Re: A living wage

Posted by docmirror on November 17, 2016 at 19:45:23 from (107.213.165.255):

In Reply to: A living wage posted by John in La on November 17, 2016 at 06:29:28:

I looked up a few locations I've lived from that MIT study. Seems moderately accurate depending on location of course.

When I was a lot younger, I had the luck to live in some obscure places. Like Spain, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Mexico. I can say from my experience that all Americans live way, way, way over 'a living wage'. A few miles from my house, out by the interstate there's a new storage facility going up. They have a waiting list for spaces already. We(collectively) have so much extra junk, we're willing to pay someone else to keep it in a box lest we may need that antique pedal sewing machine someday. Not kidding, I saw one in a storage place not long ago.

I'm sure there are people in the US below the poverty line. I'm sure there are a few people out there who go to bed hungry once in a while. But - lets face reality. Even our poor have cell phones, and plenty of them suffer from obesity. Hard to have any empathy for someone who says they are 'poor' when they weigh 300Lbs, driving a fairly new Toyota, and have a new Android phone with data.

As a country we are wealthy beyond measure. The tiny pockets of abject poverty in N AZ, and the back hollers of MS or WV don't represent the fabulous wealth of the rest of us.

I grew up city poor, but I didn't know it until I was about 14. I bought my first GF a coke at the movies, and I saved for more than a week so I could splurge on that for her(she was worth it). Real Coke! In a real plastic cup! With real ice!! I had to defer on the popcorn but she understood.

All of us have a lot of stuff we don't need. Me too. I'd say I'm guilty about it, but since I made every dime I have now from the work of my two hands, and brain, I won't be false modest. We bought our dream home about 25 years ago. It looks a little like that first pic. Kids grew up in it. I'm still sitting in it long after the kids have moved on. I don't need it, but I still love coming home, and take pride in my assets.

When I go for a drive in the sports car, sometimes I think back to the first bike I had. It came out of a landfill, where my dad grabbed it and tossed in the DeSoto. We took it home, fixed it up, and washed it. I think he had to buy a new inner tube, and maybe a seat post. I loved that bike, and took care of it like it was gold. There's a picture of me on that bike in my album, and I can look at it anytime. Then I look at the car I'm in, blasting down the highway, stereo pumping out the Kinks, leather, steel, aluminum, and it all seems - surreal. Yeah, living wage alright.

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