I am angry. Deal with it.
None of you believed me; well, sadly, now that you do, the pleasure I feel tastes of that stuff you burp up when you've eaten too much.
Some say that society's lowest members are its barometer. Well, I suppose I'm society's lowest member because I felt it long before you did.
The fact that a living wage in southern California for a young person was in the realm of $19,440 before taxes in 2004 wasn't an issue to you because you've never lived as a 19-year-old in 2004 California. The idea that the cost of living increases with youth and inexperience at the same time that wages decrease because no one gives a shit about teenage Target workers who've not got a degree was perfectly rational, because your experienced driving record and skilled job with health benefits meant that you did just fine. You try living in Chula Vista and getting to Linda Vista to work every day at 8am sharp by bus to earn $7.50/hr. You try finding a place to sleep for under $600 pcm that's not also got four wheels and fits nicely in a compact parking space.
The fact that it's impossible to live a life of modesty, with a small place near where you work without luxuries like a car never seemed a problem because you could always afford it. The fact that keeping up with the Joneses isn't an option but rather a requirement didn't cross your mind because you never had to try to do otherwise yourself.
You think that health insurance is an option you needn't take out if you can't afford it; well what about those who can't afford not to? Oh, hospital bills are scary. But you know what's even scarier?-- having a medical issue that goes on for months or even years that costs hundreds of dollars a month just to maintain your own life. How would that knowledge affect you? That if you couldn't pay the bills, you might die? Untold numbers of Americans live with that every day. It's not their fault they had health trouble. "...but it's they chose not to have health insurance". Well what if their health insurance refused to pay out? What if the cost of treatment is greater than the maximum covered? What if they're denied coverage due to actually trying to maintain their health by utilising medical services? What if they can't afford an individual plan, but they can't get company coverage because they're worthless... because they can't afford to get skills for a full-time job... because they're having to pay for healthcare in lieu of college? What about the claims of type-1 diabetics that "employers will do everything they [legally] can not to hire you if they find out you have diabetes"? Is that just paranoia?-- or is it company fiscal policy to hire the most cost-effective worker in a world of consumption-driven, deregulated privatised healthcare? How would you deal with being in that situation?
You think the crisis is now; the crisis will be here for a long time. This was 60+ years in the coming, and consequentially won't be finished a week after elections. I was eligible for full federal & state educational funding and it was still cheaper to study in a foreign fucking country that had national healthcare, public transportation, student housing and higher minimum wage and more relaxed hiring standards (probably due to no need to supply private health insurance to full-time workers). Nevertheless I am $100,000+ in debt immune to bankruptcy for a degree which is honestly fucking worthless in what it really taught me to do. I am no more skilled at planning a rota or balancing a budget or doing anything I will probably do than I was before finishing high school-- but oh yeah, everyone worth anything gets a degree so you should too. But I couldn't do a degree in something useful because I had to work during university instead of studying something intensive like radiography or architecture or computer science.
Everyone knows the education bubble: it's more lucrative to be a plumber than to get most degrees. Well it's not that easy to become a plumber either... probably more difficult, because just an equivalent of a degree to plumbing (i.e. a bullshit piece of paper you gave your life without debt away for) isn't enough.
I am in a lifetime of debt for a degree I don't really want which I have nevertheless worked relentlessly for for three years to the point of ill health, working a shit job instead of sleeping just to survive despite my surmounting debt, having virtually no hobbies or social life or anything which gosh might maintain one's well-being in a world where Americans have the worst record for mental health in the developed world and still being thrown into chaos by lending meltdown, the stress of which has made me lose the love of my life, the one thing I've ever had that made me truly happy. As of now I am waiting for my wondrous student loan cheques to be processed before Sallie Mae becomes bankrupt as well, hoping I can at least finish my final year instead of shooting myself in the head.
I'm the lowest rung, but everyone else has to go through the same system. If they're lucky, their parents paid for their education. They're the emancipated ones. The rest, well...
