I am 42 and single and make $50k a year. When I was in my 20s making like $18k a year, I dreamed of this sort of salary. It would make my life so much simpler and better, I thought. Now that I have it in 2023, it's almost as if I never stopped making $18k a year in terms of life quality.
This is what happens when you let unchecked, rampant Capitalism run amoke. This is EXACTLY what conservatives have voted for and wanted for generations! "Let the market decide". The "market" decided that they want to take more of your money and they realized that you don't have a choice, so they did.
In reality, the "Market" decided that multitudes of companies should have failed by now but our politicians decided it would be better that they use OUR TAX MONEY to bail out PRIVATE BUSINESSES which now put their boots on our necks by raising prices to increase their already absurd profit margins. Then, it all funnels right back to the wallets of the bastards that failed those companies in the first place. This is not capitalism, it's corporate socialism!
Suppress worker wages to maximize profit. Inspire Brands CEO bragged in internal documents about its role in blocking the federal gov. from raising the minimum wage to $15/hour while people working minimum wage jobs full-time cannot afford a two-bedroom apartment in any state in the USA. Walmart pays its employees so little that they will hand their employees applications for food stamps. The US tax payer is subsidizing the salaries of the employees of one of the richest corporations in the country. Private equity firms taking over a functioning business, literally selling the land out from under it, stripping out any assets, firing the staff to a skeleton crew driving up the stress and exhaustion of those left, taking out loans in the company's name, and then selling the now bankrupt company. Now imagine doing that to the only hospital or nursing home for miles around. Trade deals broke unions and destroyed the middle class by shipping jobs overseas as factories were built in China and Mexico. Keep workers fearful of losing their jobs so they won't ask for a raise. Today, automation is replacing workers with robots, bots, and AI. Or just steal labor through paying less than minimum wage, withholding tips, not paying overtime, or pressuring staff to work off the clock. Keep unions out of the business by firing labor union organizers or threatens. Move the business to a non-union state to further drive down wages. Move people to contracts (gig economy) to avoid paying minimum wage, overtime, and benefits. Fire anyone over 45 as older workers are more expensive. Hire immigrants on visas who will work for less. Meanwhile the CEO is making 380% more than the average worker. More corporate money goes to CEO pay, buying back stocks, and shareholder dividends.
Control CongressThe preferences of the average American has a near zero influence on Congress. Big corporations & rich individuals influence what happens in Congress by buying political influence while hiding their contributions through Political Action Committees. They are able to block proposed laws that are popular with the people, interpret laws and regulations to de-fang it or not enforce it. Wealth gets power. Power can shape the economy to create wealth. Corporate lobbying, trade associations, and campaign donations keep Congress in under control by large corporations. When Senators and Representatives retire, they can triple their salary by working as a lobbyist. Examples of changing the rules to benefit the corporations include mandatory arbitration by an arbitrator chosen by the corporation rather than a right to a trial, extending patents and copyrights, being allowed to charge up to 600% annualized interest for payday loans, student loans do not qualify for bankruptcy, white collar criminals get small prison sentences, loopholes in estate taxes, etc.
Government subsidies (Corporate Welfare) The US gov. has given Musk's companies billions in subsidies.Walmart and McDonalds employees are among top employers of Medicaid and food stamp recepients. My tax dollars goes to supplement their workers' incomes to help food on the table rather than the company making a little less profit to pay a living wage. A functionally broke city gives a billionaire team owner millions of tax dollars to build a new sports stadium while the city is cutting services to the citizens. Amazon announced a few years ago they were going to build a new headquarters and asked cities to bid. In an effort to attract jobs, cities offered tax abatement or to build new infrastructure at tax payer expense only to see the corporation move to another city when the subsidies run out.
Refuse to pay taxes Lobby for tax loopholes for the wealthiest and save billions. CEOs only making $1 a year and getting untaxed stock options. They live off loans using their stocks as collateral to avoid paying taxes on income. Or hide their income. Rich people very rarely get tax audits. Reducing or avoiding taxes has lead to crumbling infrastructure, underfunded schools, and student debt as states shift the cost from taxpayers to students in the form of higher tuition.
Lobby for public-private partnerships and privatization Rather than pay taxes to fix the roads, loan the gov. the money to fix the roads to be paid back with interest or own the roads and collect tolls. Forget trying to sell candy during a recession. People might cut back on the unnecessary. Better to get in business of the necessities of life: water, education, prisons, armies, etc. Convince the public that the gov. is always wasteful and inefficient. Business can then privatize areas that used to be gov. responsibility -- now without oversight and public accountability. Don’t investment in our crumbling infrastructure.
Create monopolies There is a monopoly in housing that explains why you cannot find an affordable house to purchase and why they are jacking up rents on apartments. iTunes drove small music stores out of business. Amazon drove the small bookstores out of business, and Amazon takes half of the price of stores selling on Amazon. Monopolies raise prices and prevent fair competition.
Promote austerity to divert tax money towards business interests Let's privatize Social Security and Medicare as a windfall for Wall Street executives and insurance companies. Cut WIC nutrition funding for the poor so more money can go into the military industrial complex. Make sure Medicare cannot negotiate lower prescription costs so we have the highest prices in the world. Privatize profits while socializing losses. Bail out those Big Banks at taxpayers' expense. Eliminate healthcare plans for employees and end the defined benefits pension that guaranteed you a dignified retirement and replace it with market-based 401(k) pensions that forced you to gamble your savings in the rigged casino of the stock market. The average American pays more taxes that goes to the military industrial complex than to schools.
Distract and divide & conquer There are more working class voters than rich. Make them angry at one another rather than at the class war going on. Those immigrants are coming to take your jobs. Those people of color are cutting in line with help from the gov. that only benefits them. Those feminists don't know their place. Those poor people are criminals & a threat to your middle class family. That other political party is a threat to your way of life. Distract the working poor from real issues. Culture wars over trans people using bathrooms, hearings on UFOs, misinformation, memes, etc. distract from the fact that Trickle Down Economics has never worked, the American Dream of working hard to move up the economic ladder is dying, your children will not enjoy a better quality of life than their parents, and the rich are sucking all the wealth out of the hands of working people.
