Showing posts with label welfare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label welfare. Show all posts

Day 232: Blame Welfare Recipients.. or Implement a Solution?


Think People On Food Stamps Are Eating More Lobster Than You? Think Again

Stories of SNAP recipients using benefits to buy shellfish and junk food abound.
"I have seen people purchasing filet mignons and crab legs with their EBT cards," Rick Bratten, a Missouri Republican who this year proposed prohibiting SNAP recipients from buying seafood or steak, told the Washington Post. "When I can't afford it on my pay, I don't want people on the taxpayer's dime to afford those kinds of foods either."

In Maine and Wisconsin, lawmakers are pushing legislation to restrict SNAP benefits to foods deemed healthy. The Wisconsin State Assembly approved legislation this week to ban junk food and also "crab, lobster, shrimp, or any other shellfish." The bill's sponsor cited "anecdotal and perceived abuses."


Frankly, I don't know how someone could really afford to regularly eat lobster on food stamps. You don't really get enough money to eat comfortably. I mean, sure, you could buy some lobster this week, and maybe go a bit hungry the next. But really, who cares? You can do that with your hard earned wages too if you want. But it really doesn't matter.

For those who would be concerned that individuals on food stamps are eating more luxuriously than you can on work wages, look – the problem of you not being able to afford expensive food on your wages is not caused by someone on food stamps buying lobster. Therefore, the solution is not contained in trying to prevent those on food stamps from buying lobster or what have you. That would actually likely have more of a negative effect. It would take much more bureaucratic oversight to impose stricter limitations on what can be bought with food stamps, requiring more government work, paid by your taxes.

Wages are low because the economy is low because nobody has any money to spend into the economy. It's a vicious cycle that just feeds itself and more and more we feel the squeeze. What boosts the economy is people having money to spend into the economy. At this point jobs can't be counted on to provide enough income to individuals and that's why we have a support system like food stamps. We have a lot of welfare programs in the U.S., taking up a lot of government resources because it is already divided into so many different programs to ensure that it's spent on certain things. So much added bureaucracy and tax money going into a lot of double-work, essentially, filling out and processing applications for each different program.

This is why I support the Living Income Guaranteed Proposal, because it proposes to simplify and streamline the welfare process by providing a basic income to those who need it, to be used to cover all one's primary needs. There doesn't need to be multiple programs with multiple application processes and reporting processes and so on, when it can be done from one platform. And there doesn't need to be restrictions on how/where it is spent. That can be up to the individual, as it is the best way for individuals to learn financial responsibility, by going through the consequences themselves, and studies have shown that when individuals are given the chance they do not generally make poor choices, as some would seem to imply or expect. Certainly deciding for individuals promotes dependency as it does not encourage or provide an opportunity for an individual to learn and develop self responsibility.

So let's make sure that we focus on the real problem and therefore the real solution, and not get caught up in a form of blame game and 'it's not fair' point, like 'if I can't have it then neither can they' I mean, how does that help anything at all? Rather, look at how do we go about creating that which we would like, for everyone, and realize that things don't have to be the way they are. We live in a world where there is plenty, we need to stop getting lost in blaming each other, and focus on bringing about the changes that will actually solve the problems we're experiencing.

Investigate the Living Income Guaranteed Proposal

Day 197: Minimum Wage Falls Short - What Can We Do?


The minimum wage in Washington, the state in which I reside, is $9.19, yet studies have found that almost double that is what would be required for individuals to actually make ends meet.

 

 

Washington’s minimum wage falls short, report says

A single, unmarried worker in Washington state needs a wage of $16.13 an hour to make ends meet, according to an organization that studies the so-called living wage level around the country.

In fact, several states for which the actual living wage was calculated, would need more than double their current minimum wage standards.
 
How is it that we have a minimum wage, which is supposed to cover the minimum wage that is required to live, and yet – it doesn't. Are we really that bad at basic math? It is quite obvious that it's not enough, because if it really was enough, then we wouldn't have employed people who can't make ends meet. We wouldn't have people deciding to go with state assistance and not being employed because why bother to work when you're still not going to have enough money and you're going to have to work all the time. This is why we have such a problem with welfare abuse, because employment isn't really much of a better deal.

