Is US Minimum Wage really $7.25?

reply to post by theovermensch


How do we live on it? We don't. Which is why we have such poverty amongst the prosperity in America.
Our pay is a joke, and no one making minimum wage can afford to pay for anything essential to life like healthcare.

reply to post by Miraj


And then you watch MTV Cribs and see 50 Cent has a house as big as a football field. And probably 10 others. But cuts to welfare are the solution? I say tax the rich and raise minimum wage.

Originally posted by theovermensch
reply to post by Miraj

 

And then you watch MTV Cribs and see 50 Cent has a house as big as a football field. And probably 10 others. But cuts to welfare are the solution? I say tax the rich and raise minimum wage.

That's the idea though. Even if you make money they want you to feel bad about saving it for a rainy day. Nope you need to be more like 50 cent and go buy a nice car and a big house. The middle class are hooked on trying to live like they are rich. It has set a standard in society now that the poor have no way of ever being able to achieve. So now we have other problems. Since they can't have the big house and nice car they may as well emulate these people s fictional identities. Which is why gang violence and rap music are always linked. Nevermind that Italian mobsters love classical music.

I think we are all to some extent so brainwashed by the media that we fail to see how to fix the real problems in society. For many people in the middle class as long as their reality shows still play on TV and the lights still come on they couldn't care less about the poor and causes for the ills in society. The rich create the problem and tell us to shut up and mind our own business.

What can we do???


Meanwhile nobody cares about new ways of doing things or new avenues we can steer society in.

As someone previously stated bizarro world for sure. Jerry Seinfeld was right. Bizarro Jerry certainly exists.

Originally posted by Miraj
reply to post by theovermensch

 

Our pay is a joke, and no one making minimum wage can afford to pay for anything essential to life like healthcare.

Healthcare?

ha haa ha ha ha?

Healthcare is a luxury! Next thing you'll want is to give everyone a Porche or a pony.

I suggest going to church or eating an apple, dude vitamin C and drinking water.

yes, that's why there's so many people on food stamps. you can't earn nearly enough to feed your family on minimum wage.
Republican solution: "get rid of minimum wage," "cut off food stamps," and "lower taxes on the rich."
In other words, they'd love to kill off the poor, and give more to the rich.

I don't even know why there is such a thing as minimum wages. Its ridiculous to force anyone to pay a minimum amount for anything. Jobs are no different from commerce goods, if there is a high demand for certain workers then the wages will rise accordingly. Jobs are merely employers paying for a service, whats wrong with them looking for the cheapest service?

I think an employer should have the right to buy service at 50 cents/hr if someone is stupid enough to take it.

reply to post by metaldemon2000


And you are right. As long as we watch the ads on TV telling us we are nothing if we don't buy that new Lexus, or how we are suffering without that new 50" TV then nothing will change. Our grandparents knew what the value of a dollar was, and they pinched the hell out of them. They didn't buy on credit, they paid cash. They didn't keep up with the Jones's, they made do with what they had. Our generation is the generation of instant gratification and me, me, me. Credit cards did this. Credit that was so easily and readily available. Buy it now, you can pay it back over time. Problem was, that time never came. And as we carried balances over, we found ourselves mired in a mountain of debt.

While my wife and I make a comfortable living, we have also been sucked into this paradigm. We have been cutting back and paying only cash for two years now. We are teaching our kids how to save. We are teaching them the value of a dollar and to shop wisely for what they need or want. We teach them how to bargain shop. How to buy expensive toys for pennies on the dollar. One would think our lifestyle was way up based on what we have and wear. But no one would know we never paid the retail price for any of it. You can live large on a small budget, you just have to know how to do it.

reply to post by metaldemon2000


I agree

Text The middle class are hooked on trying to live like they are rich.

Especially with that. There is more envy in the world than empathy.

We should care about each other because we are all in it together.

reply to post by theovermensch


You're forgetting one major factor mate - everything here in Australia costs twice as much as the rest of the civilised world. It negates the difference.

reply to post by metaldemon2000


same here..not a lot of "good jobs" or good pay. Hardly no manufacturing anymore...no mines..nothing. If you aren't a dr, nurse, medical pro, or lawyer you are living on min wage..and that makes up most people here. I think the avg median wage here in our counties is around 22K a year. Isn't the national median wage something in the 30K range? So yeah...most people are living horribly...no time off, no real leisure time..nothing.

