This is the introductory post to an entirely new series. Eventually, I will find which dream runs so deep that it cannot be ignored and I will pursue it to the ends of my passion and abilities. Hopefully, my voice can be heard for once and make a difference in someone else’s life or perspective.
Dear friends, both active and passive, I come to you today from a place of humility to discuss a disease that is running rampant in our country. It kills people on a daily basis through disease, starvation, and stress. It strikes with a Lack. A lack of something. It destroys families and lives with a Lack of food, lack of shelter, lack of access to hygiene, lack of basic medical care, lack of education, lack of social support. IT is POVERTY.
I have most recently learned about the term UBI- short for Universal Base Income. I am doing more research and learning about those who already support this movement and what it means to them. I am here today to discuss how I ALREADY feel about these things without regard to standing movements or concepts; from an arena of personal experience and heartache. It breaks my soul to see individuals similar to myself, going through so much strife, and being ignored or brushed off- just like we were. I watch individuals who have MORE and are COMFORTABLE. I don’t blame them- most of them have worked extremely hard to get where they are today. I am not jealous or envious of them; I do not want THEIR things and THEIR comforts. I wish those things FOR MYSELF. What I DO feel towards these individuals is HURT. Do you know why I am hurt? Here are a few examples:
- “Go get a job, work hard, and you can someday have what I have.” (Really? I HAVE 2 jobs, hardly see my husband and pets, and STILL cannot afford to stabilize my living situation)
- “What good will $1 do you?” (Begging your pardon, but $1 is half of a BOGO deal at McDonald’s and could be my only meal today.)
- “If you weren’t on drugs, you would have money to spend on things you need.” (I will happily take a drug test, or a breathalizer, or any number of other tests you’d like to see results on. I am not, nor have I ever been on drugs to help me cope.)
- “Keep your head up, things will get better.” (If you don’t invest in my journey, how will you ever be able to guarantee this statement? You don’t- and can’t- possibly know for a fact that things will get better. Sometimes they only get worse.)
- “I only have $20 left.” (This is an extreme and very touchy one. $20 can be a life changing amount of money to some individuals. If you only have $20 to spend on alcohol or going out tomorrow night, I feel this harder and deeper. If you only have $20 left for gas in your vehicle to get to work or to pay your $600 electric bill, then I understand your concern. What if $5 from that $20 made the difference in me having my only meal today or having heat in the middle of winter?)
Many of us have dealt with the struggles of being at the bottom of the barrel. Some of us have been in decent places and fallen into the barrel. It is even more upsetting to have fallen in, at least then you didn’t know any better. But, when you start outside the barrel and fall in, watching your friends and family leave you because they feel they cannot support you or do you any positive, is even more hurtful than simply existing in the bottom of the barrel without those things.
Far too many individuals and families exist under the poverty line and even some who are in the general region of on/slightly above poverty line STILL lack basic access to basic needs. Maslow’s Hierarchy, while archaic in nature, does have important elements included. The First layer of Maslow’s pyramid of basic human needs includes Physiological Needs (clean air, clean water, food, sleep, excretion). The Second layer includes Safety Needs such as security of body, security of resources, security of employment, basic health, safety of family, and basic hygiene. According to Maslow, If these basic NEEDS are not met on a consistent and dependable basis, then we cannot function acceptably as part of society or as individuals. Lack of these basic needs, and restrictions on these basic needs and basic accesses CREATES this negative stereotype of the homeless population and the ‘underprivileged’ individuals in our society.
At one point, I held two jobs and my husband worked at one of them with me. Due to our circumstances, we thankfully owned the tiny camper trailer we lived in. We were travelling 1 hour to work each morning and to beat traffic, had no choice but to leave almost 2 hours before we needed to be at work. We went to a labor hall where you had to get in line, or hope you were a “favorite employee” of the staff there to even hope of getting out to work that day. Your only guarantee after securing a contract for the day was minimum wage; anything more than that was a miracle. Most contractors expected you to work like slaves, and I don’t mean that in a derogatory sense. They believed you were there to worship the ground they walked on an jump when they snapped their fingers. When you were bold enough to explain to them that you were only making $8.60 per hour on their site (which was highly against the rules), many of them would recoil like you threw a poisonous snake at them. “Oh, well my bottom guys get at least $12/hour….” I know that. But, I don’t work for you. I work for the labor hall. “What about the rate I am paying the labor pool? They are charging me $25/hour for you to be here.” Yes, I understand that, too. But, regardless of what YOU are paying THEM, THEY are only paying ME $8.60 per hour. Sorry that you got ripped off. So, for a two hour drive, to maybe get to go to work, work like a dog in the Florida heat with ONE break for the day over an 8 hour shift- or longer- and a guaranteed 2 hour drive HOME due to traffic I made out with…. $60. Gas for the day was $20, my rent was $25 per day. So, I went to work for $20 cash and a place to sleep, wear and tear on my 17 year old truck, and less than 9 hours left in my day to shower, find and consume food, and attempt to sleep long enough to be able to function tomorrow and do it all again. That’s all just for one job. I had two.
