How about I give you a title, not a raise?

I was diving home today and saw a sign in front of a local store. They need managers and they are willing to pay between...10 and 12 dollars an hour and benefits! This made me laugh out loud and shake my head. It reminded me of an episode of Cheers, where everybody wanted a raise and instead of giving them money he didn't have, Sam gave them titles.

Every time they went in to say they needed more money, not a title, he'd offer them a different title that sounded more grand and they'd walk out all proud of themselves. This is what this sign reminded me of, a trade off between a higher standard of living and a title that looks better than "customer service representative."

However, it highlights some problematic things happening in America.Workers are not valued, they aren't paid well and they are let go without any sense of responsibility or loyalty on behalf of the companies. You'll here, "it's just business" and while there is some truth to that, there is also the supreme hypocrisy of it all.

Workers are expected to live and die for the company. They are expected to put the company first, rearrange their lives to accommodate the company and to be a team play at all times. Companies across America all say  to us "Leave your children and families and give us your best 40 hours a week (or more) and we'll trade you in the moment you become even the slightest inconvenience."

Let's to the math on this sign and see what it equates too...12 dollars an hour is $480 before taxes and those "great benefits" come out. Just for fun, let's take that gross pay and see how much it would be over the course of a year, even though we know things come out of it, chipping away at even that meager amount. So this manager would get $24,960 a year. Sound like management pay to you?

No, it's hourly worker pay and it shows the ever increasing level of work and commitment companies of all sizes are requiring of people, even tough they will pay them a pittance in return. Being a manager means nothing, it's a title given to poor saps to boost their egos and make them think it's worth it to be a company slave.

Does this seem wrong to you?

Look at the shiny side, ignore the dirt

Inside many news stories there is a real story not being told. That's something to think about when you read the headlines each day. For example, there is a feel good article on Yahoo about a military dad sewing his daughter's prom dress. Check it out here if you want to read the entire piece.

On the surface it's a sweet story, and of course, it's a great thing for a dad to do, but there is a different story in there that remains untold. The dad makes the dress because they can't afford to buy one.  The daughter wanted a camo-style dress, they can't afford one, they buy the material and make it. As touching as it is for a dad to love his daughter, it's a tragic story as well because it highlights the situation American families are in.

How many families can't afford the basics at this point? If you can't afford the light bill you certainly can't buy your child a dress for a one-time dance, even if going to that dance has kind of become a hallmark of growing up in America.

There is something fundamentally wrong in our society and we all glaze over it when we ignore fluff pieces like this and say wait a minute, why can't the dad buy the dress? Why is that family on hard times? Why are we all struggling so much?

So keep on with the fluff pieces, the saccharin sweet stories that are supposed to make you smile but ask yourself, what are they not telling me? Where should the focus really be? Do I care about the happy junk when I see society falling apart around me?

Great job dad, that was sweet. Bad on you, American journalist for stirring the kool-aid and offering distractions.

The Dance

This is a special dance and you won't see it featured on any show that starts with "Dancing with...." but millions of people are totally doing it every day. It involves maintaining the delicate balance between what you need, want and can afford. It's a hard dance to learn and virtually impossible to master, but I'll give you a  lesson to help you get started.

You first need to decide exactly how much of any one bill you have to pay in order to not be in trouble. This includes paying just enough to keep the lights on or the water flowing. This is the first step. You then twirl and shimmy your way around the other bills and list of things you and your family need until you find something you can manage with the meager amount that's left over from step one.

Repeat these steps, all day, every day, every month, forever. This dance is catching on like fire across the nation. Millions of people are doing it, including people that had once considered themselves too good for such activities. Low, middle and even some upper "class" people are finding the dance to be a necessity and yet few seem to be asking why?

I think the trick is to keep so many of us dancing that we are too exhausted, mentally and physically, to ask why we should be dancing at all. Why should we be making decisions that involve paying the minimum on our electric bill so we can buy enough overpriced gas to get to the grocery store where we'll pay inflated prices for food that's basically poison.

I want to stop the dance, how about you? I'd like to go to bed at night and not worry about if the rent check will go through before I get enough in the bank to cover it. I want to feel the constant weight of poverty off of my shoulders.

I don't think it's possible, It seems like we're continuing as far down the rabbit hole as possible. Maybe one day when it's all broken beyond recognition we'll make a change. Until then, let's dance.

Save? Save What?

I think I'll go crazy if I read one more stupid article about Americans not saving money like they used to in the past. In the last week I've seen no less than 4 of these articles admonishing American families for not saving. They say nobody is saving for their future, nobody is saving for college, nobody is saving for there medical costs and goodness knows nobody is saving for a rainy day.