University is not the best time of your life. It is an indoctrination; pounding in that you can never escape the system, life is about work and not fun. Youth, vitality, optimism, ingenuity, confidence, security, adventure, entertainment-- those are all things to be sneered at because they don't mesh well with white picket fences and $2 million homes in La Jolla made of cardboard on the edge of a cliff with an H3 and a Boxter in the drive. I've got the most bleak outlook of the world of anyone on this island, and people on this blighted island have got the bleakest outlook of anyone on this continent. That is an impressive achievement. I've also probably got the highest inverted unsecured debt-to-age ratio of anyone on this continent. Because I'm American. Stereotypes exist for a reason.
Every man is not born equal; everyone does not have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The American Dream is just that. Why am I the luckiest person in the world to be born American? What has America given me? Oh, that's right-- a chance to become a slave just to survive. Give me one good reason why I should pay back my loans: Emancipated Russian serfs had to pay back "debts" for their freedom, but those Russians got angry and so the Tsar got a little afraid. Maybe Russians back then were maybe smarter than Americans are now.
Christians? You're not Christian: I know that America is an abomination to everything the Bible teaches. What about being meek and humble? What about if you've got two coats, you should give one to someone who's got none? What about forgiving unbearable debt? (keep in mind that Jewish law was divided over whether any debt for anything was ever cancellable or not). If America is the most Christian nation then God must be the Antichrist. You're certainly marching to the tune of some other "God".
I've been to the Statue of Liberty and was angered by the sight of it. Fuck you, America.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Dear Columbia,
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19 responses:
yeah man you're right.
i told you you were right a while back, and i maintain it.
but spite for america as a whole is not the right thing right now. pity for our ignorance, maybe. anger for the hubris we have surrounded ourselves in, as we bury our heads in the sand like scared ostriches to avoid the bogeymen of al-qaeda - sure. disdain for the belief that we can and should make money appear out of nowhere, and gauge the health of an economy by materialistic metrics like "consumer spending".
this country has dangerous times ahead. nobody is safe from the coming disaster. but these are the times when concepts like altruism, goodwill, and true, honest-to-god morality will make a comeback in this country.
spite for the government, on the other hand, is definitely necessary at a time like this. we're so very fucked and we need to hold the people responsible accountable for their greed.
What do I get for being right? A consolation prize for being the most self-aware homeless person?
I love her. being a strung-out misanthrope at the end of the rope made me lose her.
Any and every form of happiness has been denied me.
i'm not irrationally projecting blame: the guy who's got her now hasn't got money-related neuroses, isn't underweight due to lack of (expensive) protein, isn't chronically exhausted/stressed. And she's not a gold digger: natural selection works. Weakness isn't attractive.
Excuse me if it offends you to say that I yearn for the day i can strip myself of this citizenship.
All I can hope is that I can financially finish this fucking degree so I can at least survive.
"Give me one good reason why I should pay back my loans"
No one put a gun to your head to take out loans to go to a school priced too high for what it provides. A bit of (elementary) arithmetic would have told you that.
Doing that is no better than the people who got in over their heads with mortgages they couldn't afford because they didn't make enough money, and now they're walking away from them. It's, in part, that very mentality that's got us spending 700B to save some overpaid middlemen.
Fuck you America? Fuck you, American.
I presume you've been making ends meet just fine with a high-school diploma, getting a full-time job with healthcare benefits paying $30k a year.
Try getting a full-time job (i.e. not the magical flexible up to 39-hour part-time) straight out of high school and get back to me.
You try choosing between ~$600/mo rent, ~$300/mo car insurance and ~$300/mo healthcare costs (NOT including health insurance) and $7/hr part-time work or $20,000/year for my university without those.
Justify it being more expensive to survive in California as an unskilled teenager than it is to go to a prestigious university in the UK and I MIGHT consider your argument.
I've not posted here on this blog for a couple of reasons, including the fact that I've been extremely busy with some things lately, as well as the fact that I grew weary of being told that nearly every opinion I have is in some way racist.
I'd like to point out, before I address your post, that I don't like making arguments ad-hoc-hominem. I don't think it's a productive or honest way to make your point. That being said, your post uses your own life as support for your opinions about America, and therefore I have little choice but to make arguments that may seem ad-hoc. Please understand that I don't wish to offend you or judge you, but I also don't want to give your opinions a free pass just to spare your feelings.
