A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
Our Goals
Young people just don’t understand saving, and how your options expand after saving even just a little bit. Use this post as an example - if you put that $100-130 away every month, in about 6 months you can afford a gun. This gives you a lot more opportunities.
I was about to get pissed. Now I’m cheering.
Back in my day I could go to the corner store and get chips and a soda and a magazine and whatever I wanted. Now they have security cameras.
Minimum wage is not supposed to maintain the expenses of an adult! Stop being lazy and act your age, leave that comfy minimum wage job, actually learn a trade like carpentry or something and build a device to separate heads from the rest of the body.
Are these prices from 1999? Where in the US can you get anywhere close to these rates? Certainly not near any major city.
Great Lakes rust belt. Okay well maybe rent is actually $2200 and utilities are $450, but the others aren't too far off if you put in the work to find deals. So maybe those figures were circa 2009. That only leaves you what, $1k in debt each month with zero spending money? Not so bad for one of the most affordable major urbanized regions, right? /s
I'm in a major city with lots of tech companies and getting unaffordable every year. Having said that, utilities, phone, and internet are doable, BUT with caveats:
You can still find a $1200 1-BR apartment, but it might not be in a great area in the city. So I agree this is not ideal even though it's possible.
You can spend less than $100 on electricity and water in a 1-bedroom apartment because the utility provider is regulated. Once you get out of their coverage (outside city limits), it gets expensive pretty quick. My monthly bill back when I was living in an apartment was around $60-$70.
Fiber internet (500 Mbps) can be as low as $30-$45. You just have to keep calling every renewal either to ask for a promo rate, or threaten to switch so they offer to get you back to the introductory price. I hate that it has to be like this, but it's possible.
A pre-paid carrier like Mint or US Mobile can cost as low as $15 a month, but you'll have limited data. If you don't really need much internet while out and about, then it won't really be much of an issue.
Transportation is definitely the problem, and $300 a month won't cut it. Public transpo barely exists and you'll likely have a car payment and insurance, which will eat up your monthly budget. And yeah, $350 for food isn't enough anymore.
Federal minimum is still $7.25
Whoever wrote the meme lives in a blue state that increased it, and will never think to care about any of the permanent underclass of flyover morlocks in other states.
That's the neat thing, it isn't for us.
My boss makes a dollar, I make a dime,
This rhyme comes from a different time,
My boss makes a dollar, I make a cent,
That's why I can no longer afford rent.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25, something like 20 states don't pay a higher wage.
... and many are paid much, much less than that, like working prisoners, making less than a dollar an hour.
... and also many farm workers are paid much, much less than federal "minimum".
Millions of people. The more you look, the more people you will find making laughable wages.
Most jobs in my area pay $11-$13. It isn't $7, but it isn't $15 either. Also, who can manage transportation on $300? I spend that much in fuel. This meme paints WAY too easy of a picture. Life is much harder than that in most of the US. I see people from developing nations saying Americans are spoiled because they're so rich, but what they think is rich is absolutely destitute poor here. You'll likely be homeless and hungry if all you earn is $30k/year.
Minimum wage isn't $15 an hour.
Minimum Wage isn't even livable!
Uses DOUBLE the minimum wage and it STILL isn't livable
Rent isn't $1200/mo either.
All of these numbers are years out of date
When I graduated college in 2004 I rented a 1 bedroom shit box for $1200. I can't imagine how bad it is for renters today. Also, fuck "land lords."
Where is rent 1200? Maybe with 2 roomates.
That's a reasonable figure for a big chunk of the Midwest. I currently pay around that much for a 2 bedroom apartment.
In my area right now you cannot rent an apartment unless you show proof you have income 3x rent. So that 1200 apartment wouldn't be possible because they make less than 3600
It's not supposed to be sustainable. If you have ANY slack whatsoever you gain leverage against the oligarch class.
how is it sustainable? it's not. and that's by design. American politicians and billionaires want it this way. they want the divide. the more poor you are the more likely you are to serve them. slavery never disappeared from the US. the 'American dream' has been dead for decades.
Well... It's not sustainable for the person making $15 an hour, but it's certainly is for the person paying that person $15 an hour and I think that those are the only people that we should be caring about.
Listen you got to work 6 days a week and go to church on Sundays. That's how it's supposed to work. That extra 20-30 bucks you get at the end of the month, collection plate.
Then you can die quietly at 55 and somebody can take your place.
/S obviously.
And any positions that are paying minimum wage aren't hiring full time for those positions, that means more than one job which increases transportation costs and reduces free time.
And they do that so they don't have to provide health insurance, which means the employee will have to pay for their own and thats expensive. Highly predatory.
It was never sustainable, it was a hack to keep people from demanding unions. There's plenty of countries with no minimum wage and well paid workers. It takes strong unions and labor protection laws, which is why the fascists will fight it to the death.
And $15/hr is roughly twice the Federal minimum wage.
Many, if not most, restaurant server jobs still pay $2 - $4 per hour. Like that's the official rate and they're just allowed to not pay you, since you'll probably receive tips. And that's legal somehow.
My personal conspiracy theory behind the covid-era spread of tipping culture was to get employees to accept tips as a part of their income. Once it reaches a certain threshold you're legally allowed to pay the real minimum wage because the rest is subsidized by the customer.
There was this commercial in the 90's, I think it was burger king. About a young guy doing his budget, it included $19/mo for gas, and it came out to "a dollar a day for lunch? More than enough!" For a 99 cent cheeseburger. That budget was laughable at the time but it's insane today.
And that is more than double minimum wage in the US ($7.25/hour)!
Even if they had an extra $500 per month somehow, it's not enough to just survive. For one thing, if you're human, you need to at least entertain the possibility of vacations.
Why can't we expect people to survive AND to have a decent quality of life?
For one thing, if you’re human, you need to at least entertain the possibility of vacations.
American media: COMMUNISSSSSSSSST!!!!! AHHHHH!!! UNREASONABLE LAZY MILLENNIAL!!! HANDOUTS!!!
And we need to be clear that “vacations” does not mean travelling. People will do basic tourist crap in Italy and call themselves worldly, whatever. But people do need money to just exist in their own space without working for a week(longer, obviously). People can’t even be tourists in their own cities and towns.
Businesses should try thinking about people on minimum wage as CUSTOMERS. Because that what they are. People who now can't afford to eat out, buy new clothes, take up a hobby, join a gym, spend a weekend at the lake, pay rent...
They lay off thousands of workers, replace them with AI or self checkouts, or move manufacturing to China, then bitch about how no-one is buying their product. Get a clue!
Fight for 15 started back in, what, 2006?
thing is: they know and design things this way. shareholders get profit. workers get instructions on how to get stamps.
60 bucks for a phone a month and you call that "minimum wage poor"? While just using 350 for food? The most important factor in life?
I drown in money and use a 8yr old phone and pay 7 moneyz a month for a generous contract. I would consider a 60 buck monthly budget for a stupid phone outrageously wild.
$60 is the standard price for the highest tier unlimited data plans.
Nevermind that with the ubiquity of WiFi, unlimited data isn't really necessary for most people; Most people still just assume they need that.
It's not meant to be sustainable. Capitalism is about cheating your fellow men out of their munnies so you have more.
That's why we need Scientific Socialism