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"One-third of all workers earn less than $12 an hour and 42% earn less than $15."
Sounds bad, right?
Until you look at the cost of living in ALL of America.
One example: When your property taxes are $10,000 to $15,000, you HAVE to make a lot of money.
When your property taxes are only $500 a year, you don't have to make as much.
You are in bad shape in NY City at $15 an hour.
NOT so in other cities across the country.
All this is why I DON'T like "across the board" statements. One size does NOT fit all!
I actually mostly agree with you, which is why I believe instead of a Federal Minimum Wage, there should be a Federal Mandate to say that each metro/county whatever needs to set a minimum hourly living wage based on a 40 hour work week.
I also agree that many areas, a single person would absolutely be able to live on $12 or $15 an hour with a basic lifestyle.
However, it would be a struggle to support a family on that wage, or even two $12/hour, 40 hour weeks, especially if there are daycare costs to factor in.
"The economy has not been good for 45-50 years for anyone not in a top 20% job or prestigious profession."
B.S.!
Yes that is BS. I know enough people with only HS education who got RICH from working their way up. Working class could do just fine until NAFTA and then crazy real estate prices.
I actually mostly agree with you, which is why I believe instead of a Federal Minimum Wage, there should be a Federal Mandate to say that each metro/county whatever needs to set a minimum hourly living wage based on a 40 hour work week.
I also agree that many areas, a single person would absolutely be able to live on $12 or $15 an hour with a basic lifestyle.
However, it would be a struggle to support a family on that wage, or even two $12/hour, 40 hour weeks, especially if there are daycare costs to factor in.
A single person with a "basic lifestyle" what if that person gets married and has a kid, do I owe you a raise just because you had a kid??
I simply do not buy your listed excuses. Life happens, to all of us. It is not Republican red or Democrat blue.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mkpunk
And here comes the rub, how do they afford it? Some jobs you can transfer directly without having a course to advance skills, others do and many rely on a degree to do so. Buy and keep the most basic of cell phones, cancel the cable, don't eat out - for lunch or any other meal - don't use credit cards, reuse wax paper, sandwich bags and such, buy clothes at Goodwill, if close enough, use the library's internet...A study from the last two years show that only 39% of Americans can cover $1,000 emergencies through their savings. That means some 61% of people would feel a hurt I did in 2015 when I had gallbladder surgery. $6,000 for the hospital stay since I went to the ER for it and the battery of tests and medications they give you. And that $6000 was WITH insurance. Luckily No, it was not luck, you worked at it, probably had your basic living costs under control, had invested in yourself...I paid it off, but it hurt for a good nearly three years. Now imagine that but with the price of living (rent, food, transportation) and the costs of those improvements to get most jobs. The days of companies investing into workers is over because the bean counters trying to contain every little cost they can. (During my work life, I invested and supported my growth, viability, value. Now that I am retired I invest in myself by keeping active, continuing to live a full life, including minimizing my 'downer time' with victims and excuse makers by limiting the amount of time I spend on the internet. Last time I checked I was averaging about 2.5 posts per day on CD, for instance. Only victims need- have to have their company or any other organization to
Same old story, the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer, except that we are
practically back to a Caste system society now.
It is a tale of epic sadness that some people could work full time jobs and still struggle to feed their families and sometimes still end up homeless.
America should be better than this.
Same old socialist pap.
Obama declared the other night the booming economy was his doing.
Dems say it sucks, Obama claims it a success. Which is it? who you going to believe?
They come from similar families--two parent home, private high school, college paid for by their parents, etc.
One of them dropped out of college, then dropped out of junior college. She has jumped around from low paying job to low paying job. She has over 30 tattoos and neon green hair, multiple weird piercings, smokes and does drugs.
The other one is in a top engineering program at a top university, and has earned a scholarship. She studied abroad this past summer. She has secured prestigious internships. She is vegetarian and runs marathons.
Which young woman has a more successful life ahead of her?
Sometimes, it DOES come down to the choices you make.
I feel for people who are disabled, physically or mentally. I feel for the chronically ill. I feel for people who made wise choices but got caught up in bad situations. I feel for people born into crappy circumstances who don't know how to get out of them.