I agree with the Anonymous commenter. When you borrow money, you are entering into a contract that you will pay that money back. I think that education should be free in the U.S., but I also think that under our current system one can only blame themselves for taking on debt they can't handle. Why are you in $100,00 worth of debt? Community college courses are only $120 a credit. You can also work and study (at night if necessary) and take your time building up to a point where you can transfer to a four-year college. Why didn't you consider that option, as millions of others have? Did you think you were too good for that?
As for your statement that there are no jobs available for young people with a high school diploma, I think that's simply ridiculous. Far less than half of the U.S. population has a college degree, but our unemployment is at around 6% -- still too high, but nowhere near half. You claim that there are no decent-paying jobs for those without college degrees. What about sanitation engineers, police officers, construction contractors, electricians, dental assistants, paramedics, car mechanics, and package couriers? Those jobs all make an average of over $35k per year. You yourself point out that it's more lucrative to be a plumber than to have most undergrad degrees, and yet you complain that you have to have a college education to make a living? Doesn't add up.
You complain that you're too skinny because you can't afford "expensive proteins." You can get a 32-ounce can of beans at any grocery store for around $3. There's enough protein in there to meet your daily requirements for three days. You can afford $1 a day?
You bait American citizens for not being Christian enough. Not all of us claim to be. There's nothing in our constitution that says we're a Christian country, either.
I laud the UK for providing free education and efficient transportation. But let's remember the higher tax rates and the higher cost of living. (Side point: let's also remember that the UK isn't constantly burdened by a deluge of illegal immigrants and the poverty they bring with them.) The standard of living is still higher in the U.S. than it is anywhere else. I'm not saying that's necessarily a good thing; I'm just pointing it out. You're a Europhile, and that's fine. But don't condemn an entire country just because you made some mistakes and couldn't hack it.
As regular readers of this blog may know, I'm a major proponent of personal responsibility. While there may be systematic flaws that need to be addressed, I don't think it's politically or personally effective to blame your problems entirely on the system.
That said, I wish you the best in pursuing your degree and getting things straightened out.
"the one thing I've ever had that made me truly happy"
...dude I'd dump your ass in a second for feeding me such self-centered emo bullshit.
""the one thing I've ever had that made me truly happy"
...dude I'd dump your ass in a second for feeding me such self-centered emo bullshit."
well it's good i didn't write it to my girlfriend, then. You're not my type, sorry.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4637273.stm
The UK has the worst illegal immigrant problem of any country on this continent sans Spain. The UK is pretty shit, in fact. But at least people can work unskilled jobs full-time. At least people don't live in their cars while still holding a job or several.
Unemployment is only "low" in comparison to other countries because under most circumstances, if you lose your job you lose everything. What about those like me, who are underemployed or working multiple part-time jobs with no regular hours?
You can't go to college at night when in order to make ends meet you have three part-time jobs, none of which have stable hours. That's the beauty of part-time. No stable income, no free time. Begging to work all the time. College has set hours. If I can't afford to live working e.g. 50 hours per week part-time, how can I afford to live working 44 hours part time? How can I afford to live knowing if I get scheduled less than 3 days a week, I can't pay the rent?
If I am not incorrect, sanitation engineers require training. So do dental assistants, paramedics and car mechanics.
You can't be a police officer with certain medical issues.
You can't be a package courier without a perfect driving record.
Construction contractors need connects, experience or both. Same with electricians, plumbers etc.
I'm a supposed "Europhile" because I realised something was terribly wrong when phoning up an apprenticeship ad, I was asked if I "have any experience".
I was willing and ready to work full-time and I could not find it. Yet I couldn't afford to train myself in order to survive-- because I was too busy either working or sitting at home because I wasn't scheduled to work. "Couldn't hack it" doesn't sound very impressive for a first-world country.
And about the food, I spend about £20 ($40) per week on food and am almost always hungry. I could eat five meals a day but instead eat porridge and peanut-butter toast for breakfast, ham sandwiches for lunch, and vegetable curry for dinner. It's not enough.
Let's have an eyeballed possible breakdown of going to community college in California (of which I was a resident):
Rent: $500pcm ($400-$800 sandiego.craigslist.org)
Car insurance: $300pcm ($250-$350 [personal])
Fuel: $200pcm
Food/misc: $100pcm
Healthcare costs: $200pcm
Total monthly: $1400
Total yearly: $15600
Maximum Pell Grant: $4000 (note that even if fully eligible, funding is NOT guaranteed)
Leftover: $11600
/$7 (wages per hour) /52 (weeks per year) = 31.87 average hours of work per week required.