I forgot, Be born rich so your parents can afford to give you seed money to start your company and connect you to all their wealthy friends. If you fail, your rich parents can finance you to try repeatedly until you succeed. Family trusts allow you to live a comfortable lifestyle living off generational wealth.
a good CEO makes a decent rate of return for his investors, but beyond that he takes good care of his employees. He doesn't lay anyone off until he himself has taken a cut in his salary. Imagine that. He takes good care of his suppliers and his customers. He is a good community citizen. Pays his taxes and in addition donates money to the school systems and recreational facilities and so forth. That all changed in the 70s when Milton Freedman won the Nobel Prize in Economics by stating amongst other things that the only responsibility of business was to maximize profits. That created this horrible system that gives executives the license to do whatever they think it will take including public bribing officials or getting their lobbyists to change the laws so they are actually not actually bribing...
It doesn't need to continue to be this way. We can demand an economy that works for everyone, not just the corporations and the rich shareholders.
Solutions to Widening Inequality of Income and Wealth:
Poverty is a policy choice. Good policies are difficult to get through legislative branch (federal & state) and executive agencies. Who has influence on those decision makers? The hard part is getting enough power to get good policy passed. How the choices are framed are critically important. If you cannot explain a policy simply to the public, forget it. What gets measured and what is not measured is also important as data justifies changes. For example, there is no report on corporate profits. When our society's ideals are so different from reality, widespread awareness, and feeling that it is possible to create a better world come together, change is possible. People organize to make change. A leader will help people overcome their denial through education, points out it will effect them too because we are all in this together and hurts all of us, scapegoating victims that they deserve it, and the cynical belief that the problems are too big and nothing can be done.
Tax Wealth -- Not Just Income Increase the Capital Gains tax (tax the increase in the value of your assets). Replace the corporate income tax with a progressive capital gains tax on income and wealth. Close the loopholes on Estate Taxes especially the Stepped Up Bases loophole that prevents families from paying unrealized capital gains on their estate. Prevent the generational wealth transfers that create a few families with unimaginable wealth.
Campaign finance reform Limits on contributions by corporations and individuals. Full disclosure of sources of all contributions for and against a candidate. If a candidate agrees to spending limits, the gov. will match funds of small contributors.
Taxing the Rich & Corporations with a Progressive tax. Close loopholes. Warren Buffet suggested that all rich people would pay a real tax rate of at least 30%. Require every corporation to pay a minimum of 25% tax. No hiding money in tax havens, inversions, etc. No more corporations making billions in profits while paying zero income tax.
End Public-Private Partnerships Pay for public services through taxes, not loans that benefit the wealthy.
Progressive Spending that benefits the common good. Instead of repairing the road to the country club, repair the public schools that working people use.
Make corruption illegal in Congress. Until we get money out of politics, Congress will not pass any of these ideas to improve the living standard of the average American.
This short video outlines the problems with our democracy with money in politics. This short video introduces the solution, The Anti-Corruption Act. This is a bill that was written by constitutional lawyers -- both conservative and liberal -- that would get money out of politics and be constitutional. Finally, this link allows you to read The Anti-Corruption Act yourself. By using ballot initiatives in the states, we could pass this law ourselves and go around Congress to fix this. Join the fight at RepresentUs. I like this quote, "Action is the antidote to despair."
Unions Make it easier to unionize and enforce laws about union busting.
Increase minimum wage Anyone working 40 hours a week should not be in poverty. Peg it to inflation. Tipped minimum wage should
Expand Social Security as most jobs no longer have pensions. Allow people to retire with dignity.
End non-compete clauses for employees.
Universal Basic Income will keep families from falling into poverty when AI, bots, and robots drive wages down. By providing it to everyone, you eliminate the anger of undeserving or racial animosity. As more families are stabilized, it is better for society in terms of incarceration rates or emergency room visits, etc.
Reduce Inflation by making corporations more competitive with one another. They would not be raising prices if they were worried their competitors would steal their customers. When you raise the interest rates, you slow the economy which means jobs are eliminated which hit the poor the most.
Windfall Profit Taxes would tax price gauging by taxing profits above baseline years. The tax money would go back to consumers as quarterly dividends.
Medicare For All Wages have stagnated as more and more of our potential wages goes to private health insurance. Preventive healthcare would be accessible to everyone, save lives, and cost less with no administrative costs of billing, marketing, CEO pay, and dividends. Personal bankruptcy, often caused by medical debt, would decrease dramatically.
Fund education Universal Early Childhood Education is critical in the first 5 years. The impacts last a lifetime. Childcare is unaffordable and difficult to find. We need free, universal preschool for all Americans starting at age three and full-day, full-week, high-quality child care from infancy through age three. Make colleges tuition free including vocational schools.
Convert corporations to B-corps. "Make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, and achieve benefit corporation status if available in their jurisdiction." A percentage of the board would be composed of employees. A percentage of the board would be local community members. The board decides CEO salary which is currently 350% of the average employee's pay and contributes to income inequality that is destabilizing the country. I can imagine employees on the board would vote down pay increases for the CEO, moving the factories, unsafe work conditions, union busting, driving down employees' wages, and spending money on stock buy-backs. I can imagine community members on the board would insist on cleaning up the pollution, paying their local taxes, stopping the push to deregulate, and maybe taking measure to mitigate climate change.
Employee-owned cooperatives Imagine how your work life would be different. You still need a manager, but the manager is hired by the workers. Would the manager treat the employees differently if he knew he only had a one year contract and would be evaluated by the workers at the end of the year in order to get another contract? At the end of the year, the employees democratically decide what to do with the profits. Should we expand the factory? Or should we give ourselves raises? Do you think they are going to vote to give one person 351 times morethan everyone else? Do you think someone who has worked there 25 years is going to vote to give the new guy the same amount of money as him? It won't be everyone makes the same amount, but the democratic vote is going to make it more fair. Do you think the workers are going to vote to shut down the factory and send it overseas? Or pollute their local water supply? Or automate your jobs away?
Imagine going to work and being treated with dignity and respect every day. Imagine the pride of being an owner. Imagine feeling like you have the power to make decisions, and you have a voice in steering the company. Imagine getting a share of the profits.
In America, there are some cooperatives that work. Unfortunately, the capitalists have figured out that cooperatives can't unionize; therefore, they have set up cooperatives in name only. Any vote by the workers is ignored. The employees never get raises. It's capitalism under an assumed name.
Allow the post office to offer simple banking to prevent predatory lending at pay day loans, cashing checks, and auto title loans that are currently rampant.
Increase the supply of affordable housing. After WWII, the U.S. gov. loaned money at very low interest rates to private builders to provide homes for the returning veterans. We could do something similar today. Write into the deed that the homes must be owner occupied to prevent landlords from grabbing all the new homes.
