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Believe me, I know Obama is just another dog for the capitalists, regardless, a "free market" existed at one point, well, everywhere, it just led to capitalists shutting out others, capitalists influencing the state in there favor..Wages have been stagnant for decades, quit your idiotic bullshit and attempts to blame one man for everything. LOL. Yes, because private sector growth under Obama is a great sign of socialism. You don't know what the fuck you're talking about.
It is called corporatism.
People get it wrong all the time saying free market capitalism is the problem. We don't have a free market, far from it.
The problem is corporatism and the plutocracy/oligarchy it has created.
Since 2009, the top 7% earners have bathed in a 33% increase in earnings while the remaining 93% WORKING Americans have suffered a 5% loss.
Obama has perpetuated the problem even more so than Bush. Even more so than Reagan. Obama is an elitist/corporatist who has been the greatest friend to the super wealthy than perhaps any President before him. And the left are too stupid to realize it.
t's Partisan language, you actually think I care about what I post on here?
I know about poverty, I'm friends with many who live in poverty
Your line of thought is stupid. Err, how do you propose people get by on, well, I'm in Kentucky, so 7.25 an hour?
Err, I propose a basic income, and if not that, strong wages which would cut back on the usage of aid programs due to requirements in place.
I sympathize with what you're going through, believe me, I do, partisan hackery and the nature of this forum may make it seem otherwise, but the number one thing to me is class, which we are both one of the same.
Disagreement with food stamps or wanting to fed rid of it would primarily affect poor children.. People offer me no better alternatives.
Unfortunately, I know people on this site who would call you a government parasite, which saddens me.
Yeah, Cuba is the kind of place where people really do live off $10 a day. LOL!Cuba is an entire country, with remarkable healthcare, and surviving against all odds.
Wages adjusted to the cost of living on a state by state level. I recommend reading up on a universal basic income as a replacement for government programs. It's worked amazingly where it has been tested. I question other alternatives, their were "other alternatives" before government assistance, they could hardly do enough. You do realize, and I don't want to say this since this forum has a thing for personal attacks, that I work in fast food making 7.85 an hour? I live with my mother/father, my fathers shoulders are torn and destroyed so he can't work, I have 2 siblings, both not old enough to work, my father is essentially out of work, little side jobs and such, surgery is to expensive.. Mother is a secretary, she's the main income, well, I'm working 40+ hours a week if I'm scheduled the hours I want, as many as possible.. When the 2008 shit hit, it was really bad.. Luckily, my family is tight knit and we all provide for each other, but it's getting bad, hopefully not as bad as the past.. You're not leeching off of anyone, your grandmother is a loving member of your family who is supporting you on her own free will, the economy is shit, wages are shit, productivity is high, upward mobility is a joke..t's Partisan language, you actually think I care about what I post on here?
You don't?
I know about poverty, I'm friends with many who live in poverty
And I'm friends with Chewbacca, which makes me an expert on Wookiees.
Your line of thought is stupid. Err, how do you propose people get by on, well, I'm in Kentucky, so 7.25 an hour?
Easy. Don't spend money on things you don't need. Spend it on essentials. Food, clothing, water, shelter. And instead of sitting there moaning about how little you're earning as a burger flipper at McDonalds, go seek higher education. There are plenty of ways to save money, and many avenues in which you can earn more than just a living wage.
I made $8.25 an hour on the last job I had. I was able to help my grandmother pay off her car, all on an $8.25 an hour paycheck. Add the internet, phone, clothing, food, and medicine onto that. Money management.
Err, I propose a basic income, and if not that, strong wages which would cut back on the usage of aid programs due to requirements in place.
What is your definition of "basic?" Where does it start? What constitutes "strong" wages? Where does that start?
I sympathize with what you're going through, believe me, I do, partisan hackery and the nature of this forum may make it seem otherwise, but the number one thing to me is class, which we are both one of the same.
Hm...
Disagreement with food stamps or wanting to fed rid of it would primarily affect poor children.. People offer me no better alternatives.
There are always other alternatives. Government assistance isn't the one sole alternative.
Unfortunately, I know people on this site who would call you a government parasite, which saddens me.
I'd agree with them. I despise the notion of leeching off of my government or my grandmother. I'd much rather be working right now. But so be it.
