Raising minimum wage and housing would be an easy political platform to stand on but, of course, politicians are beholden to the rich.
this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2025
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The federal poverty standard is horribly low. Like you're still on the brink of homeless at twice that wage.
I always liked the definition of financially stable to be at a state where you can weather two major life events at the same time and not be devastating. Replace a vehicle and pay your max out of pocket for health insurance at the same time.
What we find is that so many of us are one bad day away from doom.
It's like 70% or something of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. It's crazy, but we all keep voting in the same group of assholes who haven't changed a thing in decades. So frustrating.
Edit: The first site I saw (I have no idea if it's credible or not) says "seventy-seven percent of workers in America would experience financial difficulty if their paycheck were delayed a week" - source
What's even more disturbing is when you think of how much savings would be needed to weather the storm. If your car is totalled and you had to find something, one of the adult a loses their job and you have to cover a month or three of life. We are taking tens of thousands of dollars.
But maybe even worse is how quickly that can be replaced. If shot hits the fan and you survived, how long are you vulnerable? Two years? A decade of saving?
When you look at the top 10% of society there just aren't that many problems that could cause them to be homeless in 24hrs.
Tfw I might not have a job in 2 months and this will be me :D. I have some savings to get me through for a bit, but not very long. If I do end up getting laid off and any other major event happens at the same time, I will be absolutely fucked.
It's great because a lot of people don't realize there's a sub minimum wage as well ☺️.
30$ in tips per month is all it takes to allow the sub minimum wage to be paid in a bunch of states.
The sub minimum wage is 2 dollars. Yup. 2 dollars an hour.
BBbbbbBbBbBUt you're A peeec of Sshhhiiit for not supporting tipping ermahgerd some anecdote can make more with tips than a fair wage therefore fuck it all hurr durr
Trump disbands DHHS
No more poverty!
Poverty doesn't exist if you don't define meterics for it.
That’s exactly the point.
My prediction for 2026
still a whole lot of 2025 to go
I'm kind of more shocked at $16,000 a year is considered above poverty.
Woah 16k gross? That's wild.
Maybe if rent was... Checks notes $395 a month.
Then you'd have $9,500 a year, so $790 a month to spend on everything else. Let's say you then buy only flour for sustenance.... AI said $27 per month to eat just flour.
Which leaves you with $763 a month for entertainment.
What are these people even complaining about?
Maybe don't eat golden sushi and crack cocaine for every meal Jesus
Think of how many pieces of Avocado toast you get for $763/month: these people are living the life!
You could literally just grow your own avocados and use the unlimited flour to make your own toast, thats like infinite money. Why are poor people so stupid and useless? It's like all they do is buy drugs and alcohol and beg the rich/moral people to pay for it and do everything for them. I can't believe how lazy some people are.
Still /s, in case that isn't clear enough
/s if you're really THAT dense.
The numbers are all made up, and they've not kept track with inflation or the economy in a long time. Things like "minimum wage" simply lingered to allow those better off that sometimes have a conscience to sleep at night, thinking there is a system in place for the less fortunate. Our Federal government has been failing us longer than Mango Mussolini's presence, he is simply baring and accelerating the asshattery.
The poverty line was historically measured simply by multiplying the USDA's cheapest food plan for a household to buy groceries with adequate nutrition, and multiplying by 3.
Then, in the intervening 6 decades or so, food inflation has gone up significantly slower than housing inflation, to where that simple assumption of "barely enough to eat, times 3" began systematically understating actual poverty.
Today, feeding the reference family of 4 (2 adults 20-50, 1 kid aged 6-8, 1 aged 9-11) costs $996.20 per month (as of March 2025). That's basically $12,000 per year, so the poverty line for a family of 4 is $32,150 (updated every January with September data).
So cost of rent/mortgage is excluded.
Then the state provides a shelter, right?
You can maybe wait three + years for a Section 8 voucher!
If applying for that is anything like applying for unemployment, good luck lol.
In some places, that's on a lottery system.
Linebaugh points to the influential words of August Spies, one of the convicted men, who just before his execution cried out the famous words: "There will come a time when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today."
That's a powerful quote. I remember going to local May Day fairs and maybe celebrating it in elementary school. Those events definitely did not cover any of this fascinating history about worker's rights.
The YouTube link I posted used to be sang at May Day events too, but you know, "I like Ike!”
That’s been a poverty wage for at least 15 years.
Yeah, the “$15 minimum wage” conversation has been going on for so long that the actual number adjusted for inflation would be well into the mid $20 range. IIRC, it would currently land somewhere around $24.75 per hour.
And if the idea of a $24.75 minimum wage makes you balk, maybe you should consider how little you’re being paid for the work you do, when compared to what the minimum wage used to cover. It used to cover enough for a single full time worker to afford housing, utilities, food, and a car. If you’re struggling to do that and you’re making in the mid $20’s, then congrats you know how it felt to be paid minimum wage when it was introduced.
Kill all rich people.
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