I don’t get how and why people think 15$ is a “living wage”…
At one point in life my wife and I both made about that each and together it was at best slightly better than paycheck to paycheck. That is not living at all. This was in a NV and not CA where it would of been worse…
Even if 15 is forced upon companies then they will just hire a shit ton of part-time people to avoid giving out any other benefits…
Took me way to long to realize it but the only people who can change the wage they receive are the ones willing to find a better employer. Me and my wife now both make close to double and that is now my standard and is a “living wage” but this is in AZ and not sure it would be if I move back home to CA. Ive made it clear I kept my shit job I worked 8+years who underpaid me because they gave me insurance I needed.
They’re calculating a national average of what it takes to live. Obviously if you live in an area towards the top end of what it costs to live 15$ becomes much less viable
I’m less worried about some people simply having less than others, and more interested in elevating quality of life at the bottom.
Like, I’m not so much mad that some people can afford private islands or whatever. But I’m kind of mad that there are people out there working 3 jobs and still teetering on the brink of homelessness.
so much stupid, in just one thread.
everything is clear, in hindsight.
also, the dude with the iranian in laws voting for trump when trump came close to starting a war with iran is lols
also that trump matrix gif of him deflecting accusations did not age very well.
I appreciate the work this guy puts into his videos, but the hard line anti-capitalist sentiment is off putting. This is why we need more folks like Andrew Yang out there advocating for and leading toward a human based capitalism.
Employers need to stop offloading 100% of the commitment to the workers, in terms of obtaining education. Don’t get me wrong - I still want well educated doctors and scientists, but for those persons who want to become working illustrators? Illustration is a trade. You learn by doing. Putting employment behind a paywall just forces people with the aptitude for the work, to go into massive debt for the possibility of getting a job; and look where that has gotten us (student debt issue).
Apprenticeships as a pipeline to a career need to return. Clearly businesses love free labor, see also - all the internship positions. Shit man, I applied for a job a few years back. I was on the line for an interview, then received an email that the position was being re-worked as an internship position. If I as a 40 year old man at the time wanted to, I could re-submit my application for this no-wage offer.
Sorry, I’m not a Trump or Kardashian kid - I gotta earn my own way. TANGENT!
What’s worse is these internship positions have insane turnover, because these kids are expendable and it’s free labor for the company.
In a perfect / insane world, colleges would be required to audit their educational programs. Ascertain which ones are the poorest return on investment, and adjust pricing, or drop the course study. When I was graduating from High School locally there was no course study for illustration in service of making comic books. Now? Too many schools here have realized, it’s easy income, so they’ve introduced “graphic novel” programs. Taught by locals who have spent not one day working in the field, and at best have a handful of vanity self published zines to their credit.
son.
It’s a scam!
The cost of education should not be so astronomical as well.
Unions should do more to enrich and embolden their members. Sadly, when I look into this - all I find is a lot of anti-Union rhetoric. It would be awesome if they offered training, or discounts on training so members could obtain better positions. During this pandemic I’ve watched the union members at my employer get thrown under the bus, which is disconcerting as I thought their union was supposed to fight for the workers.
My apologies I’m rambling. In summary, there’s a lot of room for improvement or change for the better we could be pursuing. It’s difficult for people to take risks, or gamble when they haven’t the means to do so; or have bad experiences that sour their willingness to re-enter academia (e.g. being a poorly achieving student, inept teachers).
The problem with degrees in creative fields is that there’s no way to ascertain whether or not a student actually has objective talent in the field that would be enough to get them a job. That, and hustle is a big part of whether or not you get a job, and most people think just by getting the degree that that guarantees them a job when in reality the degree is just the gateway to another hustle. In an age of YouTube, you don’t need to actually go to college to get the skills for, say, illustration, you can build a portfolio on your own without ever setting foot in a classroom, but the degree is a mark of perceived quality, proof that you can finish something you start, and in a creative field, that means something because there are a lot of people who have talent but no hustle and even more people who have hustle but little talent.
I’m historically pro-union and pro workers rights, but unions have become more and more just another layer of bureaucracy rather than an actual guard to workers’ rights. We have law’s on the books that would help protect workers’ rights (the Wagner Act for one) but they go unenforced because it’s in the best interests of the ruling and C suite class for them to be that way.
My own experiences with the musicians union has soured me on the effectiveness of them too and I even knew a guy who taught at a music store I worked at who had been a higher up at the local here tell me it was just a scam these days. I know not every union is like this, but between the teacher’s union and musicians union, I’m more on a case by case with them these days.
Former President Donald Trump reportedly will not get to have his name on his local airport, after five out of seven Palm Beach County commissioners said they would not support the idea of renaming the Palm Beach International Airport after him — and the other two did not respond.
“A majority of Palm Beach County commissioners told The South Florida Sun-Sentinel this week that they won’t support renaming the local airport, Palm Beach International, after him,” the Sun-Sentinel reported on Saturday morning.
The Sun-Sentinel asked all seven commissioners, and notably, two didn’t respond to their request for comment regarding the matter.
One of the County Commissioners, Melissa McKinlay , told the newspaper that naming the airport after Trump wouldn’t have the right connotation.
“When people hear [Palm Beach], they envision our beaches, our equestrian sports, and in some cases our agricultural contributions,” McKinlay told the Sun-Sentinel . “It is a lifestyle.”
New Mexico Voted for Biden; Now Regrets Oil, Gas Suspension
The State of New Mexico voted for Joe Biden in November, sending its five electoral votes to the Democratic candidate. Yet today the state is alarmed by newly-inaugurated President Biden’s 60-day suspension of oil and gas leasing.
New Mexico is “among the top ten energy-producing states in the U.S. It has 7% of U.S. oil reserves and is the third-largest oil-producing state, enjoying rapid growth in recent years.” Yet the state voted for Biden, regardless.
Today, many are expressing regret, as the Associated Press reported Jan. 22:
President Joe Biden’s 60-day moratorium on new oil and natural gas leases and drilling permits is prompting widespread concerns in New Mexico, where spending on education and other public programs hinges on the industry’s success.
Top Republicans in the state as well as local leaders in communities that border the Permian Basin — one of the most productive regions in the U.S. — say any moves to make permanent the suspension would be economically devastating for the state. Half of New Mexico’s production happens on federal land and amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties each year.
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Congressional members from other western states also are raising concerns, saying the ripple effects of the moratorium will hurt small businesses already struggling because of the pandemic.
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Industry groups said the order effectively brings all regulatory activity to a halt, from routine requests that arise during the normal course of business to requests for rights of way for new pipelines designed to gather more natural gas as part of efforts to reduce venting and flaring — practices that Democrats have targeted in their fight against climate change.
The Biden Administration did not explain how suppressing a key part of the nation’s energy will help an economy still struggling to recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden also issued other directives that will hurt the energy sector, including his decision to revoke the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. The United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters complained — but it endorsed Biden in August, after he had promised to kill the pipeline in May.
