Missouri Returning to Reason - Rolling back minimum wage

a reply to: strongfp

I'm not boasting about anything. You made an ignorant statement that somebody from poverty doesn't have an equal opportunity to succeed, and I called it horsecrap. I believe everyone is able to succeed and has greatness inside of them, BUT as long as we allow them to wear excuses with pride, they're doomed to fail. Get rid of the excuses, stop coddling failure, stop subsidizing stupidity and laziness and the country will soar.

Before I say anything else I'd like to note, since some people seem to have missed it, that the OP was sarcasm. That said:

I live in southwest Missouri, in one of the poorest counties in the state. We're poor here not because of minimum wage jobs, but because of a plain old lack of jobs of any kind. Most of the towns here--even the very smallest ones--used to have some type of factory jobs. When NAFTA went into effect, all those jobs disappeared. Factories closed down left and right and moved to Mexico. Also, where I live, $7.70 and hour is probably equivalent to $15/hour in a lot of other places.

For instance, here I can--and am about to--buy a nice old house (1940s) that's been well taken care of, still in good shape with hardwood floors etc, 4 bedrooms, and sitting on a .8 acre lot for $45,000. How much would that cost in Seattle? Or San Francisco? or God forbid, New York City? Around here, $15/hr is a pretty dang good-paying job. Nurses make $15-20 per hour. Welders make $15-17 per hour. And so on. So it's relative.

a reply to: burdman30ott6

I make enough money that I am able to share. It's just a fact. I don't mind.

originally posted by: burdman30ott6
a reply to: seeker1963

I went through similar. My time was in the 80s and 90s, so comics were a bit more than a dime, but for us every other Friday was payday and that meant we could rent a Nintendo game for the weekend and get a box of Cap n Crunch for Saturday breakfast.

I'm especially amused at the folks who talk about internet, cable TV, and cell phones like they're necessities and should be tax payer provided for those who aren't able to afford them alone.

That was my point my friend! Did you think you were poor back then? I didn't. I knew we didn't have everything everyone else in the neighborhood did, but we had a roof over our heads, never went to bed hungry etc etc.....and we had a mother and father who busted their ass to keep us safe and raise us right!

If these people who claim to be poor today only knew?

Considering that less than 3% of USA job workers make minimum wage, and considering Missouri ranks about 18th in state population at about 6 million, we're discussing less than 180,000 people. Also factor in a majority of min wage workers are teenagers in part time jobs we can conclude none of this even matters.

originally posted by: riiver
Before I say anything else I'd like to note, since some people seem to have missed it, that the OP was sarcasm. That said:

I live in southwest Missouri, in one of the poorest counties in the state. We're poor here not because of minimum wage jobs, but because of a plain old lack of jobs of any kind. Most of the towns here--even the very smallest ones--used to have some type of factory jobs. When NAFTA went into effect, all those jobs disappeared. Factories closed down left and right and moved to Mexico. Also, where I live, $7.70 and hour is probably equivalent to $15/hour in a lot of other places.

For instance, here I can--and am about to--buy a nice old house (1940s) that's been well taken care of, still in good shape with hardwood floors etc, 4 bedrooms, and sitting on a .8 acre lot for $45,000. How much would that cost in Seattle? Or San Francisco? or God forbid, New York City? Around here, $15/hr is a pretty dang good-paying job. Nurses make $15-20 per hour. Welders make $15-17 per hour. And so on. So it's relative.

Yet people are still complaining how NAFTA was a good thing! I feel your pain. I live in the rust belt of W. PA.

Bill Clinton sold our steel industry out to China, and they have been dumping their inferior steel into this country ever since!

originally posted by: angeldoll
a reply to: burdman30ott6

I make enough money that I am able to share. It's just a fact. I don't mind.

THEN FREAKING SHARE!!!! Share, share, share, share!!!! Give to whatever causes you wish to, God bless your heart. What authority does anyone have to forcibly separate anyone from their earnings to redistribute to individuals, though? It is a direct conflict of interest and tantamount to voter manipulation under the current system. You have one group that has built a Kept Voter pool, paying them the earnings of others in exchange for votes to keep that group in power. That's not sharing, it's theft and voter manipulation.

a reply to: burdman30ott6

I am the antithesis of you. And I'm glad.

originally posted by: seeker1963
Did you think you were poor back then? I didn't.

