When getting a college education is necessary to get any job above minimum wage, but costs more than you can make at a minimum wage job...
When eliminating processed foods is healthier, but you can't keep non-processed food for more than a couple days and you can't spend the time going to the grocery store every day...
When having time to relax, to play, to socialize, and exercise have been proven important but just earning enough to live only leaves enough time for one of the essential four...
When we can't even understand the tax codes to be able to do our own taxes without help...
When tutoring one or two children requires a different skill set from teaching a class-full, but tutoring agencies require their tutors to be certified teachers...
When you can't drive a car without having insurance, even if you'd be more able to pay for the effects of an accident without insurance....
When doctors and hospitals charge individuals more than they charge an insurance company for the same procedure...
When you spend more on insurance than you can afford on health care, and then end up not being able to use the insurance for the problem you actually have...
When loan companies who own your debt look at how much you make before taxes instead of how much you have after living expenses...
When getting a car is vital to getting and keeping even a min wage job, but min wage doesn't cover the cost of maintaining a car...
When the people at the top are only interested in how much they can get out of you...
It's no wonder the average American is a selfish bastard. You almost have to be to get anywhere in this world. It's becoming harder and harder to change your social class in America, and that is not the spirit of this country. This is supposed to be the land of opportunity, but the only people who have opportunities anymore are those who were born with them. Those who are living in a minimum wage world find it impossible to break that cycle and get out of minimum wage jobs. Anyone born into the world above minimum wage, they see plenty of opportunities. Plenty of them end up on the bottom after a few mistakes, and they and their children are doomed to stay there without help.
What percentage of the population earns less than $20,000 a year? Because those are the people I'm talking about. Those are the people who are scraping the bottom. Minimum wage is at almost $8 an hour. If you assume 40 hours a week for 51 weeks a year (one week of vacation), that is $16,320 . That is what the goverment has decided a person needs to make to pay food, housing, necessities, and taxes, with maybe a dollar or two a month left over for something.
Give me a conclusion to this...
ReplyDeleteI would like the answer to the question.... What does all of this mean to you? I feel a lot of emotion in these words. But, how are they directed? How should we "fight the system"?
Just to add something... I eat processed foods and self-processed foods. I have a dehydrator which allows me to store foods longer then a fridge.
According to wikipedia the states below don't require insurance.
Mississippi
New Hampshire
Virginia
"When tutoring one or two children requires a different skill set from teaching a class-full, but tutoring agencies require their tutors to be certified teachers..."
Each state has different requirements to be certified in a given area. Many of which require expensive testing. Getting an actual teaching job is pretty political and challenging. Then keeping it is harder. In NYC, they are now publishing in the newspaper teachers who perform poorly. However, their standard sux. This is why my goal is to get a professorship.
NYTimes quoted Gandhi saying this: “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. ... We need not wait to see what others do.”
I think you demonstrate what you would like to see in the world very well. Now it is time to evaluate the changes in the world around you. Then ensure that those changes are happening. But, the first step is always changing yourself. Then keep those around you who also demonstrate those changes. Remove those who are not. Build a community and change the world.