Anyone who works a minimum wage job knows – it's not enough. Even if you have a wage that is a few dollars above the minimum wage, it's still not enough. This is quite a serious problem. I mean, who decided to make the minimum wage not be enough to live? And why did we let them hold a government position to make such a decision? Why do we go on day after day struggling and getting deeper in debt. It's like we forgot that the law system is supposed to Serve us, not Enslave us.

More from the article above, which I definitely suggest you read the whole thing:
Gail Hammer, an assistant professor at Gonzaga University School of Law who specializes in poverty and family law, said the minimum wage would be close to $16 if it had been allowed to rise with inflation over the years.
People working for less often struggle with housing, health care, food, transportation and even legal problems, she said. Low-income workers may develop an attitude that the system isn’t fair, which undermines social structure.
“I don’t think keeping people in poverty makes any sense at all,” Hammer said.

Many of us have experienced this reality, where you have to choose between which bills to pay, or have to forgo necessary health care due to lack of money, which eventually leads to even more extensive problems when things are left untreated. As the situation worsens, more and more will face this reality as well. How bad does it have to get, how many have to be suffering, before we'll realize there's a problem and correct it.

We have a tendency to not fix something until it really breaks. You hear a strange noise coming from your car (if you can afford one) and you tell yourself 'ah it's probably nothing' and make excuses and you let it go, and it's not until some part actually falls off your car or it stops working completely, that you realize 'ok, now I really have to take it to the shop and get it fixed'. And now it is really a mess and it's probably going to cost a lot more to fix it, and maybe even it is just too damaged that it cannot even be fixed. And we could have saved ourself a lot of consequence if we'd just tended to it when we first noticed the signs of a potential problem.

Well I would say we are well beyond the first signs of a problem as the signs are all around us and are in almost every single one of our daily lives, affecting each one of our lives, our children's lives, and will affect their children's lives, should they decide to even have any in a world that isn't going to effectively support them but may just throw them into poverty and a life of enslavement. And we really don't want to get to the point where things really collapse, as then it will likely be too late to do much about it as we'll be really taken to an extreme level of struggling to survive that you don't even want to imagine.

So, we're all aware of the problem, so – what do we Do about it?

Clearly we need to correct the law which is supposed to Serve and Support us to Actually Do So. We need to set the minimum wage to that which would afford a dignified life where one would have all your needs met, and have enough to do what one would like to do in life as well, because we are not working just to survive. There is no point to that. What are we just lifeless batteries to power the profit machine until we're used up and replaced? Or are we working and creating value through our labor which means we should be living lives of value.


One proposal that stipulates an effective minimum wage, is the Basic Income Guaranteed. This is not the same as the Basic Income Grant which has the same anacronym (BIG), but has different principles. In the Basic Income Guaranteed there are two forms of incomes, one which is a Basic Income which one receive when not working, which is like welfare, but it would actually be an amount that is sufficient to cover all one's basic needs, which includes things like proper housing and healthcare. 

The second type of income is a Minimum Wage which is suggested to be double the Basic Income, so that it provides enough for the luxuries of life. This way, no matter what your situation, every individual would be supported to live effectively, and those who would like to work to have more will actually get more from working. Work would be worthwhile, and not something done out of force out of the desperate need to survive, which ends up with people doing jobs they'd really rather not in conditions that are not preferable to abusive, where the worker has no choice because it's really a matter of life or death. 

The Basic Income Guaranteed would remove the survival threat from the situation so that we can make decisions freely for once as to what we'd like to do. Therefore, I definitely suggest to investigate this movement and support it's implementation on a local and national level, because we deserve a proper life and it's time we stand up for our worth and value ourselves, and not accept any less.