No. In my mind back then, we weren't "poor" because we weren't on food stamps. Later I found out my Dad was too proud to accept them. Made me proud to be his son.

originally posted by: angeldoll
a reply to: burdman30ott6

I am the antithesis of you. And I'm glad.

Your lips to God's ears, sister, your lips to God's ears. I'd probably tie 200 lbs of scrap iron to my back and try to swim the Cook Inlet if it wasn't the case.

originally posted by: burdman30ott6

originally posted by: angeldoll
a reply to: burdman30ott6

I am the antithesis of you. And I'm glad.

Your lips to God's ears, sister, your lips to God's ears. I'd probably tie 200 lbs of scrap iron to my back and try to swim the Cook Inlet if it wasn't the case.

lol! If that were the case, I doubt if I'd go that far, although I probably would do some real soul-searching to figure out what the hell was wrong with me.

Live long and prosper. Peace out.

originally posted by: burdman30ott6
a reply to: strongfp

I'm not boasting about anything. You made an ignorant statement that somebody from poverty doesn't have an equal opportunity to succeed, and I called it horsecrap. I believe everyone is able to succeed and has greatness inside of them, BUT as long as we allow them to wear excuses with pride, they're doomed to fail. Get rid of the excuses, stop coddling failure, stop subsidizing stupidity and laziness and the country will soar.

Excuses? What excuses?
Most people in poverty didn't choose to be there, and most people living with it don't go around announcing it.
And besides what you're bringing up still doesn't address all the other hardships in this messed up society. Why does poverty even exist in the first place?

A personal question for you. Would you be where you are today if you didn't have your parents or family?

I seriously hope this is an /s post. 2-3$ an hour? So you want Americans to live like the slave laborers in China?

What in the actual #. Please move somewhere else.

Missouri can stay in the stone age all they want it fits em. Meanwhile, Colorado - you know the state with the BEST economy in the country? Well they will have 12$ minimum wage within 3 years. I know, progress, the horror!

originally posted by: burdman30ott6
You made an ignorant statement that somebody from poverty doesn't have an equal opportunity to succeed, and I called it horsecrap.

I believe the difference is that "anyone can succeed" is not the same as "everyone can succeed".

originally posted by: strongfp
Excuses? What excuses?
Most people in poverty didn't choose to be there

They also aren't choosing to pull themselves out of it.

And besides what you're bringing up still doesn't address all the other hardships in this messed up society.

Ah, here are the excuses I mentioned earlier!

Why does poverty even exist in the first place?

Because enablers have made it far too easy to live that way. Poverty *should* serve as the ultimate personal motivational tool, but doesn't because there are just enough subsidies and hand outs to keep many in poverty living comfortable enough lives that there's no motivation or urgency pushing them in the direction of effort and success.

A personal question for you. Would you be where you are today if you didn't have your parents or family?

Obviously without my parents I wouldn't be alive at all... but I digress. I don't know the answer to that. I dont deal in hypotheticals, I deal in realities.

originally posted by: daskakik

originally posted by: burdman30ott6
You made an ignorant statement that somebody from poverty doesn't have an equal opportunity to succeed, and I called it horsecrap.

I believe the difference is that "anyone can succeed" is not the same as "everyone can succeed".

Why should society be forced into accomodating and providing for those who have chosen to fail, then?

a reply to: burdman30ott6

Unfortunately not all areas have jobs readily available for those that are willing and able.

Lost jobs and cost of living passing up your income.

The day is coming for much more of America.

originally posted by: burdman30ott6
Why should society be forced into accomodating and providing for those who have chosen to fail, then?

Nobody said it should. I do believe the point was that it is naive to think "everyone can succeed".

That hair can be split even further. "Not everyone can reach the same level of success due to personal failure" and "if everyone reached the same level of success that level would be meaningless".

a reply to: burdman30ott6

I would give you a 1000 stars if I could. I live in a town with a major welfare problem. It's not a no jobs around issue...it's a they get to sit on their ass all month while hard working people get shafted with taxes that go towards them being able to keep doing so. That's money we work for but never get to see. Money taken away from my family so someone else can live the same lifestyle I bust my ass for. If someone else wants to give their money for these people to live a life of laziness that's fine. Just quit bitching about the rest of us not wanting to.


I say if you've been on welfare more than a year and haven't done anything to try and better yourself in that time you should be cut off. If they starve, they starve.