I have an entire thread on Cuba that you should refer yourself to, I don't feel like linking it right now though. Cuba has housing for everyone, milk guaranteed for kids, free education, healthcare, it's a small victimized third world nation that has withstood all odds. North Korea? They removed all references to communism/etc from their constitution, it's essentially a religious theocracy there LOL.Yeah, Cuba is the kind of place where people really do live off $10 a day. LOL!Cuba is an entire country, with remarkable healthcare, and surviving against all odds.
What about we compare your socialist N. Korea - about $2000 to capitalist S. Korea - $30,000.
Any way you look at it, you lose.
Preface to the N. Korean constitution:I have an entire thread on Cuba that you should refer yourself to, I don't feel like linking it right now though. Cuba has housing for everyone, milk guaranteed for kids, free education, healthcare, it's a small victimized third world nation that has withstood all odds. North Korea? They removed all references to communism/etc from their constitution, it's essentially a religious theocracy there LOL.Yeah, Cuba is the kind of place where people really do live off $10 a day. LOL!Cuba is an entire country, with remarkable healthcare, and surviving against all odds.
What about we compare your socialist N. Korea - about $2000 to capitalist S. Korea - $30,000.
Any way you look at it, you lose.
You do realize, and I don't want to say this since this forum has a thing for personal attacks, that I work in fast food making 7.85 an hour?
You're not leeching off of anyone, your grandmother is a loving member of your family who is supporting you on her own free will
upward mobility is a joke..
I never said socialism, I said communism, and just because a country claims to be something, doesn't mean it actually follows what it says it is.. Is North Korea democratic if it has democratic in its name?Preface to the N. Korean constitution:I have an entire thread on Cuba that you should refer yourself to, I don't feel like linking it right now though. Cuba has housing for everyone, milk guaranteed for kids, free education, healthcare, it's a small victimized third world nation that has withstood all odds. North Korea? They removed all references to communism/etc from their constitution, it's essentially a religious theocracy there LOL.Yeah, Cuba is the kind of place where people really do live off $10 a day. LOL!Cuba is an entire country, with remarkable healthcare, and surviving against all odds.
What about we compare your socialist N. Korea - about $2000 to capitalist S. Korea - $30,000.
Any way you look at it, you lose.
Preface
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is a socialist fatherland of Juche which embodies the idea of and guidance by the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung.
The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung is the founder of the DPRK and the socialist Korea.
Don't you weary of getting your socialist ass kicked?
You said 'They removed all references to communism/etc from their constitution'...'.I never said socialism, I said communism, and just because a country claims to be something, doesn't mean it actually follows what it says it is.. Is North Korea democratic if it has democratic in its name?Preface to the N. Korean constitution:I have an entire thread on Cuba that you should refer yourself to, I don't feel like linking it right now though. Cuba has housing for everyone, milk guaranteed for kids, free education, healthcare, it's a small victimized third world nation that has withstood all odds. North Korea? They removed all references to communism/etc from their constitution, it's essentially a religious theocracy there LOL.Yeah, Cuba is the kind of place where people really do live off $10 a day. LOL!Cuba is an entire country, with remarkable healthcare, and surviving against all odds.
What about we compare your socialist N. Korea - about $2000 to capitalist S. Korea - $30,000.
Any way you look at it, you lose.
Preface
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is a socialist fatherland of Juche which embodies the idea of and guidance by the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung.
The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung is the founder of the DPRK and the socialist Korea.
Don't you weary of getting your socialist ass kicked?
I don't want career level pay, I believe wages should be adjusted to the cost of living on a state by state basis. Nothing is perfect. The contradictions of capital are coming out in full force, things are getting worse worldwide in terms of income inequality, resource waste, etc, etc.. Greed? The greedy ones are the capitalist dogs who moan and bitch about the end of days if taxes were raised b 2%, the dogs who mercilessly exploit the third world to sell cheap products in the first world, the ones who move jobs overseas to avoid paying decent wages or providing benefits.. This is starting to happen to service jobs now to.. Err, most people put effort into their job, after all, they're easily replaceable, I'd imagine they'd put forth more effort if they were paid a decent wage. How would anyone consider that exploitation? A moral dilemma? I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous.You do realize, and I don't want to say this since this forum has a thing for personal attacks, that I work in fast food making 7.85 an hour?
And you assume I have a problem with that. I don't. That's more than I have right now.
What I have a problem with is with people in your position demanding career level pay for entry level jobs. I equate that with greed, not a need "to get by." I would be happy to get what I'm paid. I would put more effort into doing my job than demanding a pay raise. I see people making demands of people kind enough to give them any sort of employment as ingrates.