Day 182: No More Difficulty Finding a Job: Equal Money Capitalism ENDS Unemployment


Equal Money & Economist's Journey to Life

The Problem:


In a system where employment is how you survive, unemployment is a massive problem. Earning money through being employed, is how you put food on the table, a shirt on your back, buy medicine or go to the doctor when you’re sick, put a roof over your head, and how you support your children in all those necessities of life as well, among other things. Thus if you don’t have a job, you lose all means to support yourself, and your family.

We currently do not effectively utilize the workforce in the world, as the potential we could reach if everyone was effectively trained and employed. There is a lot of work to be done in this world that is not being done, plenty to create jobs for everyone, jobs that involve taking care of this planet in ensuring that we are using resources in such a way that is sustainable. Ultimately, the way we are using the earth’s resources currently is at a rate that cannot be sustained for long, and thus once those resources run out, many many jobs will be lost. Like for example in the oil industry, where oil is used in practically all the products we buy and utilize, and within the production processes to create them, and the processes with which to extract the resources from the earth that we make them from.

Not enough skills/training


We don’t ensure that each and every individual is provided with support to develop most effectively, to be able to have the skills to perform jobs other than the low paying low skill labor. It’s not a level playing field, and as such the majority are stuck at the ‘bottom’ of the job food-chain, literally working in food chains, and jobs such as in the retail and service sectors, which is actually a form of slavery.

How it is now, is most employers offering the more ‘decent’ paying jobs are looking for skilled labor, those with degrees or training or previous experience in the particular field, and often a combination or all of those. So that excludes a large portion of the population who has none of those, and practically no way to get any skills or training as they don’t have enough money to afford it, and they are left to compete with everyone else in the same situation for the low paying service jobs that are available.

Not enough jobs


In the current system there are not enough jobs in order to have everyone effectively employed and earning an effective income. Many of the larger corporations get hundreds and hundreds of applications, but are only going to hire a few, and what happens to the rest? Throughout the world unemployment is a massive problem, where we have places of extreme poverty where individuals are hanging on to survival day by day and thus don’t have a place within labor system through which to earn an income to survive.

The starting point of this system is not to make sure that everyone is effectively placed within a job. It is for businesses to make the most profit possible while limiting costs as much as possible. As such, most jobs do not pay a fair wage that is enough to provide one with everything needed to live a dignified life. And we don’t make sure that every individual has been provided the opportunity to get the best training and education into practical skills that can be applied. This works out for those who have companies that make money off of other’s labor, as currently unskilled labor gets paid less for their time, and since they don’t have the skills to get better jobs, they have no choice but to go for the lower paying jobs like retail and food service. Which is really an ineffective use of labor, as those jobs just work to support profit gains and not actually provide a real benefit to life. Most of those things can be automated, like is already in place in for example grocery stores which have self checkout aisles. The only reason there is a person there is to make sure no one is stealing anything, which people do when they don’t have effective money to buy things, as stealing is never the first choice. If you enough money for everything you need, you’ll just buy it and not take the risk.

There are millions in the world that are unemployed, that is millions of people who could be participating in the system, but we haven’t effectively made sure that we are properly creating jobs so that there is enough for everyone, and that no matter what your situation, you are either provided with a job, or with the training to develop the skills to do a job. And often those at the ‘bottom’ of the job food-chain, often have to work more than one job as one just doesn’t provide enough income to effectively support oneself.

And then we have unemployment benefits to assist those who aren’t finding work, which only allows them to subsist while not changing the job situation in any way. And there are people that get angry at this, and blame them for not working, while ignoring that the problem is systemic in nature, as the system is blatantly failing to effectively direct Labor. And the longer you go without a job, the less likely you are to get hired, as employers don’t want people who have not been working for a while and maybe have gotten soft and haven’t been using their skills for a while and might be rusty, compared to someone who has just been working.

Abuse of labor


Unemployment is also allowed in order to take advantage of having more demand for jobs than there are jobs available, by those who have companies that make money off of other’s labor. As if there is more employees than there are demands, this puts the advantage on the business’ side, as they can have worse conditions such as low pay, no benefits, etc, and there will always be people who have no other choice but to take what is offered, as there is always an endless supply of people desparate to have some kind of income.