This is a horribly rough estimate yes, but in fact I guessed conservatively: there would be more expenses than just this and I would not be able to work exactly 31.87 hours per week every week (although I might work more in summer to compensate).
Keep in mind that the more you earn, the LESS grant you get-- even if you're barely making ends meet.
How good do you think a GPA will be when working 30+ hours per week and spending 40+ hours on university studies?
Of course this is all moot when you work a part-time job where one week you're fine and the next week you suddenly have no money to feed yourself.
Contrasted to an ivy-league level university:
$560/mo rent
$50/mo utilities
$160/mo food
$20,000/yr tuition fees
$29,240/yr
Working average 32hrs/week*52 weeks*$13/hr =$14976 /yr.
Minimum required loan: $14,264/yr.
Obviously things didn't pan out perfectly according to this, as unexpected bad things can and did happen, plus interest accruing and being unable to work much in final year.
My only mistake was thinking that I'd rather get into debt by paying tuition fees than get into debt paying medical bills. I never expected the country to go belly up one year before I finish.
I'd rather not get into debt at all.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I also decided it was worth the debt to get a leg over the side of the boat I saw sinking four fucking years ago. It was an escape route which possibly saved me. Because I've got more job opportunities outside than in that shithole, where I would be if I was in community college.
Too bad my best option available was the UK, which is the tugboat tied to and dragged down with the sinking Titanic
550,000 illegal immigrants is nowhere close to the 10,000,000-plus in the U.S.
How high would one's GPA be if they work 30 hours and also take a full schedule of college courses? Mine was a 4.0 when I did it. Granted, I didn't do it for too long. But again, there's no mandate that you have to take a full schedule every semester.
"Sanitation engineer" is another word for garbageman. Doesn't require too much training. You can make even better money if you have Hazmat certification, which requires some training. And yes, most of the jobs I listed require some level of training. But what do you want? To get paid a lot of money for not having any skills? That's not how capitalism works. There are very economical and practical ways of obtaining training for these jobs.
Regarding your complaints about spending 40 pounds per week on food and still being hungry, I think that probably speaks to the higher cost of living in the UK. I can buy a 25-pound bag of rice at the market down the street for $6. I can buy a 36-pack of large grade AA eggs there for less than $3. I don't think I could eat five eggs and 7 pounds of rice a day (rice basically doubles in weight when you cook it). That would be $9 per week, or what, like 5 pounds?
We could go back and forth like this forever. The system is not perfect, nor will it ever be, and you can always find somewhere to place blame other than upon yourself. If that's the way you want to view things, fine. Some of us choose to face our mistakes and to learn from them.
UK's 550,000 illegal / 60 million population > USA's 10 million illegal / 300 million population. This does NOT include the phenomenon of "legal illegals" from e.g. Poland, Slovakia etc who are allowed to come and work but who are not aware they are being paid under minimum wage or aren't having income tax actually go to HMRC and other bad employer practices.
The illegal situation is WORSE here.
"There are very economical and practical ways of obtaining training for these jobs". I used to think the same way until I had to try it myself. Have you tried surviving on your own at a minimum-level job and moving up the ladder at the same time? Was it really so easy?
You can agree to disagree, but if it's so easy to get education as you'd claimed, why is higher education so rare as you'd quoted earlier? If you include ALL forms of post-high school training it goes up significantly, but is still lower than it should be. Ask your local bag boy/girl at Walgreens if they really want to do that job, and ask them why they're not going to school. Make a survey of it.
There's a difference between being paid "a lot" for unskilled labour and having the human decency to give everyone a chance of some basic level of survival. The only countries I've ever heard of where there are "working homeless" are the USA (been one myself), Japan and South Korea-- and we know where the latter two get their inspiration (despite doing if far better than their "father"). Of course, if people weren't terrifyingly desperate to work, you wouldn't have people cheerfully bagging your groceries for $5 per hour, smiling big so they hopefully get more hours next week and be able to hopefully pay off the backlog on their electricity bill. The only country I've been to where the homeless situation is visibly worse than in the USA is Russia-- which may logically stem from the fact that living costs in Russia vs. average wages are even lower, and there are as few social stopgaps in place as in the States. Even they've got an NHS, though. And industry. People washed out from society living on the streets are only a burden, and America has a stellar reputation of helping people learn to sustain themselves-- yeah, right.