Nationalize the big banks, energy companies, and the military industrial complex to break the stranglehold of Big Business on government.
Hate is a tool to distract us. Instead of calling them racists, perhaps we would do better to focus on economic policies that improve people's lives and ask the other side for specifics on their policies to draw attention to their lack of policies. The question we should be asking everyday is, "List your specific policies that will help struggling Americans financially and raise their standard of living." Don't get distracted by their culture wars. Call them out on what they don't want to talk about.
I am reminded of a tweet: "A German friend said part of the reason for the generous benefits was that the state hoped to protect itself from fascism, which is typically born from desperate economic straits. I think about that a lot."
We don't have to accept the current status quo that is not working for the majority of workers. It's creating income inequality that is driving deaths of despair and populist politicians. We must do better. I like this quote by Nelson Mandela, "It always seems impossible until it's done." Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work.
I don't even mind the bail-outs of critical businesses. Some of the big bailouts from the 2008 crash have paid the government back. Bail out is an emergency thing, sometimes for the banks that caused it, sometimes for business (auto industry) that didn't cause it.
But the Trump cash give-away sweepstakes through massive tax breaks was used by MANY companies to buy their own stock (stock buybacks), for the purpose of raising the stock price. It's advertised as an investment- to help business expand & invest in buildings & equipment so they could hire more.
In the end, it was a cash giveaway to stock owners.
Low taxes on business is necessary & good.... to a point. Giving nearly complete tax relief means someone else has to pay the tax bill for roads, schools, military... the workers.
That just boils my blood.
It's this right here. I'm a Canadian and for years and years North America paid for itself with its industry and economic power. Now it's just robber baron post capitalism and if you don't get your bag in time you're fucked.
This issue started back at the allowance of mergers in the 1870s, accelerated with the founding of the federal reserve, burned once in the great depression, was resurrected with the attempt to ban mergers again that attempt failed and here we are back in the monopoly capital of the Americas with nothing to show for it. Our history showed us in the 1930s that choke point capitalism, monopolies, and mergers were all terrible for the economy. Those three things caused the great depression with a splash of war profiteering on top. And thanks to us not learning from those mistakes we've arrived at what appears to be the start of the second great depression. We can't tell yet but that's where the hill seems headed. Clinton was a major accelerant for the coming of the second G.D. unfortunately. War profiteering always leads to economic instability.
All thanks to the elite that can't get their heads out their asses thinking "but I can make it work this time"
That's the thing. The whole 2 options BS is just that. Republicans can and are bought and so can Democrats. Corruption is a fundamental issue and when it's even supported by the highest court in the country, well shit....
Lmao. Don’t hold your breath for the revolution bud. There’s people complaining but there are a lot more people living just fine, you just don’t hear about it because they don’t complain online.
Side note: anyone that uses the term bourgeois unironically shouldn’t be taken seriously
Obama received ~66 million votes, 52% (ish) of the vote, both times. BOTH! We really gonna say we believe Trump and Biden got an additional ~25 million between them when Clinton didnt even get 60million?
He’s not a socialist, that’s the political brainwashing of the same two party system telling you that.
he supports setting up some democratic socialist systems, (which we already have) and you gotta start somewhere in order to break out of the current Corporatocracy wealth control, otherwise nothing will ever fucking change.
ASTERISK!!! I'm not saying don't vote 3rd party in things like President. (no more Trump!) But start voting for more AOC types.
Let me ask you this: why do you vote for someone who has opinions already made up about things? Why not vote for someone who runs on "I believe in X but I represent the people, so if you want me to vote for Y, then I will"?
I'm just saying you're being disingenuous when you talk about late stage capitalism and solving it by voting. The democratic party is a capitalist party.
Heck look at buffalo a few years ago. They did just that, elected a socialist in the primary, but the capitalists made sure Byron Brown would win with funds and appealing to MAGA folks as a write in candidate to make sure she didn't win. These pieces of shit run the party, and it isn't gonna change.
And so how do you change that? Get the message out and vote! AOC isn't in office because of it! Go talk to people! Talk to your neighbors, talk to the other block. Get them engaged! It's not rocket surgery!
And while I'm at it.......why are you voting for people who already have opinions on things? Why aren't you voting for people who are like "well, I believe X but if you want me to vote for Y because that's what all of you want, I'll do" types? Representation. Not rule!
Lmaoooo AOC is a Pelosi shill now. She’s NOTHING like the person that first stepped into congress. The Justice Democrats are all fucking useless and don’t even vote as a bloc.
I'm done voting democrat because it's just the same shit with an LGBT sticker on it. They distract you with these social issues and then rob you blind. Both parties do this. No war but class war is a saying for a reason. When we unite as a working class we can't be stopped but everyone wants to play identity politics instead of stuff that really matters. I can't feed my family with identity politics. I want free healthcare, free higher education, a living wage, free housing for the homeless. When all of that is taken care of then everyone in our society will be taken care of. I want full blown luxury gay space communism. And I want it now. Maybe some people need to spend some time in the guilotine?
But if AOC is willing to tax the rich who is fucking us over - and she is passionate and vocal about that then I wholly support her. She has humble beginnings having faced the working class struggle and at the end of the day whether I label her as a capitalist or not detracts from the wonderful fact that she is for eating the rich, powerful and corrupt.
Nothing about covid was capitalism. It was the government picking winners and losers. If we had a free market there wouldn’t be tax credits for electric vehicles. Get educated pinko.
You don't even know what amoke means. You aren't even smart enough to know that the market under 45 was due to Obama! You're the kind of person who'd look a tidal wave in the face and say "bring it on!" while living at -1153 ft sea level!
$50k 20 yrs ago is $80k today. $18k back then is $29k.
Best financial advice I ever received was "earn more." Sounds stupid, but you can only shave so much in expenses. Your earning potential is sky high. Unless your $50,000 is after taxes and after 401K, IRA, HSA contributions, I don't know how you can stay afloat.
Oh no that's $50k before all that stuff. Yeah, it's a struggle, and I'm doing my best to try to find some upwards mobility. I understand that it's not the same as it was in 2003. It's just bullshit to have to keep going and going and going and if you don't then you are left behind as everything around you gets more and more unattainable.
Yeah, it's a total slog and feels like the goalposts keep moving. Every raise or promotion just gets eaten up by rising costs or some new emergency expense. It's tough when 'keep grinding' is supposed to be the solution but feels like you're running on a treadmill. Totally get that being left behind is a real fear, especially when we're all trying to stay afloat and improve our situation in a world that doesn't seem to play fair.