But sometimes people willingly throw away every opportunity with both hands. This country typically rewards people who show determination and a willingness to strive and work hard. If someone wants to waste advantages given to them, is it anyone's fault but their own?
I don't think one could make a conclusion on your nieces. One seems to be getting more "real world" sorts of experiences and the other may be just doing what society expects of her. I wonder which is the happiest - the tattooed college drop out or the vegetarian runner...
It is hard to say.
It is also interesting that often people think of "success" as only being associated with titles or money. Many people don't value money as much as other people. I think it will be interesting to see where your 20 something nieces will be in 10-15 years.
I'll note, I had a cousin (she passed away in 2012) who was similar to your "successful" niece (from a 2 parent background, she was raised in church, middle class, private schools, college scholarship, etc.) She had a nervous breakdown in her early 30s and started doing drugs, first weed and fast forward she was a crackhead by 35. She had been married, had a successful career and made good money and ended up losing all of those and living homeless on the street and many in the family believe she was a prostitute for a time. She ended up getting clean but then found out she had hepatitis C and she ended up dying of that condition in 2012.
I remember her mother telling me when I was speaking of one of my other young family members trajectory (them being on what one would consider a positive track) saying that I don't know what that young family member would do. Her daughter had everything but became a crackhead. She admitted before she died (my cousin) that the pressure to do well, be perfect and successful is the reason why she had a breakdown over stress and started using drugs. She regretted trying crack, similar to how these young people today think they'll dry an opioid once and it will be no big deal. She got trapped on that drug and was addicted for 20 years before getting clean. She died less than 5 years after getting clean.
I don't think one could make a conclusion on your nieces. One seems to be getting more "real world" sorts of experiences and the other may be just doing what society expects of her. I wonder which is the happiest - the tattooed college drop out or the vegetarian runner...
It is hard to say.
It is also interesting that often people think of "success" as only being associated with titles or money. Many people don't value money as much as other people. I think it will be interesting to see where your 20 something nieces will be in 10-15 years.
Many people fall somewhere in between, they may not be able to graduate college for various reasons, but they are not pierced up addicts, drunks or irresponsible. These people would be working in a non-sweatshop factory, office support job or any number of blue collar professions when those jobs paid enough to provide an acceptable living, and were filled by Americans.
Unfortunately in a deeply divided country with great inequality, a lot of the haves feel emboldened to trash the have nots with impunity. Anyone who insists those who cannot make a great living are all irresponsible, lazy or immoral, is not a very deep or complex thinker.
Standing in line marking time
Waiting for the welfare dime
'Cause they can't buy a job
a man in a silk suit hurries by
As he catches the poor old ladies' eyes Just for fun he says "Get a job" --Bruce Hornsby
You still havent addressed that median wages have stagnated for several decades and the people born disabled only get $700 a month to survive on. These are real numbers, real brutal facts that really cut to the core of what the reality is for the average American. And nothing is being done to change this. Wages are still stagnating and the disabled are falling further behind.
Translation, America is a horrible, unjust country?
We had eight years of 0bama, how can America possibly be such a horrible place to live in?
Obama declared the other night the booming economy was his doing.
Dems say it sucks, Obama claims it a success. Which is it? who you going to believe?
Apparently 0bama rushed to give a speech before the cameras to take credit for this horrible economy
It is hard to keep up with the lunatic fringe on the left. Is the economy horrible? Or is the economy an 0bama success story?
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Luckily No, it was not luck, you worked at it, probably had your basic living costs under control, had invested in yourself...I paid it off, but it hurt for a good nearly three years. Now imagine that but with the price of living (rent, food, transportation) and the costs of those improvements to get most jobs. The days of companies investing into workers is over because the bean counters trying to contain every little cost they can. (During my work life, I invested and supported my growth, viability, value. Now that I am retired I invest in myself by keeping active, continuing to live a full life, including minimizing my 'downer time' with victims and excuse makers by limiting the amount of time I spend on the internet. Last time I checked I was averaging about 2.5 posts per day on CD, for instance. Only victims need- have to have their company or any other organization to
