Just Getting By
The top story on Montana Public Radio this morning was about the release of a new study showing the majority of Montana's workers fail to make a living wage. Only 41% of two earner familys with two children make a COMBINED 27 dollars an hour. That is just barely enough to pay the rent, utilities, insurance, food and fuel. It leaves very little for entertainment, savings, vacation etc. One illness, layoff, or other emergency away from disaster. Of course most people supplement this bare bones existence with credit and so interest ends up eating away any prospects for "getting ahead". Why do people eat such crappy food? Because it is cheap. Why do people buy crap made in sweat shops? Because it is cheap. And we havent even discussed the other 59% but here is a clue. They have bad teeth. They go from job to job. Lots of them are indigenous peoples. Most of them voted for Bush twice. They know someone in the military.
Meanwhile, over at Goldman-Sachs investment brokers we have 20 billion dollars being handed out in X- mas bonuses. Not a misprint.20 billion. Thats an average of 670 thousand dollars per employee. Of course they don't do "average". The CEO will find 70 million under his X-mas tree.
"What freedom?" we asked again. To be wage-slaves,hired and fired at the will of a soulless corporation, paid low wages for long hours, driven by the speed of a machine? what freedom? To be clubbed, jailed, shot down- and while we spoke ,the hoofs of the troopers' horses clattered by on the streets." Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Speaking in Montana in 1919
posted by troutsky @ 7:25 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
there is no reforming this system of ours. it needs to be scrapped. Have you ever read "planet of slums?" Even though I thought I knew about the subject, it is shocking
Do things have to get worse before they get better?
graeme, that has been recommended to me by a number of critical readers.I have heard it is gut wrenching. Can't wait for your post!
Ren, it might be so but it is frightening.It sounds so "old testament".I fear another turn towards world fascism as things degenerate and a disorganized left that is easy prey.The moment is ripe for the right demagogue.
"...a new study showing the majority of Montana's workers fail to make a living wage."
You mean they're all dead?!?!
"And we havent even discussed the other 59% but here is a clue. They have bad teeth. They go from job to job. Lots of them are indigenous peoples. Most of them voted for Bush twice. They know someone in the military."
So, is this your way of discussing a group who can't afford the cheap crap the barely wealthy barely affords? Your empathy underwhelms me.
No questioning the compulsion to buy something, cheap or luxurious? No questioning the expedience of keeping up with Joneses making crappy fast food as ubiquitous and as necessary as child care center surrogates for overworked parents?
The ills go much deeper than economics or politics — as Graeme and Renegade Eye suggest, the system is so corrupt it must be exposed for being worse than your 59%/41% believe it to be before any effective action can remedy our plight.
I'm not afraid of a right demagogue. I'm afraid of a Hillary. She gets more $$ from the arms industry, than any other candidate. She says Bush is too soft on Venezuela and Cuba.
anon, there is living and then there is basic survival. If the distinction eludes you I would love to take you on a little tour.
Greg,Im just reporting what my wife sees everyday working with parents whose children are in her Headstart program.I didn't mean to reduce them to a ststistic but an report such as this is just a window into a much larger reality.
Ren, Hillary is a conservative realist in all the important areas, it seems to me.Kissinger will advise her.
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