You're not leeching off of anyone, your grandmother is a loving member of your family who is supporting you on her own free will
That is no excuse. To anyone else, this could be considered as exploitation. I see it that way. If I take government assistance, I'm taking her tax dollars. If I'm not on it, I'm still taking her money. That presents a major moral dilemma for me that I can't handle.
upward mobility is a joke..
Of course it's a joke if you're just standing there complaining about it. It's all about effort.
Here's an idea: get some education and training so you're not stuck at the bottom!
Gee, that wasnt hard.
Here's an idea: get some education and training so you're not stuck at the bottom!
Gee, that wasnt hard.
It doesn't work.Here's an idea: get some education and training so you're not stuck at the bottom!
Gee, that wasnt hard.
Can you squeeze college or vocational training tuition out of an $8.25/hour job? After normal living expenses? How does that work?
Can you comprehend? If you vote for idiots who raise taxes, run away companys, that's your Damn problem and no one else? You hear all the time how democrats help the middle class and poor, how the fuck do they do that, if they tax the crap out of company's and force them to leave....Jesus Christ, what the hell is wrong with you people? It doesn't matter what state she lives in, should we never help anyone if they're in a place you don't like?She lives in Taxachusetts I don't give a fuck, they vote for democrats and high taxes, fuck them crying babiesYou won t believe how little 8.25 an hour buys Oxfam America First Person Blog
Disgusting that this is possible in the "richest country in the world"
Cleaning the movie theater is part of my daughter's duties. But does her job actually pay enough to live on? Photo: Mary Babic/Oxfam America
27Tweet
54Like
1+1
For my hard-working family and friends who earn just above the US minimum wage, a paycheck doesn’t go very far.
My daughter struck it lucky when she landed a job for $8.25 an hour at the local movie theater. They pay 25 cents more than the Massachusetts minimum wage (which is already 75 cents more than the federal wage); they don’t charge her for the monogrammed black polo shirt that constitutes her uniform (unlike some businesses); they let her know her hours a few days ahead; and they are, simply put, nice people: film nerds who enjoy keeping an independent theater alive, who don’t mind if she reads a book while sitting in the box office and waiting for the next rush.
Still, it’s a business. Her hours each week never mount up to the point where they’d be responsible for her healthcare (30 hours a week or more); her schedule varies widely; when it’s slow, they let her go (and it’s been a slow year for movies). And, to reiterate: they pay $8.25 an hour.
You can’t blame them; they’re generous at paying more than the legally required wage. But it is, even for my daughter, a measly wage. She lives at home, but she’s scraping together savings for college, living very simply, contributing to the household.
So what her earnings really translate to? I wondered, after seeing this helpful and harrowing piece on What Life Really Costs at $7.25 an Hour.
First, there’s transportation. After taxes, she brings home $7.62 an hour. Last week, after working for 27 hours (and commuting for about 8 hours), she got a check for $205.71. Just to get there and back: Slice the bus fare off the top (2.10 each way; 4.20 round trip; times four): 205.71 – 16.80 = 188.91.
A sandwich = one hour’s work. Some days, when her shift stretches longer than eight hours, she gets a plain chicken sandwich at the place next door: 7.43 (with tax). So she works a full hour to buy a sandwich. Without a drink.
A book = three hours. She loves books and music, and we visit the library every week. But sometimes she likes to buy the ones she loves the very most. Her favorite graphic novelist, Emily Carroll, just published a beautiful new book, Through the Woods. On Amazon, discounted, it’s $18.10. So she worked almost three hours to buy it.
Work shoes cost a day’s pay. We do most of our shopping at Goodwill, but every once in a while, she indulges. She really needed a good pair of shoes as she stands most of the time at work. She got a cheap pair of Nikes at around $50: Basically, a day’s pay.
And what about college tuition? Again, she got lucky: Smith College offered her a whopping scholarship, covering about half the cost. Which left her with a bill of (only) $24,000 for a year, not counting books, art supplies, etc.
So if she wants to cover one year of college – at this deeply discounted price – she’s going to work 3150 hours. Or 61 hours a week for a year. If she wants to go for the full four years… it would take 12,598 hours. Of course, she couldn’t eat. Or pay rent, take the bus, buy shoes, or get her hair cut. At least she can go to the movies…
So she’s lucky in some ways. But so many workers do not enjoy her luck. In fact, the vast majority of low-wage workers do not match this “Poster Child” profile of the minimum wage worker.