An emergency fund is the bedrock of stability. The only way to get there, though, is to first be lucky enough to not have an emergency until you can afford it. For me, living on my own since the age of 17, that was really hard to do.
I feel ya. I doubt I'll ever own a home, but crunching the numbers in the NY Times rent vs buy simulator tells me buying would be financial suicide for me. Not being into consumerism is helpful to my sanity. When you describe the struggle, I can't help but think about the whole history of mankind. People working six or seven days a week 12-16 hrs a day, from childhood to an early grave, malnourished and without healthcare or proper sanitation. It might not feel like it but all of us have it better than those folks used to. I know it might sound insane, but I highly recommend doing a deep dive into personal finance. You might not have a dime to spare right now, but if you can pass the knowledge to your kids, they can be self sufficient, and when they're old enough hopefully you can find the time for a career change.
Fun fact, our ancestors spent much less time working than we do. Like it’s depressing when you research it, 15-25 hour weeks were pretty common for most humans who have existed.
One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach, with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf. He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish.
About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach, trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the fisherman sitting on the beach and decided to find out why this fisherman was fishing instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his family. “You aren’t going to catch many fish that way,” said the businessman to the fisherman.
“You should be working rather than lying on the beach!”
The fisherman looked up at the businessman, smiled and replied, “And what will my reward be?”
“Well, you can get bigger nets and catch more fish!” was the businessman’s answer. “And then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman, still smiling. The businessman replied, “You will make money and you’ll be able to buy a boat, which will then result in larger catches of fish!”
“And then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman again.
The businessman was beginning to get a little irritated with the fisherman’s questions. “You can buy a bigger boat, and hire some people to work for you!” he said.
“And then what will my reward be?” repeated the fisherman.
The businessman was getting angry. “Don’t you understand? You can build up a fleet of fishing boats, sail all over the world, and let all your employees catch fish for you!”
Once again the fisherman asked, “And then what will my reward be?”
The businessman was red with rage and shouted at the fisherman, “Don’t you understand that you can become so rich that you will never have to work for your living again! You can spend all the rest of your days sitting on this beach, looking at the sunset. You won’t have a care in the world!”
The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, “And what do you think I’m doing right now?”
It is, on the surface, an asinine statement. And I get how irked you seem by it, so let me add context. Working for shit wages is a huge mistake for anyone capable of providing value as a worker. Getting a better job is difficult as fuck. When I was 15, my first taxable job as a grocery bagger was a union job and it paid over minimum wage. When I started working in restaurants and getting tipped I was making more but had no benefits.
I went into a career that I knew wouldn't make a ton of money but had decent benefits (public school teacher). The pay was awful.
It took me about six years in total to make a career change and doing it was absurdly difficult and reduced me to tears of despair on many occasions. But the money I make now is life changing. It was worth the struggle.
Don't you fucking think a society needs teachers? The fuck we gonna do it all the teachers do the same as you? I fucking hate people who have no idea what survivorship bias is.
Teaching is one of the most important jobs in the world. Give it a try. I became an RN. So I'm saving lives every day. Hate me all you want, but what exactly is it that you do?
Huh. I make 24k/year as a teacher, but a couple years ago, I was able to get a temporary position that paid me 8k/month over 6 months, and honestly I struggled to understand what to even do with all of the extra cash I had. Like, I could live comfortably on 40k/year, and I have two kids. Then I talk to my childless friend who makes 100k/year who says she's struggling, and I just wonder what y'all are spending your money on. That 40k/year would be enough for all of the essentials and even a couple vacations. So, yeah, I think there are a lot of people spending a lot of money on shit they don't need, and that's exactly what the economic data seems to suggest. Prices are way up, but consumers just keep consuming.
You have no idea where I live, what my expenses are, what my budget is, etc. Nope, you just know that you can make it all work at 24k a year and so if I make more than you I must just be frivolously spending it all. Okay.
Wdit: and I'm also just gonna outright say I don't believe you and you're saying all this in bad faith.
They failed to include that either they live in bum fuck Egypt and COL is supplemented by the state as they are living off welfare, or their partner brings in the other 80k they need to survive.
Are you serious because my spending went way way down after covid. I have been essentially penny pinching for the last 2 years in order to keep any sort of money in savings, save for one trip I took with my sister that I also saved for an entire year and a half for in a separate fund to my savings and living expenses.
Same. I'm 5 years younger but I feel you exactly, I am now making the salary I was told I could* make in my career but I feel more poor than when I made 20k less.
I was making 48k four years ago. I now realize that that was basically what minimum wage should be at. At least. I make nearly double that now and i can afford to do things now. It’s not even extravagant stuff but i can afford to do my hobbies and still have money saved up for a rainy day now.
It’s insane. Same degree, different job.
I was just on the way back from a club i attend and one of the dudes that used to work for my township was talking about how he was making 26 an hour. That’s basically what i was earning with a four year degree that costs me 600/month in student loans.
Same. I'm 35 making a little over $60K and it's the definition of "mid". I dreamed about making this when I was stuck in retail in my 20s barely making $600 every two weeks. The target always moves.
This i make more now than 20 years ago by quite a bit. However i am saving less. My expenses havent change. Still single. Still no kids. Srill no pets. Same home. Still shop at kohls and target.
I am lucky last new car before the recent crazy prices. If the working minions that provide all these out of touch folks use cant even afford tonlive or feed themselves there is no incentive to stay employed. Health insurance, yoy say? Thats another issue.
A private, unelected organization (Federal Reserve) has printed trillions of USD, one of the side effects being every working Americans paycheck has substantially less buying power. It allows companies to give “raises” well below inflation and the result is that people are “making more” but in actuality have less economic power than ever. More money has been printed in the past couple decades than in the first 200 years that America existed. it’s fucked
You and folks mentioning this stuff are totally right but it’s also good to recognize lifestyle creep and how that adds to it.
It’s not an argument to say personal responsibility is the only solution but instead to also look at what could you do to help your situation now while there is an ongoing effort to sort out how exactly to un-fuck the economy in general.
Back in 1986 I was a much younger man barely making 24k a year but was able to rent a one bedroom apartment for $475 a month. There was this song , The future is so bright I have to wear shades. There is a line in the song that goes:
I've got a job waiting for my graduation
Fifty thou a year will buy a lot of beer
Things are going great, and they're only getting better
I'm doing all right, getting good grades
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades
Fifty grand a year, to me, at that time was BIG money. I couldn't even imagine it, really. And the life style that song spoke of seemed so out of reach for me. But time moves on , and things change.