Abuse of animals and nature


Due to lack of sufficient jobs for everyone, individuals in dire situations have had to find any way possible to make money to survive, which has led to all kinds of abuse to nature and animals, like skinning animals alive to make clothing items and accessories which aren’t needed, but can provide those individuals with some money to survive.

Monopolies


Monopolies push out other competition by taking over a market and doing everything for cheaper by externalizing costs and paying employees less, which causes smaller businesses to go belly up as they can’t compete with the cheapness, and thus many jobs are lost for less quality jobs , putting more strain on the job market.

Machinery


When machinery is utilized to replace human labors, there is no structure in place to ensure that those whose positions have been taken over by machines have effective support to get into another position, and now there is even more competition in the job market.




The Solutions:

Full employment:


Employment
One of the current problems is unemployment. Employment is the means through which each one acquires the means with which to sustain themselves - as, in return for one's contribution, one receives an income. Therefore - full employment is not a negotiable subject - because if one is not employed, one loses all means of supporting oneself.” (Day 162: EQUAL MONEY CAPITALISM - The Way Forward)

How to Ensure Full Employment?
Q: How do we make sure everyone is employed; will we have to create meaningless jobs like in the army – dig a hole, cover a hole?

A: There are many jobs that require to be done that aren't being done at the moment - the Earth is barely taken care of. Remember that a company’s responsibility will extent further than merely the production of goods and services. Each company will have a Compassion and an Environmental Department.

Compassion Departments are a social function. Such departments will assist, for instance, with giving care to the elderly, organising and providing daycare, assisting victims of natural disasters and so on. Individuals whose jobs within the production process are replaced by technology, will instead be employed within the Compassion Department of the company and continue to receive their income.

Environmental Departments of a company fulfil the function of giving as one would like to receive. Companies will use resources from the Earth and will likely create pollutants that affect the environment. The Environmental Departments are in charge of giving back to the Earth in terms of assisting the environment to renew the resources that were taken, for instance, through tree-planting, creating dams, etc. Furthermore, it will assist within mitigating or stopping the negative effects of pollutants, such as, for instance, water or air purification.

Once everyone is employed and all meaningful jobs are being done - we decrease working hours. For instance, if a job requirement is 8 hours, 2 people can do 4 hours each. Also - people don't have to work for 60 years of their lives - we can go on retirement when we are 30-40.” (Day 168: The Future of Integrity with Equal Money Capitalism)


"OVERTIME / FREE TIME
The point will be to optimize FREE TIME

Overtime - working past your regular hours. There will be no need for overtime, it will be unnecessary, because it is not your labour that holds the value - it is your life and all life is valued equally. Overtime would only come into play when for instance a natural disaster occurs and those assisting are required to lend a helping hand for longer than usual because the situation demands so in that case, one doesn't get paid for overtime - because it is a point of compassion and understanding - and to show that one is more than a self-interested human. Overtime now only exists so people can make more money - so they can buy more stuff - in EMC - you will have enough money to buy what you actually need. All economic slavery jobs where people are forced to do it to survive will end if people do not have to do it

Will we have more free time in an EMC - definitely - as we employ all the labour of each person - it will take less time to get the same job done. Every person will still work the same amount of time - this must be agreed on by all. For those whose jobs simply doesn't take up that much time or if a person's job is replaced by that of a machine - the Compassion Department of the Company will take care of you. This Department of the company creates jobs that will benefit society as a whole.

Sufficient pay:


... WHAT IS PROFIT-SHARE?
Currently profit is the money a company makes after they have covered their costs, including paying out wages. In an EMC - profit comprises of all the added value that is placed on resources - which is your labour. Therefore - within the price, the percentage share must be included of each one that was part of the creation of the product in such a way that each one ends up with an equal share of the company's profits, so - there will be no need for wages - as the profit becomes your wage.