Source: the Economic Policy Institute.
Indeed, the average age of low-wage workers is 35. A third have dependent children at home. In our (extremely fortunate)Congressional district, 34,000 working families are using food stamps, and 71,000 are living below the poverty line .
Btw why don't she bring in a sack lunch? Is it beanth those snobs?
More senseless horseshit. Raise taxes? Taxes on the rich are low compared to almost every other country, run away companies? Capitalists left on their own LOL.Can you comprehend? If you vote for idiots who raise taxes, run away companys, that's your Damn problem and no one else? You hear all the time how democrats help the middle class and poor, how the fuck do they do that, if they tax the crap out of company's and force them to leave....Jesus Christ, what the hell is wrong with you people? It doesn't matter what state she lives in, should we never help anyone if they're in a place you don't like?She lives in Taxachusetts I don't give a fuck, they vote for democrats and high taxes, fuck them crying babiesYou won t believe how little 8.25 an hour buys Oxfam America First Person Blog
Disgusting that this is possible in the "richest country in the world"
Cleaning the movie theater is part of my daughter's duties. But does her job actually pay enough to live on? Photo: Mary Babic/Oxfam America
27Tweet
54Like
1+1
For my hard-working family and friends who earn just above the US minimum wage, a paycheck doesn’t go very far.
My daughter struck it lucky when she landed a job for $8.25 an hour at the local movie theater. They pay 25 cents more than the Massachusetts minimum wage (which is already 75 cents more than the federal wage); they don’t charge her for the monogrammed black polo shirt that constitutes her uniform (unlike some businesses); they let her know her hours a few days ahead; and they are, simply put, nice people: film nerds who enjoy keeping an independent theater alive, who don’t mind if she reads a book while sitting in the box office and waiting for the next rush.
Still, it’s a business. Her hours each week never mount up to the point where they’d be responsible for her healthcare (30 hours a week or more); her schedule varies widely; when it’s slow, they let her go (and it’s been a slow year for movies). And, to reiterate: they pay $8.25 an hour.
You can’t blame them; they’re generous at paying more than the legally required wage. But it is, even for my daughter, a measly wage. She lives at home, but she’s scraping together savings for college, living very simply, contributing to the household.
So what her earnings really translate to? I wondered, after seeing this helpful and harrowing piece on What Life Really Costs at $7.25 an Hour.
First, there’s transportation. After taxes, she brings home $7.62 an hour. Last week, after working for 27 hours (and commuting for about 8 hours), she got a check for $205.71. Just to get there and back: Slice the bus fare off the top (2.10 each way; 4.20 round trip; times four): 205.71 – 16.80 = 188.91.
A sandwich = one hour’s work. Some days, when her shift stretches longer than eight hours, she gets a plain chicken sandwich at the place next door: 7.43 (with tax). So she works a full hour to buy a sandwich. Without a drink.
A book = three hours. She loves books and music, and we visit the library every week. But sometimes she likes to buy the ones she loves the very most. Her favorite graphic novelist, Emily Carroll, just published a beautiful new book, Through the Woods. On Amazon, discounted, it’s $18.10. So she worked almost three hours to buy it.
Work shoes cost a day’s pay. We do most of our shopping at Goodwill, but every once in a while, she indulges. She really needed a good pair of shoes as she stands most of the time at work. She got a cheap pair of Nikes at around $50: Basically, a day’s pay.
And what about college tuition? Again, she got lucky: Smith College offered her a whopping scholarship, covering about half the cost. Which left her with a bill of (only) $24,000 for a year, not counting books, art supplies, etc.
So if she wants to cover one year of college – at this deeply discounted price – she’s going to work 3150 hours. Or 61 hours a week for a year. If she wants to go for the full four years… it would take 12,598 hours. Of course, she couldn’t eat. Or pay rent, take the bus, buy shoes, or get her hair cut. At least she can go to the movies…
So she’s lucky in some ways. But so many workers do not enjoy her luck. In fact, the vast majority of low-wage workers do not match this “Poster Child” profile of the minimum wage worker.
Source: the Economic Policy Institute.
Indeed, the average age of low-wage workers is 35. A third have dependent children at home. In our (extremely fortunate)Congressional district, 34,000 working families are using food stamps, and 71,000 are living below the poverty line .
Btw why don't she bring in a sack lunch? Is it beanth those snobs?