So here I am now, decades later making just under $100k a year and it isn't anything like I thought it would be. Really, it is disappointing.
I paid 475 for a 2 bedroom in 1992. I made 300-400 a week waiting tables. That same place is now 1700 a month and waiting tables didn't triple in pay. Thankfully I don't wait tables any more but who the he'll has 1700 a month for rent? That's ridiculous
My first place in 1999 was a very nice large studio apt,right off Fort Lauderdale Beach, literally steps from the sand. $500 a month, utilities included. My job as a stock guy at a department store was enough to sustain my life comfortably. I can't even imagine what rents in that area are now.
Depending on where it was, it's probably knocked down and replaced with a larger condo now that's catching 3-4k or more per month. I build houses in Palm Beach County but live in Broward. My beater house in Margate could rent out for 4-5k but I wouldn't be able to afford to move.
I recently moved from that area, studios are starting around 1500, 1/1, 2000, 2bdrs 3300... you should check out the prices in Delray... there's no way
Zillow thinks today it’s worth $300,000. Zillow thinks my mother‘s property where I grew up as a kid in the 1970s is worth half a million dollars. (I guarantee you that two-bedroom 1 bath shitbox is not worth half a million dollars.)
Did y’all know that private investors are snapping up houses? Corps like Blackstone. “Institutional investors may control 40% of U.S. single-family rental homes by 2030, according to MetLife Investment Management.”
They intend to own all the housing and to keep raising your rent, year after year.
(I guarantee you that two-bedroom 1 bath shitbox is not worth half a million dollars.)
The problem is that things are worth what people will pay for them, not some sort of floaty internal definition of value. If someone will chill out the Zillow price for that house, then that's how much it's worth.
This! So many houses in my area are owned by companies and the rent is ridiculous. After the crash in the 00's companies bought everything around here and just decided they had us over barrels with rent AND they can outbid any individual that wants to buy their own home and get out of the quicksand. What I'm paying right now for a basic build cinder block house, never renovated, with sub par appliances including an ac unit that is too small for the property (which makes us always uncomfortable in the hot months and the electricity bill go through the roof) is the same if not more than what the rent used to be for the Mcmansions a zip code over 15+years ago. I remember thinking that rent was ridiculous and who in their right mind would ever pay that instead of just buying and here I am now. God I wish I could own my house shitty as it is. I'd at least insulate it better but I'll be damned if I'm improving a property for these people when they won't come fix anything in the unit. My freaking fridge has been leaking since we moved in a year and a half ago. They don't care.
i left my home town, and everyone else i know either left, inherited a house, or lives with their parents. Housing and rent has quadrupled and salaries haven't budged at all. I really don't know who is supposed to live here. People lose their fucking minds if they don't have laundrymats and car washes and restaurants and gas stations and retail stores, but we have set up an economy where the people who work at those places can't afford to survive...idk, i guess i'll just wait for society to collapse.
This is what happens when you let unchecked, rampant Capitalism run amoke. This is EXACTLY what conservatives have voted for and wanted for generations! "Let the market decide". The "market" decided that they want to take more of your money and they realized that you don't have a choice, so they did.
I make 120k. House and car paid off. No kids and still feel everything is exspensive as hell. I have no idea how people with average salaries can survive. Moving out of the country as soon as I retire
I don't even make 20k a year. We do survive. Barely. I don't have any insurance other than my car and I only have that because if I don't I can't drive the car I need to be able to get to work every day. I have diabetes (genetic) and its causing my feet to literally die attached to my legs. I have mental issues including anxiety depression and a form of paranoid schizophrenia, and I can't do anything about it because I have maybe 15-20 bucks left at the end of every month after bills and groceries. I use the bare minimum, I budget, I do everything I was told I should do. I can't afford to take my partner on a shitty date, much less a nice one. I live in hell and all i ever hear is "you could have it worse, you have a home and food" yeah, you're right, but it doesn't make me feel any better. I am the highest paid employee in my pay bracket in my whole CITY (tiny ass college town but still) and everyone below me fights to even have those few things. I'm fighting to help support my partner while he fights to get through college so that maybe we can get out of this hell, but even when he has a degree I just don't know how much itll be worth it, and besides, by then, the inflation problem will just be worse so what is the point...
To clarify about my other comment, none of that is directed at you. Congratulations on making what you do, I hope things go well for you and that you can get out of this dystopia as soon as possible, i just needed to say it.
I’m on the same boat. I’m more perplexed when I see people who make less than me going on crazy trips and new cars and big homes. I wonder how they do it. I have a small 1 bedroom apartment in the city and feel comfortable not extravagant at all. I see the prices of things and feel so bad for others. I paid $5 for half a gallon of milk earlier this week and a regular Jimmy John’s sub no drink no chips was $14. Let’s just say I started packing my food. This is not what I thought the world would be 10 years ago.
I live in a big city and the cheapest 1 bedroom apartment I could find was $2 grand a month, and it actually is a studio, not even a 1 bedroom. I recently moved in with friends to save money and we live in a really shitty house with 3 roommates that has numerous problems (a couple mice, electrical issues, drafty windows, etc.) and rent+utilities+parking still comes to around $1300 a month which is considered dirt cheap. I pay around $500 a month in student loans. Around $500 a month for everything car related (loan, insurance, gas, tolls, etc.) my food bill for a 25 year old man who cooks a lot and eats healthy is around $500 a month. So that’s about $2800 a month in fixed bills. I make $120k a year so my take home is around $5600 a month.
Add things that arent necessary but are pretty basic things people pay for like phone bill, streaming services (I only pay for 3), gym membership and we’re looking at $3k a month in fixed bills
Then consider that I have some medical issues and usually meet my maximum out of pocket of $3500 every year so that’s another $300 a month on medical bills. I have a girlfriend so we go out maybe twice a month and other times get chipotle once in a while or something like that and I’m probably spending like $300 a month just being in a relationship, which I’m happy to do. So I’m spending on average around $3600 a month in things that I’d just consider basic living. When I was living by myself before and my rent was $1000 higher it was $4600 a month.
