We are governed by a greedy system of loopholes that chip away at our income and our freedom. Poor people are paying more to live a lesser life and rich people are paying less to live a richer life. Across the country I have witnessed poor people giving up percentages of their paychecks to check-cashing facilities because they don’t qualify for bank accounts. Those same check-cashing venues offer small loans and provide terms only a desperate person would accept. Some of those people choose to pay their rent week to week because they can’t save enough to afford deposits for monthly rent even though it would be cheaper but is it really accurate to call that a choice. Some of those people rent furniture monthly because they can’t afford to buy a couch or a dinner table or maybe they just aren’t certain that they will be able to maintain the income required for their current living situation. My previous roommate used to collect cans and bottles to help pay his rent. He worked full time. On my way to work, I see others collecting cans and bottles for dimes. I even see them arguing with the people who accept the cans and bottles because they do not accept all cans and bottles. I know people who grew up in neighborhoods they can no longer afford to live in. In my neighborhood, a family of 11 shares an apartment the same size as my two-bedroom apartment that I feel is too small. Friends of mine have lost their apartments because their employers laid them off. I have friends who have been laid-off repeatedly because in every state business is downsizing or simply moving abroad. All around me, the daily expense total increases but the living wage does not. More often than not, I see people who don’t have time, for their families, friends, or for themselves because they work ALL the time. My neighbor’s mailboxes fill with free offers that bait them into contracts that are rarely as beneficial as they were represented to be. Not so long ago I lived in a neighborhood where numerous neighbors lived without running water, electricity, insurance, or heat. Some of those same neighbors had houses that held their balconies up with 2×4’s because that type of repair was too expensive even, if they were lucky enough to own their own home. In the neighborhood I grew up in it is common to cover a leaky rooftop with tarps until repair becomes affordable—if it ever does become affordable. Insurance companies now determine our yearly rates based upon our credit ratings. If your credit rating is bad but your driving record is good your insurance rate will still be high. Across the board, poor people have bad credit ratings. The ill-advantaged scrape and save to pay their bills late or to pay partial amounts. You don’t get good credit ratings by paying partial amounts. Large segments of the United States population are poor and we still tout that we are one of the richest nations. How do we justify that?
I know people who had money that don’t have money now. According to Sam Davis and Daniel J. Weiss, in an article entitled “A Better Solution for Gas Prices“ As of May 1, 2008: “during the Bush administration’s tenure, family income has slumped. Median family income was $61,000 when Bush took office in January 2001. Today, median family income has actually fallen to $60,500.” The country is now full of middle class citizens that once owned homes and now are homeless. For them, adjusting to this emerging economy has not come easily. The people, that I know, who still have wealth and have always lived with money experience discounts and free offers everywhere they go. Their companies send them to far away places and they reap the rewards of air miles. They travel. Those same friends enjoy free merchandise and are often paid to pay attention to new products. Athletes and movie stars make more money than any doctor, teacher, fireman, or police officer could ever imagine. According to James Parks of the AFL-CIO “The 20 highest-paid CEOs of U.S. public companies were paid an average of $36.4 million last year, three times more than the 20 highest-paid European CEOs, 38 times more than the 20 highest-paid leaders at U.S. nonprofit organizations and 204 times more than the 20 highest-paid generals in the U.S. military.“ Upside down might just be an understatement. You, our government, continue to grant tax cuts to the rich while increasing the burdens carried by the middle class. I can only assess that our priorities are upside down. There has to be a better way to live. President Bush told a woman on national TV that her reality of working three jobs to support her children was a “uniquely American” ideal and I thought “Aren’t we lucky?”
