Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Construction labor is a tough gig. Local master carpenters went from earning $20/hour in the 1980s to currently earning only $12/hour. Why? The illegal alien infiltration has undercut their wages.
The illegals present stolen or forged IDs and SS#s, so there's not a damned thing anyone can do about it.
Remember when Puerto Rico had to void all the birth certificates they issued prior to 2010 because so many illegals were using them for ID and to obtain government benefits here in the 50 states? Were any of those purged? I doubt it.
Yet, the poor, particularly the poor blacks and Latinos, overwhelmingly support the Democrap party which wants to open the gate to all illegal aliens.
Conservatives hate the poor they fantasize all day every day on ways to make there lives harder.
Lets be fair and say that some conservatives may have that mentality. Yes I've seen it, but remember who stopped the repeal of Obama care. It wasn't just the Democrats. Lets not say that one size fits all, but it is evil that Trump is sabotaging the ACA vs working with both sides to fix it. That is a classic example of party first. Despicable, but reelection is first and foremost.
I feel like we've gotten away from the point of the thread: healthcare for the poor.
Keep in mind that poor health makes it disproportionately difficult to hold and advance in jobs. And illness doesn't care if you are just getting your start. I did everything right: earned a full scholarship to one of the top schools in the country, had 2 majors and 2 minors while also working jobs and internships (none were paid - I could count on one hand the number of my classmates who had paid internships during the early days of the recession in our very competitive region), studying abroad, and gaining fluency in another language and functionality in 2 more. And yet none of that really mattered when I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer a few months after getting my first job out of college.
Yes, I majored in liberal arts. I wanted to be a lawyer - and then the market on lawyers dropped out and I had to pivot. I was a final candidate in becoming a Foreign Service Officer, and passed the first 2 rounds of the FSO exam. My diagnosis meant that not only was I now spending more than my yearly take home income on medical bills in under 6 months, but also barred me from that career path. No Foreign Service, no Peace Corps, none of the things I had worked so hard to be an exemplary candidate for.
I'm luckier than most. I had the education to pivot. But my medical bills are far higher than most of my peers, even with good insurance, and my ability to take risks has been thwarted. I don't have family to fall back on and my illness has seriously impacted my ability to save. I'm completing a master's degree (paid for by my employer with no expectation to stay after its completed), but am all too well aware that my cognitive ability has taken a hit compared to before I had cancer. And yet I laugh when people talk about how the poor have airconditioning or all these other luxuries. I make a middle class salary and still live with roommates and often broil in my 90 degree apartment with no breeze.
When I'm not working, freelancing, or working on grad school, I volunteer in order to network. My major volunteer spot is working to get young adult cancer survivors back on their feet. Can you imagine being 25, 6 figures in debt for medical school, but now no longer able to practice thanks to cognitive impairment from treatment or surgery? Or to be 25 with limited joint functionality and immense pain because you had a bad reaction to cipro for a sinus infection in college? Or to need a kidney transplant and figure out how to maintain full time work at a level that will allow you to afford copays on dialysis 3-5 times a week when you're 22? That's *just* a few examples in my social circle. We're all lucky to have had middle class educations and, in every example except for my own, family that will help support. But that support doesn't last indefinitely, and I have at least one good friend in his 20s with severe health issues that render his master's degree worthless whose parents are running down their retirement to support him.
These are the people I worry about. All the preparation and good choices in the world mean very little when facing life-altering illness, especially when you face it before you've had the benefit of time to save money, pay off student loans, or earn stature in your field. I'll get out of this rut because I had a lot of luck and was born with above average intelligence and work ethic, and my health has mostly stabilized. Not everyone is able to pull their sick selves up by their bootstraps, and most have NO clue how expensive chronic or acute illness is, even when insured.
I still fail to see how that is anybody but your own fault.
You choose not to go to college.
You choose not to educate yourself.
You choose to live in Phoenix.
Not everyone can or should go to college.
If he was talking about how he was struggling to pay for student loan debt when salaries have stagnated compared to loans or increased cost of living, you'd be telling him that he "choose" (sic) to go to college.
I feel like we've gotten away from the point of the thread: healthcare for the poor.
Keep in mind that poor health makes it disproportionately difficult to hold and advance in jobs. And illness doesn't care if you are just getting your start. I did everything right: earned a full scholarship to one of the top schools in the country, had 2 majors and 2 minors while also working jobs and internships (none were paid - I could count on one hand the number of my classmates who had paid internships during the early days of the recession in our very competitive region)
I don't get that. NONE of my kids or their friends had unpaid internships.
...
Quote:
studying abroad, and gaining fluency in another language and functionality in 2 more. And yet none of that really mattered when I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer a few months after getting my first job out of college.
Yes, I majored in liberal arts. I wanted to be a lawyer
OK, now I get it. You chose to prepare for a profession that actually only pays well for the top performers. The rest? Not so much.
...
Quote:
and then the market on lawyers dropped out and I had to pivot. I was a final candidate in becoming a Foreign Service Officer, and passed the first 2 rounds of the FSO exam. My diagnosis meant that not only was I now spending more than my yearly take home income on medical bills in under 6 months, but also barred me from that career path. No Foreign Service, no Peace Corps, none of the things I had worked so hard to be an exemplary candidate for.
I'm luckier than most. I had the education to pivot. But my medical bills are far higher than most of my peers, even with good insurance, and my ability to take risks has been thwarted. I don't have family to fall back on and my illness has seriously impacted my ability to save. I'm completing a master's degree (paid for by my employer with no expectation to stay after its completed), but am all too well aware that my cognitive ability has taken a hit compared to before I had cancer. And yet I laugh when people talk about how the poor have airconditioning or all these other luxuries. I make a middle class salary and still live with roommates and often broil in my 90 degree apartment with no breeze.
When I'm not working, freelancing, or working on grad school, I volunteer in order to network. My major volunteer spot is working to get young adult cancer survivors back on their feet. Can you imagine being 25, 6 figures in debt for medical school, but now no longer able to practice thanks to cognitive impairment from treatment or surgery? Or to be 25 with limited joint functionality and immense pain because you had a bad reaction to cipro for a sinus infection in college? Or to need a kidney transplant and figure out how to maintain full time work at a level that will allow you to afford copays on dialysis 3-5 times a week when you're 22? That's *just* a few examples in my social circle. We're all lucky to have had middle class educations and, in every example except for my own, family that will help support. But that support doesn't last indefinitely, and I have at least one good friend in his 20s with severe health issues that render his master's degree worthless whose parents are running down their retirement to support him.
These are the people I worry about. All the preparation and good choices in the world mean very little when facing life-altering illness, especially when you face it before you've had the benefit of time to save money, pay off student loans, or earn stature in your field.
I can see quite a few life and financial decision mistakes you made. That's on you. Ask for charity, but don't force others to pay for your mistakes.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
