I am down to my last $50, though my rent is paid until the end of the year. Some people shout "GET A JOB!" without giving enough thought to what that entails, but then the guy screaming "GET A JOB" probably can't compose thoughts larger than 3 words at a time.
Look at the state of the economy. Let's say rent, car, health insurance, food and clothing, phone and tv service, all basics in American life, let's say that all of this costs more than your total income. Guess what, that makes you POOR. You are working, but you are still poor. Now tell me how the hell tax cuts for the rich is any help at all for the working poor? (You can't. It isn't.)
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Technically, I don't have a job. I am calling myself a freelance writer because that is the only way I can really explain how I have been sustaining myself for the last few months. I don't get paid to make appearances, I just do it. What would be better for my future, to do what I am doing, or would I be better of going and getting a job at McDonald's and go away?
Would all of these students across America be better off protesting astronomical tuition, or going and getting a job at McDonald's?
How does a job at McDonald's or Walmart help me pay off my student loans? Costs of living continues to rise, and our wages that working class families depend on have been stagnant for 30 years.
How does a job paying near minimum wage help me or someone else climb out of poverty? How do you possibly save to start a small business or own a home on minimum poverty wages? What happens if you get sick? You lose all your money and maybe die. What happens when you want to retire? You don't. You work until you get sick, and then you die.
Corrupt politicians have no answers. They just don't care. They fight all day to cut taxes for the rich. The peasants can eat cake.
So when you read news about the ever growing ranks of the poor and working poor you realize that this problem is being totally papered over . . . the income inequality in America is its' own disaster and we are on the verge of a political earthquake.
When the Census Bureau this month released a new measure of poverty, meant to better count disposable income, it began altering the portrait of national need. Perhaps the most startling differences between the old measure and the new involves data the government has not yet published, showing 51 million people with incomes less than 50 percent above the poverty line. That number of Americans is 76 percent higher than the official account, published in September. All told, that places 100 million people — one in three Americans — either in poverty or in the fretful zone just above it.
After a lost decade of flat wages and the worst downturn since the Great Depression, the findings can be thought of as putting numbers to the bleak national mood — quantifying the expressions of unease erupting in protests and political swings. They convey levels of economic stress sharply felt but until now hard to measure.
…
“These numbers are higher than we anticipated,” said Trudi J. Renwick, the bureau’s chief poverty statistician. “There are more people struggling than the official numbers show.”
http://www.nytimes.com/...
As Mac Salvo at shtfplan.com writes . . .
One in three Americans are either below, or right at, the poverty line.
The scary thing is: We’re just getting started.
Things are not going to get better any time soon. This is a sustained downward depressionary environment and all of the key indicators for economic well-being suggest it’s only going to get worse.
One hundred million people are barely able to keep themselves fed, sheltered and clothed. Tens of millions more will join the ranks of the near poor over coming months and years.
The rich must have more tax cuts! That's what corrupt politicians are telling us, while at the same time the standard of living for the average American is shrinking. Our corrupt politicians and corrupt media talk of Occupy Wall Street with scorn in their eyes, while they sell us a dystopian vision of the future that sounds great if you are a billionaire, but to the other 99% of us it will be a nightmare.
And the disdain for the peasantry you can hear in Newt Gingrich's voice when he says "Take a bath" might as well be the French Aristocratic words of a coddled young lady who once said "Let them eat cake."
Only today, McDonald's is the new cake.
So I am going to McDonald's today to put in an application, as well as to prove a point. What would I be better off doing, what would WE as a people be better off doing, reading, educating ourselves, investing in education and educators, or working three jobs out of necessity so that we don't starve or go homeless? Am I as a person better off working at McDonald's at the pittance wage levels they are offering or am I better off writing my book or articles such as this? How would America best utilize all of the intelligent people, all of this amazing human capital, creative and brilliant, eager and aspiring, how would we best channel all of the energy of our youth and our educated people, those who will be the next generation of leaders? I think the 1% doesn't want a next generation of leaders, they want a new generation of compliant peasants. They refuse to fund education, they refuse to pay decent wages, they would rather you work for their company at under minimum wage while they transform your debt and poverty into their profit.
We will NOT be the first generation to have a lower standard of living than our parents did so the wealthiest 1% can have their bailouts and their tax breaks.
Here is my paypal link, I could use the help if I am going to see my family upstate for Thanksgiving. I've done a bit of fundraising to support the cause recently while being frugal with my own funds, but then again I know how to get by on a few dollars a day, my needs are few and simple, I don't shop at Tiffany's like Newt Gingrich. My book of short stories is on the way, and I am working on a book about Occupy, because I honestly feel more rewarded doing what I am doing now than I have ever felt before. If you can help, I would be very grateful, and of course, when my book becomes available I will gladly make it available for free to anyone who makes a donation to me via paypal.
So peace and love to all, I needed to vent today, and though this wasn't my most concise post in a while I just needed to get these thoughts off of my chest.
Cheers
You can purchase your copy of "Americana: By Jesse LaGreca" by making a contribution of your choice to me with Paypal
You can follow me on Twitter @JesseLaGreca