EQUALIZING WAGES – COOPERATION AMONG CORPORATIONS
If a company at any time makes more money than they need to provide each one with their equal share of the profit as well as covering their costs - those monies will go into a fund that is responsible for assisting companies that are not making sufficient to cover their costs and provide each one with their fair share. That way a balancing effect takes place so that all companies are not only cooperatives in how they cooperate internally - but all cooperate with each other as well…." (Day 163: Equal Money Capitalism - Redefining Profit)

Community Based Companies:

 

Monopolies
Q: Will we only have a few companies doing the same thing? And will the work be divided up? Like, will a company have a certain part of the world to look after?

A: With EMC, we are moving away from monopolies, where a select amount of big corporations has control over particular products. Companies will be far more regional and community based as companies will exist from a point of responsibility towards their particular community. Within EMC, providing goods and services is not an opportunity to ‘hit it big’ in the world – it is how one contributes to society to make Life on Earth a worthwhile experience for everyone. When companies are locally based and operational, transport costs will of course also be cut down, which will reduce pressure on the environment.” (Day 170: Companies and Industries in EMC)



So, firstly, full employment will be treated as a necessity, as everyone requires employment to provide one and one’s family with an income.

By ensuring proper compensation for one’s labor through Equalizing Profit-Share, no one will need to work more than one job, and won’t need to work as many hours, or in compromising conditions, to still earn an income that will support one effectively, thus reducing the need for so many jobs as we will get more out of less. And through the Equalizing of Wages and the aspect of Cooperation among Corporations, this will stabilize companies, which stabilizes job security for individuals, as we won’t have companies going belly up thanks to giant corporation monopoly take-overs pushing out all the competition.

The Environmental Department will provide many jobs once we start to look at effectively taking care of and cleaning up the Earth.

The Compassion department will open up many jobs that provide support and assistance to those requiring it, such as the elderly, childcare, and disaster relief.

Thus, we will have plenty of jobs, and the time one needs to spend working to make enough to effectively support oneself will decrease. Companies will be stabilized so that there is no worry about a company failing and losing one’s job, and if for some reason a company ends, like if for example it is decided a company is not needed and is closed down, or you are not getting enough hours, or your job is replaced by a machine, there is the Compassion Department that will take care of you.

The Rewards:


At an Individual Level


For most individuals this means you will no longer have to worry about job security or financial security. You’ll no longer have to work overtime to make ends meet. You won’t have to work most of your life, you’ll be able to retire much earlier in life.

No more fear about how to get a job, or a decent job that pays enough. No more filling out countless job applications to probably not be picked, from a selection of jobs that are really only slavery jobs and not an actual benefit to life. Thus you’ll have real job satisfaction, no longer feeling like your job is just going to give someone else profits while you slave your life away.

All stress in individuals, couples, families, due to financial/job instability will vanish, as one’s survival no longer ‘hangs in the balance’ and one is no longer competing with everyone else to get the jobs available and hopefully one that pays enough and doesn’t require one to spend most of your time working. You’ll have more time to actually enjoy life, time to spend with your family, and doing the things you would like to pursue but are always too busy working.

On a Global Level


We’ll stop destroying the Earth through unsustainable practices, and cut down the pressure we’re putting on the ecosystem by utilizing so many excess resources in jobs that are of no benefit to life, or are simply not making sure they are not having a detrimental effect on the environment.
All the abuse taking place within the labor system currently and slave labor will end, there will be no unfair labor practices. This means ending Animal abuse where individuals utilize animals simply to create products that aren’t necessary just to provide themselves and their families with some income to survive.

Thus we will overall live in a world where we can have peace of mind that everyone including ourselves are taken care of and will not be left hung to dry if something goes wrong in the economy, where one foul turn can mean the loss of jobs and the loss of lives. A world where our entire ecosystem is of the best quality. And we as humans can really begin to explore what it means to be here, and get to enjoy ourselves here, no longer caught up in a rat race, just trying to survive.

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