No matter whose "fault" it is, which is a better use of labour: someone bagging your groceries (if not being outright homeless and unemployed), or designing new drugs? Improving steel-refining techniques? Developing computer software? Teaching in schools?
Enjoy for yourself the great "efficiency" of the American economy as you seem to claim. I'm getting as far away as possible, even if it means teaching English in a fishing village in southern Brazil for the rest of my life. That's what I've "learnt".
I'm not going to argue this any further, because I no longer have any delusion that you can see these issues logically.
Also...
550,000/60,000,000 = .9%
10,000,000/300,000,000 - 3.3%
Yes, it's difficult to get a decent college degree when you can't do basic division.
Oops. 550,000 illegal / 60 million < 10 million illegal / 300 million
You obviously will continue to argue it by posting that.
I exercise my individual responsibility in that you can pick up my student debt in tax through the gov't when I die happily after paying $1/mo for the rest of my life on it through my escola. Thanks buddy. I appreciate the help.
Obviously since you won't clarify the obvious errors in my logic (aside from typing the wrong mathematical operator) you simply won't face the facts.
Enjoy your bagging service.
Dude, I do not even know where to begin. How about this: "I exercise my individual responsibility in that you can pick up my student debt in tax through the gov't when I die happily after paying $1/mo for the rest of my life on it through my escola. Thanks buddy. I appreciate the help."
Do you even realize what you are saying? You are demonstrating your own insolvency and lack of ethics. That's the exact opposite of individual responsibility.
"'There are very economical and practical ways of obtaining training for these jobs'. I used to think the same way until I had to try it myself. Have you tried surviving on your own at a minimum-level job and moving up the ladder at the same time? Was it really so easy?"
First of all, this isn't logic. It's asking if I have any pertinent anecdotal experience from my own life. As a matter of fact, I do. After completing my high school's academic curriculum two years early, I went to junior college while working 20-25 hours a week at an entry level job. During that time I also maintained a perfect GPA, volunteered at my local library, and competed on a varsity athletic team (earned an MVP trophy, set a school record for individual victories, and was nominated for the Wendy's High School Heisman also).
How about this: "Ask your local bag boy/girl at Walgreens if they really want to do that job, and ask them why they're not going to school. Make a survey of it."
First, the vast majority of people aren't happy with their jobs. I don't want to be doing mine. That's life. And are you really claiming that no one should have to do jobs like collecting trash and bagging groceries?
I could go on for a long while, but I refuse to continue this because you are simply so stupid and out of touch that it is fruitless communicating with you. You cite your own personal problems as proof for some grand societal flaw, which you yourself have not even clarified. I think you kindly for getting the f--k out of my country. We've got too many self-centered, irresponsible, entitled dipsh-ts like you running around already.
Tell me what grand ultimate moral incentive I have to pay anything back, "dipshit". I am ready to face the consequences-- namely a ruined credit history and legal ramifications. Laws aren't morality. I can also go on a shooting spree-- doesn't make it right. I'm responsible for my actions as long as I accept the consequences.
But I thought you said the US wasn't a Christian country? What set of morals are you going by, then? What core of values is driving you to do the things you do? Do you smoke marijuana?-- "but it's illegal and wrong"! Define your morals. You seem to me like an arrogant, ignorant Liberterian supporter who tries to tell me there is no subjectivism in life, no sentiment, but then goes to tell me I'm wrong for snubbing my so-called "responsibilites".
It may be anecdotal evidence, but the phenomena do exist, dumbass. Look around for it. I'm not the only one who's had a rough life. There's a collective reason for it. It's not always that they're lazy, ignorant idiots who can't help themselves. If you believe so, then you're no better than the overpriviledged, spoiled people who cry for their double mortgages and the reposession of their leased H3.