Republicans love saving money by punishing the poor, they're true conservatives, but it's ok to spend trillions destabilizing the Middle East.If America is such a mess that we can only save it by making the poor poorer, then we are lost.
More senseless horseshit. Raise taxes? Taxes on the rich are low compared to almost every other country, run away companies? Capitalists left on their own LOL.Can you comprehend? If you vote for idiots who raise taxes, run away companys, that's your Damn problem and no one else? You hear all the time how democrats help the middle class and poor, how the fuck do they do that, if they tax the crap out of company's and force them to leave....Jesus Christ, what the hell is wrong with you people? It doesn't matter what state she lives in, should we never help anyone if they're in a place you don't like?She lives in Taxachusetts I don't give a fuck, they vote for democrats and high taxes, fuck them crying babiesYou won t believe how little 8.25 an hour buys Oxfam America First Person Blog
Disgusting that this is possible in the "richest country in the world"
Cleaning the movie theater is part of my daughter's duties. But does her job actually pay enough to live on? Photo: Mary Babic/Oxfam America
27Tweet
54Like
1+1
For my hard-working family and friends who earn just above the US minimum wage, a paycheck doesn’t go very far.
My daughter struck it lucky when she landed a job for $8.25 an hour at the local movie theater. They pay 25 cents more than the Massachusetts minimum wage (which is already 75 cents more than the federal wage); they don’t charge her for the monogrammed black polo shirt that constitutes her uniform (unlike some businesses); they let her know her hours a few days ahead; and they are, simply put, nice people: film nerds who enjoy keeping an independent theater alive, who don’t mind if she reads a book while sitting in the box office and waiting for the next rush.
Still, it’s a business. Her hours each week never mount up to the point where they’d be responsible for her healthcare (30 hours a week or more); her schedule varies widely; when it’s slow, they let her go (and it’s been a slow year for movies). And, to reiterate: they pay $8.25 an hour.
You can’t blame them; they’re generous at paying more than the legally required wage. But it is, even for my daughter, a measly wage. She lives at home, but she’s scraping together savings for college, living very simply, contributing to the household.
So what her earnings really translate to? I wondered, after seeing this helpful and harrowing piece on What Life Really Costs at $7.25 an Hour.
First, there’s transportation. After taxes, she brings home $7.62 an hour. Last week, after working for 27 hours (and commuting for about 8 hours), she got a check for $205.71. Just to get there and back: Slice the bus fare off the top (2.10 each way; 4.20 round trip; times four): 205.71 – 16.80 = 188.91.
A sandwich = one hour’s work. Some days, when her shift stretches longer than eight hours, she gets a plain chicken sandwich at the place next door: 7.43 (with tax). So she works a full hour to buy a sandwich. Without a drink.
A book = three hours. She loves books and music, and we visit the library every week. But sometimes she likes to buy the ones she loves the very most. Her favorite graphic novelist, Emily Carroll, just published a beautiful new book, Through the Woods. On Amazon, discounted, it’s $18.10. So she worked almost three hours to buy it.
Work shoes cost a day’s pay. We do most of our shopping at Goodwill, but every once in a while, she indulges. She really needed a good pair of shoes as she stands most of the time at work. She got a cheap pair of Nikes at around $50: Basically, a day’s pay.
And what about college tuition? Again, she got lucky: Smith College offered her a whopping scholarship, covering about half the cost. Which left her with a bill of (only) $24,000 for a year, not counting books, art supplies, etc.
So if she wants to cover one year of college – at this deeply discounted price – she’s going to work 3150 hours. Or 61 hours a week for a year. If she wants to go for the full four years… it would take 12,598 hours. Of course, she couldn’t eat. Or pay rent, take the bus, buy shoes, or get her hair cut. At least she can go to the movies…
So she’s lucky in some ways. But so many workers do not enjoy her luck. In fact, the vast majority of low-wage workers do not match this “Poster Child” profile of the minimum wage worker.
Source: the Economic Policy Institute.
Indeed, the average age of low-wage workers is 35. A third have dependent children at home. In our (extremely fortunate)Congressional district, 34,000 working families are using food stamps, and 71,000 are living below the poverty line .
Btw why don't she bring in a sack lunch? Is it beanth those snobs?
Republicans love saving money by punishing the poor, they're true conservatives, but it's ok to spend trillions destabilizing the Middle East.If America is such a mess that we can only save it by making the poor poorer, then we are lost.
