like vacation you get what you pay for, a work force that's burned out and low quality.
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