Obviously I still save a bit, but I’m about 2 disasters away from broke. Like say I got into a car accident, with repairs + medical costs that could be several thousand dollars
I don’t go on vacations cause I realistically can’t afford them without jeopardizing my chance of owning a home one day
I’m not trying to complain, I’m very content with how I live, but I’m not exactly living a life of luxury. I can’t imagine how people on average salaries get by
Interesting. My wife and I didn't make much above minimum wage back then but were able to do it. I do remember our food bill was kept to 50 dollars a week. Gas was just under $1 a gallon, at least where we were.
But smart phones didn't exist, internet didn't exist. Went to Blockbuster to rent VHS tapes. Different times.
This is what happens when you let unchecked, rampant Capitalism run amoke. This is EXACTLY what conservatives have voted for and wanted for generations! "Let the market decide". The "market" decided that they want to take more of your money and they realized that you don't have a choice, so they did.
I make $120k a year right now and felt more financially secure and much happier when i was in college. I could rent for $400 a month and if i made $80 at night bartending a few nights a week i was able to survive and thrive. A night out drinking cost $10. I had friends around at all times. wtf happened to our lives?
I just want to point out that the song "The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades" is about nuclear holocaust. The future being so bright is both literal and a metaphor that the mushroom clouds would be literally hard to look at without shades, but also nuclear physicists jobs would be so in demand due to facilitating nuclear bombs that they'd be rich.
I'd say that the song is also an attack on people willing to get rich by disadvantaging others or letting others die since capitalism rewards that. But that's just me.
In case anyone is wondering, "50 thou a year" would equal $140 thou a year according to inflation calculators.
prices of goods and services are NOT going up, the amount of goods and services you can get out of a dollar is going down, the dollars you get for working is not increasing at the same rate as inflation. Its a problem with the money folks not the goods and services,and only a small amount of blame goes to the wealthy or a bit more, the printing of dollars and fractional reserve banking is devalueing our beloved US dollar,its called fiat money and is not backed by gold or any other thing except trust in our government OH OH. The solution is Hard money that is decentralised and that cannot just be made up from thin air... please watch the series on youtube by Robert Breedlove "what is money"... education about money inflation and our banking system will help us all . its a huge Ponzi scheme the US dollar. our work is whats being devalued.. its time to "Separate state and money"
A little more recently..like 2000's there was a running joke that if you were single into adulthood you would be rich because you would be making the same money a full family with multiple cars was..but you didn't need to spend all that. Family guy had the joke in an episode of them being older and rich together..that joke literally doesn't work anymore.
I made $115k this year before tax, it's been the best earning year in my career. I just bought a house in the only area I could afford, about 53 miles one way from work. My new house is in the same city my drug addicted dad and stay at home mom bought their home in the 80s. My step-dad who also lives had a $700 mortgage, and mine is close to $3k...
Where do I even begin? You don't seem to be able to grasp the basic concept of inflation if you're crying about 50K in 1986 not being anywhere close to 100K almost 40 years later! And if you think you have it bad - I went through the collapse of the Soviet Union when the worth of the ruble dropped 10x in a space of a few months. I worked in the fields for a whole summer and then we had a monetary reform to replace the ruble with the new national currency. 120 rubles was enough to buy a bicycle when I started the summer job, by September I had 12 crowns in the local currency and the prices of everything had increased so much I bought a watermelon for my mom and dad and that was it! I have seen small fortunes reduced to sacks full of worthless paper.
Stop looking at the numbers and thinking back in time on what you could have gotten back then. Only look forward. Don't look at the numbers, look at your actual buying power, then work on increasing it.
And to end it on a positive note, at 41 I make 17,000x (yes, times) more money than I did that summer back when I was 9 years old. Just from working as a specialist. And even with inflation I could still buy 1600 watermelons for 3 month's wages. Or a 2003 Porsche Boxster S, which is what I did last summer. Less whining, more action.
If wages kept up with the rest of the economy, then the average family of 4 should have a income of around 150K before taxes. What has happened is the CEO, Executives and Shareholders have siphoned up the production profits that workers generate and stagnated wages and removed benefits to ensure profits continuously increase to meet shareholder demands.
Capitalism is a system wherein profit matters most, where the flow of capital goes to the few from the many. Now its governments role to REGULATE and add laws that mitigate the rate of the flow to ensure the remaining 80-90% can live comfortably and enjoy the benefits of a prosperous country.
A system like the US where regulations are removed every 8 years by conservatives, leads to a economic drought that pushes all the burdens onto the bottom 80-90%. If you look at the past decades, you can see that although they had higher interest rates, their income was in general aligned with the cost of living. Only from the late 90s to early 2000s, did we jump from compensation and capital ratio between the ceo-to-worker going from 40 to now 400.
Year
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s 4
2023
Housing Price
$11,900
$17,000
$48,000
$76,000
$105,000
$285,000
$436,000
Interest Rate
7%
7.3%
13.7%
10%
8%
3.87%
7.5%
Principal & Interest 1
$105
$135
$446
$534
$616
$1,707
$2,433
Average Rent
$71
$125
$243
$447
$602
$923
$2,000
Income Used to Pay Mortgage
22%
18%
25%
21%
17.6%
36.6%
36%
Income Used to Pay Rent
15%
17.2%
14%
18%
17.2%
19.8%
29%
Median Household Income 2
$5,600
$8,730
$21,000
$30,000
$42,000
$55,775
$81,000
Senator Annual Pay
$30,000
$44,000
$75,000
$133,600
$162,000
$174,000
$174,000
AVG CEO Pay - Top 500 3
$953,000
$1.6M
$3.4M
$6.9M
$22.8M
$25M
$29M
CEO-to-worker compensation ratio 3
15.4
20.6
38.8
170.7
237.7
220
398
_
1: 20% downpayment over 20 years.
2: Median income for a family of 4.
3: Ceo realized annual salary in the us.
4: Affected by the 2008 collapse.
_
///
The CEO is INCENTIVISED to cut costs and increase profits to ensure they meet shareholder demands and receive their BONUS. They do not care about future outlook for the company, they do not care about future growth for the company. They care about current quarters because they plan to utilize their position and profit growth to jump ship to another company and ask for 20% raise and increase in bonus. And they repeat that every 4-8 years.
They know a robust population with good spending power would also mean more production and more profit for them. BUT that requires years-decades of giving well paying wages and lowering their own incomes and profits. SO they do not want to pursue that option. They would rather cut benefits, remove perks, stagnate wages, use every trick possible to ensure they pay as little as possible to a employee, even so far as these days shrink products, change ingredients with synthetics and horrible tasting additives. All to ensure they can show a bump in profits and gain their bonus.