CNN did a poll a few weeks ago about giving up vacation time and the most people either had to or will to survive. Hardly any said they would not or will not give it up. Childcare cost is what keeps a lot of people on the dole. When it cost 150/week to keep your kid in daycare/prek while you work min wage..it just doesn't add up.

reply to post by Kryties

We have stuff like luxury car tax and gst but I wouldnt say twice as much. And I dont know anyone that would work for less than 20 dollars an hour. Why would you? We have jobs everywhere. I dont think it negates it. But the point is that neocons are psychopaths. Im not saying Australia is perfect but wold you like to move to America? I wouldnt. The future is bright in Australia and things are good.

reply to post by haarvik


I too was sucked in by the debt monster. Now I'm told that my debt ratio doesn't allow me to buy a house or finance a newer vehicle even though I've made significant gains in income over the last three years and paid back a ton of credit. My student loan put a nasty stain on my credit rating even though I jumped through all their hoops and did their bidding and now its at the point that my credit score is fine it still has that nasty x beside it that tells any lender that I'm high risk. My only course of action is to pay a lawyer to look in to the situation and threaten the lender to remove the code on my file to correct my credit rating so I'm trustworthy again. The only problem with this is it would cost me more money to fix something I have already repaired on my own. Lol you can't win.

The problem is I can't wait the five years needed for it to go away on its own. I have limited amount of time to give live at my current residence untilled I'm forced to find a new place. Roughly until may. Unfortunately the city I live in is undergoing a rental crisis and has for some time. The rental vacancy rate in my area is 0.2%. No that isn't a typo. People are paying thousands in deposits to secure a decent place. There are hardly any decent place s and in this city. Lots ghettos and even then it isn't cheap there. I have a wife and three kids. The size of place I need I will be paying 1700 monthly for a hole in the wall in a bad neigh orhood, oh and plus utilities.

What a BS scam this credit is.

reply to post by theovermensch


Most of the Aussie jobs at the moment that make decent money require to to uproot your life and move to the mines to be able to work. For some people this is impossible due to any number of reasons (for me I have to look after my sick mother).

reply to post by Neopan100


We used to have a robust mining industry here. Until the 80s, the nickel mines here supplied 90% of the worlds nickel. The industry employed roughly 80% of the city. Now its gone down the toilet. These people are still the top earners here but in order to get in you have to know someone or basically be top of your class in trade school. Oh and a major ass kisser. Other than that its govt and medical jobs. The rest is retail and service industry.

reply to post by metaldemon2000


Yep, that and the real estate scam. It's a damn shame that you can buy cheaper than rent. I can remember when it was the other way around. One avenue for you is to look at owner financing. There are a lot of people out there looking to dump property and are willing to be the bank. I did that on a house I owned once.

Last year I worked for some greedy italian who owned a golf apparel online store here's what he started me off on, 8.00/hr said I was going to start working part time and see how it went from there and when I became full time I would make 15/hr. From day 1 I was full time, he told me I would get health insurance (because he can't stand the thought of anyone not having it) I was there for almost 1 year and never had it, any medical expenses were paid out of my pocket.

I confronted him about the pay and health insurance 3 months into the job and he seemed almost dumb founded that I would even bring it up. Even on $8 you cannot afford everything and this is what I told him, so he says fine 9 dollars and no mention of health insurance I wanted to spit in his face (but couldn't as I needed the job). 5 months later I asked him again and got the same response except this time I wasn't so lenient. He told me the highest he would pay me was $11 which never happened because he ended up firing me (I wonder why lol) 2 months before my 1st year for not taking out his and the other bosses trash (who worked in the same building but under his own business) I was never told to do, he told me to make sure the warehouse trash was taken out daily(which it was). Craziest boss I have ever had in my life. To make matters worse he was Bi-polar with extreme anxiety. Sorry, there is my rant and I have yet to been able to find a job since leaving there and am making only $155/week on unemployment, talk about not being able to afford things.

reply to post by Kryties


Fair enough. Lots of skilled stuff too. But you wouldnt move to America would you?
I know you wouldnt. Its a silly question.

Originally posted by theovermensch
reply to post by metaldemon2000

 

I agree

Text The middle class are hooked on trying to live like they are rich.

Especially with that. There is more envy in the world than empathy.

We should care about each other because we are all in it together.

What really burns me about some of my kids friends parents who are middle class is when they find out that we make less than them and what part of town we live in suddenly my kids start getting excluded from birthday parties and what not. Some kids have even accused my kids of being poor even though that isn't the case. Not poor just struggling. However I make sure my kids don't go to school in ratty clothes and they conduct themselves like proper human beings. They known manners and respect. So I don't know what the problem is. I guess these parents egos are too important.

reply to post by Kryties


You could actually take your mother with you.I know guys that are earning massive amounts of money for unskilled labour. You could pay for a carer. VIC,WA,QLD,NSW,NT,South Australia are opening that huge one. They are evrywhere. You can make a fortune. You should think about it. Even for a couple of years.

reply to post by metaldemon2000


You should do eBay. My son's girlfriends mom makes over $200k/yr selling shoes! That's all she does. I have seen her eBay account, and can verify this is correct! Depending on where you live, if you can get to an affluent area, check out the goodwills and salvation army stores. The wealthy donate barely used high end stuff, especially shoes. You can pay $3 for a pair and resell on eBay for over $100. I've seen it first hand so I know it can be done. If I weren't friends with them I would be doing it! I'm actually looking for another category to sell in. If I find one, woohoo!