Did you grow up in a demented household with a psycho, out-of-touch mum and a dick dad, and went psycho in school and was further "corrected" to the point of institutional abuse? Were you told by everyone "oh you're so smart you have to go to college" but when the time came, the parents wouldn't pay, wouldn't fill out FAFSA, didn't get a scholarship due to having shit GPA and then thrown onto the street with no way to support yourself?
Oh but it's my fault; I should face the consequences, huh?
I have straightened up. I'm at a 425-year-old institution of learning in a foreign country with top marks on one of the most difficult courses while still working 20 hours during the semester, with no familial support. Beat that, valedictorian. If you believe in the great American classless society, you deserve to die along with the rest of the Republitards.
Guess what? I assume you approve of the "three strikes" law. If I was branded a criminal with no chance of putting my life back together I wouldn't give a shit either and would break more crimes. Better lock me away for good!
And guess what, you are "so stupid" to realise that THERE ARE NO GROCERY BAGGERS OUTSIDE AMERICA.
In fact, customer service in most places is SHIT compared to the US of A. You're hard pressed to find someone to help you in big shops.
WHY is retail by and large the biggest sector of the US economy? I won't try to find an article but if you disagree, you're stupid. Selling big screens, having the ludicrous Poway "mini mile of cars", buying and selling houses for profit DOESN'T ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING.
Your great 6% unemployment would be more like 12+ if you counted all the shit useless jobs. Guess what happens in a recession when people can't afford to buy their big screens? YOU LAY OFF PEOPLE SELLING BIG SCREENS.
Oh, and even if there WERE grocery baggers, AT LEAST THEY COULD SURVIVE WITH A PREDICTABLE MINIMUM INCOME.
Like I said, ENJOY YOUR BAGGED GROCERIES. Only in America.
"We've got too many self-centered, irresponsible, entitled dipsh-ts like you running around already".
I'm still not sure to what I've been entitled.
If I've been given nothing, why is it wrong to be thankful for nothing? You seem a man driven by duty and commitment. Tell me why you uphold your duties.
Now that i've got some free time, I've got some more food for thought, joeverkill.
You cite your own personal success as proof of some societal success-- how is it any different? If you hate your job and are so self-sufficient, why not go find a job you like?
You say that life is devoid of morals (specifically ones of mutual basic welfare), but then claim that avoiding payment of debt is immoral?
Assuming that "grocery bagging" is a necessary job, you're also insisting that people holding necessary jobs simultaneously be unable to survive?
What about garbage men? Without garbagemen, society would pretty much go to shit (literally). Without doctors, the world would die. They get paid well. Garbagemen don't. Real estate agents get paid well too, but their job isn't that skilled AND the world would pretty much get alone fine without them. So why are doctors paid well for hard necessary work, real estate agents paid well for easy pointless work, and garbagemen get paid shit for hard necessary work? That's just not supply&demand there.
If you're claiming that "grocery baggers" are required, why not have people instead of traffic lights (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-YSpwRkq-JY) too?
If you've got no concern for the basic living standards of unskilled workers doing unnecessary jobs, and no concern for improving the level of development of the workforce, why are you not moving to e.g. Mexico? You'd love it there: cheaper than America and people live even shittier lives, even more hopelessly mired in their social class of birth!
According to your "logic", then, everyone in Kenya is just incompetent and/or lazy, because obviously there are universities in Kenya and ways of getting in, so everyone who's not is obviously a failure of their own accord and are thus useless.
In fact, why have ANY labour laws protecting peoples' well-being at all?
Oh, and you don't want me to come back to the US, but you're offended at me not wanting to pay back my loans? I have effectively sent $100,000 out of the American economy for taking a possible worker (myself) OUT of it. Should you not be encouraging me to RETURN to the US?: By me not paying back my loans, you will have socialistically subsidised my education through uncollected debt taxation, AND you didn't even get a worker out of it. Even me being in a US prison at least makes work for other Americans.
But then, I was also foolishly given a loan. Maybe it would've been better to just pay for my education after all and tax me properly? No... can't be...
So either you're a sado-masochist, or you're just ignorant. I don't understand your point. You seem to not follow any logic. Define it for me, because it defies me.
Yes, love, I know that it's hard to swallow: Fucking other people over does come back to bite you in the arse. Don't worry: an extra $100,000 on top of your $41 trillion debt is nothing. You'll handle it. Or your kids.
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