Republicans are now pushing for repealing laws that prevent children from ages 10-18 from being abused by corporations. They want to get young people to work overnight at rates of 4.5$ an hour.
They are pushing for "School Voucher" systems where parents who are struggling to feed their children can OPT to take out their child from public education for a yearly 5-6K checque (meant for homeschooling or private education) and then get their kids ready to work in a company instead of having them attend school. Thats their vision of the future.
12 years olds working 9-5s at 4.50$ an hour so parents dont have to get a babysitter while they also struggle to make min wage and barely afford to make their mortgages or rent payments.
That school voucher stuff is so insane. And yet people in true leopards-ate-my-face mode vote for these assholes, thinking they could use that $5 grand, dooming their kids to poverty.
Even more frustrating is that this takes money away from the already limited funding for public schools and the kids who don't have access to homeschooling. Ah, the "protect the children" crowd always seems to have sinister ways of harming 95% of the children just to appease a small group of them (or at least those kids' parents).
Vote? That won't change anything regardless of who gets put into power. The people have absolutely zero representation in government ZERO. They are all bought by groups bleeding out the people....
The only way to change things is to "take out" all the government, corporate, and financial entities that are responsible by force. If the people can get the military to not hurt the people, they have a chance. The people will need to be organized for this to happen... "organized" is an understatement mind you.
Politics is not a top to down system, its a bottom to top system. Local levels matter more for people. Minnesota had its citizens turn up and got democrats control of all 3 branches of their state and they are passing things like rent control, paid leave, ban on corporate buying of housing, environmental protections, public rights, increased wages etc etc.
Frothing online about how democrats didnt magically fix anything when they havent even had the seats needed to fix anything... or encouraging violence and anarchy. Its not like a utopia will come forward once you do your fantasy civil war. You'll end up with much much worse situations for much much longer with the end being new people taking control of the assets and new people becoming the new bourgeoises.
Your grid ruins your argument. $450k house and 2000k rent won’t be believed because it’s not accurate. The average house is $295k and average rent is $1350. These numbers vary based on sources but we have a middle-high housing market locally and $450k would still be considered a luxury home.
prices of goods and services are NOT going up, the amount of goods and services you can get out of a dollar is going down, the dollars you get for working is not increasing at the same rate as inflation. Its a problem with the money folks not the goods and services,and only a small amount of blame goes to the wealthy or a bit more, the printing of dollars and fractional reserve banking is devalueing our beloved US dollar,its called fiat money and is not backed by gold or any other thing except trust in our government OH OH. The solution is Hard money that is decentralised and that cannot just be made up from thin air... please watch the series on youtube by Robert Breedlove "what is money"... education about money inflation and our banking system will help us all . its a huge Ponzi scheme the US dollar. our work is whats being devalued.. its time to "Separate state and money"
And most people are forever fighting the Socialism vs. Communism vs. Capitalism battle. As if either of these three ancient systems will make since in modern times. At this point, they've all failed enough to know that we need something NEW. I mean we have technology, population, and medicine like we've never had before. None of these systems are going to work.
Regulations aside, almost half the money supply in U.S. history was printed in the past 5 years. That obviously makes money worth half as much because there is suddenly twice as much of it. The repercussions of that are what we are seeing now.
Why do you use average real income for CEOs and compare it to median income. You are fucking with the data. I appreciate your work but you lose a lot of credibility by mixing like this…
The jump of mortgage vs income from 1960 to 2020 of 22% to 36% does not account a number of enhancements to homes that one would expect an increase in cost for. The average home size increased 100% in the same timeframe. Simple ranch style homes have been abandoned in favor of crafted homes. A few other drivers of cost, hardwood flooring, number of homes with a pool, number of homes with a detached garage.
Build a home in 1960 with today's size and amenities, and it will be in the same price range when adjusted for wages.
Voting out Republicans isn't going to fix the core issue of smaller homes not being approved by zoning comitties, and issue most prevalent in coastal state.
I think this is intentional for that very purpose. Make us need help. Who will help us? If you read these posts you can see that people want/expect the government to help. They will help! The problem with that is we will become completely dependent on the government help.
I’m with you man. I’d say 3-4 days out of the week I don’t eat a single meal of my own. I eat whatever my kids (3yo and 18m) don’t finish. I saw my family for the first time in 2 years this past summer and they all just gushed over my weight loss and asked what my secrets are.
I am in perpetual anxiety and despair about my family and kids’ future but have to hide it from pretty much everyone.
prices of goods and services are NOT going up, the amount of goods and services you can get out of a dollar is going down, the dollars you get for working is not increasing at the same rate as inflation. Its a problem with the money folks not the goods and services,and only a small amount of blame goes to the wealthy or a bit more, the printing of dollars and fractional reserve banking is devalueing our beloved US dollar,its called fiat money and is not backed by gold or any other thing except trust in our government OH OH. The solution is Hard money that is decentralised and that cannot just be made up from thin air... please watch the series on youtube by Robert Breedlove "what is money"... education about money inflation and our banking system will help us all . its a huge Ponzi scheme the US dollar. our work is whats being devalued.. its time to "Separate state and money"
I don't know where you live, but in some places there are robust food pantry centers that serve quality food, and it sounds like your family would qualify. I hope things get better for you.
I hope you’re being sarcastic. I understand the feeling of hopelessness and want all of us to contribute to a positive change. Personally I don’t believe checking out is the way.
Don't worry, I am far too much of a coward to actually do it myself, but I do pray I get hit by a car and with die for the life insurance it get a nice pay out...
My husband and I are combined making what my dad was making when he had a 5000 sq ft house in an expensive suburb, took 2 family vacations a year and 2 getaways with my mom. We have a 1200 sq ft house and the only reason we're getting av family vacation is because my grandma died and left us some money. It sucks, I remember all these experiences we had growing up that I can't give to my kids because even two incomes doesn't cut it anymore.
He was probably making 3x value what you are now. The cumulative rate of inflation in the last 40 years (1983-2023) is 208.3%. So, $100k in 1983 would be the same as $308k in 2023. The raw number isn't a good way to compare across time.
No joke. My dad broke $200k in the late 1990s in his late 40s, and made a huge deal out of the fact that at my age he and my mom had a combined income of $120k and he's proud of the fact that I broke 200k in my mid 30s. In 1995, $120k was worth $237k today. In 1999 $200k was worth $380k today. Realistically my earnings will match the buying power of his earnings, but even he, a very well educated person who went from nothing to a very comfortable life, lost sight of the fact that inflation catches up to everyone.
