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.
My story is not much different than yours. But things are vastly different now than they were when I was 20 (I'm 48, BTW). It's not just something people like Bernie Sanders make up. It's actual facts and figures.
Yes, we did not when I was growing up, have tent cities with tens of thousands of homeless like there is today. Its crazy that people can say we are the wealthiest and best country on earth yet there are 7 mile lines for food banks. 14,000,000 Americans lost health coverage during the pandemic. None of this happens in other first world countries.
What fact and figure negates the fact that one can make a living on low wages in the most powerful country in the world. Take a couple making $15/hr for example — they can live like kings.
Name me the region where there are a plethora of jobs available for $15/hr FT where a couple--or single--can live like kings. Also take into account
-Healthcare costs
-Student loans
-transit
-utilities
-grocery prices
-insurance
-taxes
That's just silly. You don't honestly mean anything you said, do you? Canada is every bit as modern and advanced as the USA . In prairie provinces crops are grown in great quantities several hundred miles north of the the border. Canadians live close to the border because it is the route of the original east to west rail line built 1885. It doesn't have anything to do with climate.
What's wrong with wha I said? Canada's major metro areas grew up in areas where large scale agriculture was feasible 100-150-200+ years ago. As much as the railroads were supposed to bring development to the west, they were also supposed to bring the prairie crops eastward.
As for the 100 miles, I'm not sure it was ever supposed to be taken literally and a lot of the population in the prairies is inside that line or relatively close. Winnipeg is about 70 miles to USA soil, Regina is somewhere around 102 miles to the border, Calgary is 170 miles. The only major metro area deep in the north is Edmonton and they're a key oil industry city, which has driven economic prosperity there.
Yes, we did not when I was growing up, have tent cities with tens of thousands of homeless like there is today. Its crazy that people can say we are the wealthiest and best country on earth yet there are 7 mile lines for food banks. 14,000,000 Americans lost health coverage during the pandemic. None of this happens in other first world countries.
I hate to be so blunt but nobody here is in envy of the US at this stage. We actually look in horror at the virus situation compared to ours. I would have to think that the OP is trolling as the notion that everything is so much better in the US, especially at the moment, seems almost comical. If the OP is not trolling it is a person who has not spent much time in other countries.
What fact and figure negates the fact that one can make a living on low wages in the most powerful country in the world. Take a couple making $15/hr for example — they can live like kings.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marv95
Name me the region where there are a plethora of jobs available for $15/hr FT where a couple--or single--can live like kings. Also take into account
-Healthcare costs
-Student loans
-transit
-utilities
-grocery prices
-insurance
-taxes
They eat up the paycheck.
The place does not exist in the USA where a person can live like a king on $15 an hour.
I hate to be so blunt but nobody here is in envy of the US at this stage. We actually look in horror at the virus situation compared to ours. I would have to think that the OP is trolling as the notion that everything is so much better in the US, especially at the moment, seems almost comical. If the OP is not trolling it is a person who has not spent much time in other countries.
The coronavirus situation is troubling in most places in the world. But this is a temporary situation that will be over fairly soon, hopefully by the middle of next year.
Then we can hold China accountable for what they did to the world. Everybody must have the courage to place the blame squarely where it belongs.
The same principles that delivered my parents/grandparents from poverty in America 40-50 years ago still work today. All about choices.
I think that the "lost" people don't find their passion, or can't find out how to make it make money, end up just thinking it's okay to flounder and demand things be handed to them for taking on all sorts of debt without a plan. There's a reason why most assistance is income-based and not debt-based. Debt came from someone willingly putting pen to paper and promising to pay it back, on schedule.
For young people out there, they need to hear, there is NOTHING wrong with having "just a job" if it pays the bills! I'd even venture to say that's what MOST people do! If your passion doesn't make you money, put it on the back burner and make it a hobby.
My parents went from poverty to what amounted to lower middle class in a matter of 15-20 years.
Doing well in THIS country is more often than not a matter of making “not bad” decisions.
We went from having no place of our own to having one and out of debt.
Many other harder working folks that we know personally are still homeless and a few are also dead of COVID. Our fate is the result of hard work multiplied by luck.
The coronavirus situation is troubling in most places in the world. But this is a temporary situation that will be over fairly soon, hopefully by the middle of next year.
Then we can hold China accountable for what they did to the world. Everybody must have the courage to place the blame squarely where it belongs.
That does not address the issue of the statement that there is no better place to live.
My kids actually lived in the UK for several years and were able to see that all developed countries have their pluses and minuses. When they returned home they tended to see all the negatives of our country, as people do, before they settled in to live with the positives and negatives.
One of them could have worked in New York City but a negative for her was the small amount of annual leave compared to here but especially to the UK. They both wished they had taken advantage of the dental care being included at the time in the NHS in the UK whereas here it is only included for some people. Just to give you a couple of examples.
I would never state that any particular country is the best place to live. It depends on individual circumstances. People should be especially careful about such blanket statements if they have not much knowledge of other countries. A travel guide who conducted tours in Australia for Americans told me that tourists are often surprised that we are a developed country.
We went from having no place of our own to having one and out of debt.
Many other harder working folks that we know personally are still homeless and a few are also dead of COVID. Our fate is the result of hard work multiplied by luck.
Your post is one giant study of survivor bias.
The problem with your statement is that I have mathematics on my side. You on the other hand have a negativity bias.
Tell me why a couple making $15/hr can’t live like KINGS in America.
Bring them to me and I’ll show them where to get a nice home for ~$700/month mortgage.
Not a bad price for living like a king in mankind’s most powerful country while on the bleeding edge of technology in the year 2020.
Last edited by 87Camarottop; 12-26-2020 at 04:47 PM..
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.
