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Location: Was Midvalley Oregon; Now Eastside Seattle area
13,028 posts, read 7,416,413 times
Reputation: 9750
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I was thinking of taking a PT job (70 yo) prior to Covid19. Don't need the money but something more meaningful than doing internet time. Thinking back, I could've/should've worked then take the stimulus-unemployment plus the $1200pp.
Today, it's just too dangerous to work regardless of age, especially if you are on the solvency edge or have family responsibilities.
Sorry. I had no choice but to skip two pages of the usual spin. What we see here is the fruits of criminally underpaying all Americans for 50 years! I don't care who you are or what you are, whatever you is you should be getting a minimum of double(!) what you actually earn. That is correct. If you are bagging groceries at Walmart you should be making (more than) double the Federal $7.25/hr. If your state has a higher minimum wage it still doesn't come close to the ~$20/hr that the Federal Minimum wage would have been in 2020 had it been indexed to the COL like some of the enacters wanted it to be.
There is that. Then you also have the fact that Americans, alone in the developed world, pay out of pocket for things that are usually subsidized collectively. Americans have the highest overhead of all living humans. We even pay for drinking water. You either keep up here or you fall through the cracks and wind up homeless. Employers have their own treadmill to keep running on. I don't know when corporate America shifted over to investors as their primary fuel source but it has created the real mess that is life as an American wage slave. You are worth more to your employer dead than alive.
Paradoxes upon paradoxes but spare me the blaming of the ultimate victims of this national farce. Americans want to work, but too many Americans PAY to work. They do it willingly because they are indoctrinated with the need to be good people. Good people work. I know a former high earner corporate type who fell from grace and had to take a job in a secure State juvenile hospital. He saw a female co-worker sexually assaulted and had to pay his own psychiatric costs out of pocket. He himself was physically assaulted and had to pay his own medical bills. At $12/hr he is PAYING his state for the privilege of having a job. He keeps doing it because if he did not his wife would leave him because she too is bought into the indoctrination of good people doing ANYTHING that pays a salary to be worth the name "good American".
Wow part II:
There is so much wrong with your post..........I'll respond to a few things.
A. Indexed for inflation the first minimum wage, $0.25 in 1938, would be around $4.65 per hour today, relative to wage growth that $0.25 would be around $8.50hr., so no matter how you slice it your $20 claim is raw fantasy. The, "enactors" of the first minimum wage meant the MW to be nothing more than a survival wage. FDR did call it a, "living wage" but even in 1938 $0.25hr. forced a peanut butter and tortillas budget.
B. If you believe The US is a high overhead country you should give Switzerland, Australia and a whole bunch of others a try. PPP adjusted buying power metrics are strong in The US vs. many first world countries and nearly all of the ones people like you prefer.
C. Americans don't pay to work in the sense you imply. And a we know for certain that a good number of Americans will do practically anything to avoid work.
That's because most all of the employees are on as independent contractors. They don't paid, and they don't get unemployment insurance. She is probably the largest part of the payroll, and she was just guaranteed a salary and debt forgiveness.
There is so much wrong with your post..........I'll respond to a few things.
A. Indexed for inflation the first minimum wage, $0.25 in 1938, would be around $4.65 per hour today, relative to wage growth that $0.25 would be around $8.50hr., so no matter how you slice it your $20 claim is raw fantasy. The, "enactors" of the first minimum wage meant the MW to be nothing more than a survival wage. FDR did call it a, "living wage" but even in 1938 $0.25hr. forced a peanut butter and tortillas budget.
C. Americans don't pay to work in the sense you imply. And a we know for certain that a good number of Americans will do practically anything to avoid work.
I didn't say "indexed for inflation", I said indexed to the Cost of Living! If indexed to the Cost of Living, the first minimum wage would be ~$20/hr. in 2020. I am not going to debate it.
Americans do pay to work in the sense I implied and, of course, there are Americans that are ... lazy, if you will, however, afaik you cannot file for unemployment if you don't work. WTF are all those 10's of millions of unemployment filings about?
Going from the best economy to the worst economy literally overnight... thanks China. Good luck to the unemployed in the hard hit tourism, food service, etc etc industries.
Lets all think about that when we see "Made in China."
China said a few decades back "we will crush you".
Well they have, and still so many dummies in this country still don't get it. Doesn't matter if they swing left or swing right. Many(not all) just aren't aware of how even basic economics work.
Even if the economy were to open up next week, it's already damaged really badly.
Some better spend the extra time they now have watching online about the Great Depression. This country from 1929 to really our involvement in WW2 in 1941 was very hard times.
I didn't say "indexed for inflation", I said indexed to the Cost of Living! If indexed to the Cost of Living, the first minimum wage would be ~$20/hr. in 2020. I am not going to debate it.
Sorry. I had no choice but to skip two pages of the usual spin. What we see here is the fruits of criminally underpaying all Americans for 50 years! I don't care who you are or what you are, whatever you is you should be getting a minimum of double(!) what you actually earn. That is correct. If you are bagging groceries at Walmart you should be making (more than) double the Federal $7.25/hr. If your state has a higher minimum wage it still doesn't come close to the ~$20/hr that the Federal Minimum wage would have been in 2020 had it been indexed to the COL like some of the enacters wanted it to be.
Or, you can let the free market decide what you're worth. Do you believe in capitalism or not? If you don't, then we can stop right here because that's an entirely different discussion.
This is America, the opportunities are endless. However, in this system, it's competitive. Someone is on top and someone is at the bottom while most are in the middle. That's the system- competitive. If a person isn't happy with $7/hour job, do something else that they feel matches their worth. Find a way. But there are no guarantees in life. NBA players make tens of millions of dollars just to put a ball into a hoop. It's totally unproductive, but they found a way.
I didn't say "indexed for inflation", I said indexed to the Cost of Living! If indexed to the Cost of Living, the first minimum wage would be ~$20/hr. in 2020. I am not going to debate it.
Americans do pay to work in the sense I implied and, of course, there are Americans that are ... lazy, if you will, however, afaik you cannot file for unemployment if you don't work. WTF are all those 10's of millions of unemployment filings about?
By that logic, an engineer should be at $75-$100/hour. And with that, all professions' salaries increase by the same ratio.
Or, you can let the free market decide what you're worth. Do you believe in capitalism or not? If you don't, then we can stop right here because that's an entirely different discussion.
This is America, the opportunities are endless. However, in this system, it's competitive. Someone is on top and someone is at the bottom while most are in the middle. That's the system- competitive. If a person isn't happy with $7/hour job, do something else that they feel matches their worth. Find a way. But there are no guarantees in life. NBA players make tens of millions of dollars just to put a ball into a hoop. It's totally unproductive, but they found a way.
Right, but when you look at their lifestyles, and the amount of work and dedication that goes into it, it's hard to say it's "just to put a ball into a hoop." Those guys (as are soccer players, hockey players, etc) are work horses, and have spent their entire lives honing their craft. They also risk crazy injuries, and are often times forced to move across the country (sometimes even to different countries) at the snap of a finger. I've known a few professional athletes who gave up on that lifestyle, and the millions, to live "normal" lives with their families, as it was just too much. All that glitters isn't gold.
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