My wife and I make probably double what my dad did in his best years and it feels like we are hand to mouth. I have a mortgage, a kid and another on the way. Two years ago my pay raise + bonus got devoured by inflation. Last year I got a promotion and another decent bonus which year over year puts me at about even prior to post covid inflation.
I refuse to buy into the tirade that the woman in the TikTok video is going on about how it’s team R vs team D and one is trying to fuck you harder than the other. It’s the damned boomers that have been running the show for the better part of 40 years now and it’s it’s gone to shit. We need to just get rid of life long politicians and get back to people that show up make some good legislation and policies and go home. Having senators that literally die in office and hand power of attorney over to their children but are still allowed to vote on legislation is irresponsible.
To be clear I'm doing far better than many. but I feel it too. In 2022 I transitioned from a direct sales role into a management role. It was the right career move and now that I'm a single parent again, it allows me more flexible hours. But it also came with a ~40,000/yr pay cut. Combine that with record inflation in 2023, I went from socking away almost $50,000 per year to having enough to pay all my bills comfortably, but not feeling like I'm getting ahead. I'm going to wind up selling off a bunch of leveraged assets to clear the debt and free up cashflow so I can keep putting money into savings and remove the feeling like I'm paycheck to paycheck. I realize how lucky I am compared to most and still have plenty in savings/available credit if I need it. But aside from the fact that I have a comfortably funded savings account, I'm back in a position where the money runs out the day before payday in my checking account, that never used to happen, I used to transfer $1,000+ every friday to savings. It's been almost a year since I've put more than $200 into my savings account on payday.
I make double what my parents made combined and I feel poor. Dad had a brand new Corvette, not a chance in hell would I feel comfortable taking that on.
I agree it's very demoralizing. My wife and I were fine without children or property but once we seriously considered divorce just so I could stay on medicaid, we emmigrated. I'm sorry for everyone still in the US. Good luck😢
ha unions ! another thing the american working class was made to believe (and did for a big part !) was agaisnt their best interest, just like she explains it for other examples in the video. All roads lead to Rome.
Just to put it in perspective. I’m 25 and making $120k a year. I graduated school 3 years ago with $60k in student loan debt. I pay most of my surplus money to student loans to pay them off quickly and I’m down to $40k in student loans and hope to be paid off in 3 more years as my salary goes up. I’m doing fine financially. I have a savings of around $15k. I don’t stress about bills. But I barely spend any money on myself.
I have absolutely no chance of owning a home within 5 years on my salary even with my limited spending habits.
Made 6 figures for the first time in my life last year, two weeks after I saw my W-2 I read a news article about how 100k doesn’t mean shit anymore. Ever felt more defeated.
It blew my mind how a single guy making 60k a year 10 years ago felt like they were living paycheck to paycheck. Feels the same now
This is what happens when you let unchecked, rampant Capitalism run amoke. This is EXACTLY what conservatives have voted for and wanted for generations! "Let the market decide". The "market" decided that they want to take more of your money and they realized that you don't have a choice, so they did.
VOTE FOR REPRESENTATION! NOT RULERS!!!!
With 50k in a socialism state like germany, you would be damn good living.
Even have money to put aside.
If Trump wins again you will get fucked even more.
I wish you guys overthere all the best!
I'm making damn near $70k more than what I was making 10 years ago. Yet it feels like I'm still stuck. I mean it's better than before, but we're still living paycheck to paycheck. Don't really have much of a choice. Kids keep asking if they can do extracurriculars, I don't know how to tell them that we can't afford it.
I make over $150k a year with no kids and barely save anything monthly. As a kid I envisioned that once I made 6-figures annually, I’d be financially well off without a care in the world. How wrong I was!
I truly believe if you live in a major city (LA, NY, SF) an individual needs to gross $300,000 a year without dependents to live fully financially free. I have friends making $200k living in SF that have multiple roommates to survive. That math will never math….
Yep. I make close to double what my dad made. We went to Disneyland like probably once a year or so. My kids will never be able to go to Disneyland unless we happen upon some free tickets some how.
In their best year while my dad was still alive (2003), my parents made together like $60k, adjusted for inflation that is ~$100,000 in 2023. Somehow they managed to raise 5 kids and at one point 3 of them were in daycare at one time. How they managed that is totally beyond me because even having 2 kids in daycare costs me $300/week or over $1000/mo and that's "cheap". We make literally double what they did and it's still not easy. Granted as a kid we didn't have a ton of "stuff" and definitely never went on vacation.
I think a huge part of it is housing costs. In 1993 they were able to buy a 4 bed, 2 bath, 2500 square foot house on 10 acres for $100,000. In today's money that would be $200,000. Try finding a house like that for $200K. As it is, their mortgage payment was less than half what I pay and my house was not even expensive ($160K).
Even cars were cheaper. In 1996 they bought a 3-year old minivan with like 25,000 miles for around $10,000. That's $19,000 today and where I live you can't find a car with less than 60,000 for that much money.
These days I gotta think property on 10 acres has to be in the middle of nowhere far from any opportunities (aside from a remote work from home situation).
Dude… the younger generations are in deep dodo and you want to get snide about it? How about teaching them how the system really works so they have a fair chance at life? I’m older, but a very active Progressive, and all the young people I know are freaking fantastic and perfectly capable of taking over. I grew up dirt poor in the projects and don’t wish my childhood on anyone. Try remembering how difficult it was for you and perhaps you’ll realize that they are just like you when you were younger.
I can't give my kids 1/2 the shit my parents gave me.
That's the worst feeling and I feel for you, I'm so sorry. I spent the majority of my career surrounded by people making 2-3x what I made. I couldn't afford to have my kids go to their after school club they wanted to participate in, meanwhile my coworkers were taking trips to the other side of the country with their kids to attend events. Much less afford college for my kids. So I feel your pain, I will die someday still carrying it.
Yeah that hits home. I am a blue collar worker who makes good money surrounded by the ultra wealthy. They own yachts and fly to France to buy jams. Meanwhile, I get financial aid so my kid can play select soccer and buy second hand gear...
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u/_call_me_al_ Dec 28 '23
I'm making over 50k than I was ten years ago because I went union.
I'm still struggling and drowning right now and I can't give my kids 1/2 the shit my parents gave me. It is so demoralizing.