Well you know what? We're all living in a perpetual rainy day and there is nothing to save! Smart ass tips about brown bagging it to save money do not help people that can barely eat dinner every night. I have news for you, many of us can't afford bread and butter, so no thank you, you're condescending tips about passing up on Starbucks are useless.

Nobody is saving like they used to because the rules have changed and we didn't get a vote. Wages have gone down, jobs have gone overseas, manufacturing is about as esoteric as the lost art of alchemy but we're all supposed to believe that the real problem is that we're not saving? How about this friends, we have nothing to save!

I love how the focus remains steadfast on families across America and people just ignore some of the real issues at hand. Go on watching American Idol and ignoring the fact that the only work out there is in the service sector. No more companies with benefits, no more pensions, no more real reward for your priceless resource of time. Instead you are outsourced if possible and fired when inconvenient.

Sound good?  You want some fries with that bit of harsh reality?

So no, Americans aren't saving. It's not because they're buying expensive shoes and going on vacations. It's because they have nothing at the end of the month to save. It's because food has gone up over 300% since the 1970's. It's because the cost of college educations have gone up 1,120% since the 1970's. It's because inflation has crippled us, corporations have stolen and enslaved us and because every effort we've made to remedy the problem has failed.

The Worst Thing About Being Poor?

There are many bad things about being poor. There is the general perception that you're lazy, even though you work all day, every day, including on the weekends, just to make ends met, and just barely.  There is the perception that you're not smart, because after all, if you were smart wouldn't you be in a better position? That's what they want you to believe, so you believe it and as you live it, you come to believe it even more.

Then there are the day to day things that eat away at your resolve, confidence and ability to face each day. It's always something and there is never a break. It is the oven that breaks and the fact that you don't have the means to replace it. It's the fact that due to your inability you can't make some staple and inexpensive dishes because you don't have an oven. This kind of Catch-22 is a way of life.

You have late fees because you couldn't pay on time. You can't pay the next bill on time because of the accumulation of late fees. And so it goes, round and round. You need to move because you're rent goes up, but it costs too much up to move, and you have to have it all at once, so you're stuck paying more than you can each month. You're stuck. That is what sinks in each day as you face these situations. You are stuck.

But perhaps the single worst thing about being poor is that you look at your children, so smart and hopeful and know that you can't offer them anything. You can work yourself until you're broken and all you can do is keep the roof and lights, nothing more. You see their potential from your own limitations. If you earned more, if you had less debt, if you had a role model when you were younger to show you a few things... a million other little contributions to your situation.

It feels like you're alone and then you look around and see millions more in these shoes. How many children out there are like mine, so creative and intelligent but limited by the caste system we have in America?

Don't be fooled, the American dream was never a reality, it was hope held out like carrots at horse races, keeping workers busy and forcing them to live by hope. Sure, some people have broken free of the castes they were born into, but instead of just believing that to be true, investigate a bit on your own. You'll notice something alarming.... very few people truly break out of the cycles they were born into.

The rich recruit and promote from within. We aren't welcome. We can do the chores and make things pretty, but that's it. This realization, and the world we pass to our children, is the worst thing I can think of when it comes to being poor in America.

Wiping Out Student Debt? This isn't something most of us can do.

Okay, when you read the story headline about a student wiping out 90,000 in student loan debt in just about 7 months it seems inspiring. That is until you read that this was some Harvard boy that did things like sacrifice buying liquor in bars when his friends went out to booze it up by bringing in his own flask of alcohol.

Sure, he walked to work but he also cashed in investments and stopped contributing to his 401K. Again, I'm sorry if it is crass of me, but this isn't a heart warming story that I can relate to. I am willing to bet that you can't relate to it either. There are millions of us with student debt that can't even find jobs, much less have any investments to cash in or 401K's to pull from.

No, this is some feel good story to make the rest of us think things are possible so we keep up hope. They hope we don't think too hard about it or compare our situation.  If I could simply stop my retirement savings for a while and be out of debt I would and so would most people. I don't know about you, I live day by day and juggle late payments and payment arrangements just to keep the lights on.

If you want to be frustrated, you can read the full story here.

Legal Action Against Universities for Selling a Lie

I will not be surprised if more of this kind of thing starts to happen. Lawyers that have recently graduated are suing the various schools that they've attended.

The reason behind the lawsuit is a claim that these iinstitutions are inflating facts and figures regarding prospects and earnings to get more people enrolled.

At the heart of this story is the fact that universities across the country use statistics on employment and earnings to lure students into a trap of debt. When many students get out they are incapable of getting work and paying back those big bills.

This lawsuit is something to watch as it might set a precedent for this type of legal action. If successful we might see some major changes in the university system across the nation. Why not a return to apprenticeships for many vocations? Why not reasonable prices for higher education.

Read the full story here.