So my day went more like this: My husband and I went to work as described, worked as described and were often told we outworked most individuals on such jobsites, get our paychecks, go cash those so he had rent money for the campground that night, drop me off (late more often than not) at my second job having had no food, no break, no shower, and having been up since 4 AM) to a shift that would end no earlier than Midnight. My husband would then drive home (1-2 hours depending on the time of day) to let our dog out for the first time all day, feed him, spend time playing with him and letting him run the park so HE could at least get some exercise and stress relief, maybe throw a raman noodle in the microwave and have to leave again to drive at least 1 hour back to my jobsite to pick me up around 12-1AM. Then we would turn around and drive 1 hour home and have – you guessed it- 2 hours total to shower, eat and sleep, before we had to get up and go back to work AGAIN.
“Keep your head up, it will get better.” When? When my heart stops because I am living on energy drinks and cigarettes because I can’t afford the time or cash for anything else? When will it get better? When a holiday comes up and I am forced to stay home from work where I go to survive because I lose my pay for that day/ weekend so I can’t even afford to stay where I was? Now, I have to take the day I might have had to recuperate from the stress and work to clean my house and shower and just relax…and instead I must pack my house like I am moving states away, pull up, and move my camper to a parking lot where I will be harassed by the police because “I can’t park there” and I still can’t get any sleep because its Florida and even at night it can be up to 80 degrees. So, I can’t even have a little air conditioning, I get to sit in a tuna fish can and sweat myself into a fever or worse and I am STILL expected to show up to work the next business day and pretend like it is ALL OKAY. Because it IS….RIGHT? “It will get better soon, keep your head up.”
“You choose to live like this.” I DO? Let’s switch lives for a day. You take all the money in both our bank accounts, and all the money in our pockets and go DO my life for ONE day. I’ll take the little bit of cash that might be in your wallet and I will STILL have less stress and be more comfortable over the next 24 hours than you. I digress.
I am absolutely SICK of feeling helpless, worthless, useless, hopeless….SICK of feeling oppressed and controlled, brainwashed, institutionalized…SICK of my ENTIRE well-being depending on if I go to work today. I can’t even afford to take a day off to go to an urgent care or free walk in clinic because if I miss work and don’t make that $60, it will take me a month to catch up and be able to secure my housing situation again.
Currency is the root of all evil. Capitalism is it’s church and perpetuator. I believe all government and related government influenced systems should be employed by individuals paid stipends for their efforts and time. Communities should be self supportive in terms of governing bodies and enforcement. In the public sector, wages should be agreed upon by both employer AND employee. Wages should NEVER be dangled like a bone to a starving dog. All of this may come as a surprise to those of you who know me well…I am a solid career Darwinist. You know, only the strong survive? However, I am NOT an elitist. I do believe everyone has strengths and they should be encouraged and empowered to pursue those and some of those things may not come with 6 figure pay rates. I am okay with this setup. I am NOT okay with individuals having to live daily with the stress that their hard work and effort may be all for nothing because if they choose to stay home today to care for their own well-being, or that of their infant, that their entire life falls apart and gets WORSE because they didn’t go make that $60. I am NOT okay with that. I made good money that year. My tax return totalled my gross income at a ballpark of $14,000. Some of that year, I even held a permanent, full time position where I made $12 per hour. Do you know what poverty level was considered that year in my state: $21,000. Let that sink in a moment.
I was working two jobs half of the time, getting an average of 3-4 hours of sleep every night, moving my entire house on a monthly basis, driving at least 40 minutes to work one way, held a full time job for well over 3 months…and I WAS STILL $7,000 BELOW POVERTY LEVEL. Excuse my French but…THAT’S SOME BULLSHIT. Again, I digress.
There is no trust in employment anymore. There is no honor, no pride, no compassion. People’s needs are being SO undermet that even many white-collar, management level positions struggle with their daily lives and basic needs. They struggle to keep good talent and the individuals struggle to make their ends meet.
Let’s not even talk about time. Time to get paid, time for breaks, time for growth, development, and training; the time for commuting, time off for self. None of that is even accounted for in your basic wages OR compensation packages. Let’s not discuss the hoops one has to jump through and the selection and favoritism perpetuated in some work places.
We are being divided, degraded, dehumanized, and indoctrinated to believe it is for our OWN well-being and we encourage their constant abuse by playing by all their rules. STOP accepting everything you are spoon-fed. STOP ingesting the poison they are feeding you. You have a CHOICE. You have worth and there is HOPE. There is HELP.
They say Freedom is having nothing to lose. I disagree. Freedom is KNOWING and believe you have a CHOICE. Make the choice. Uphold your OWN values. Surround yourself with people who believe as you wish to believe.
When I flipped the page I assumed I would be reading about public figures and the titans of the economic world, which I was. Then, I turned the second page and listed as #11…Derek Jeter; age 39, shortstop and captain of the New York Yankees.
What do I do now?
There is a lot of home related stress in my life right now. So, I figured the best way to combat that stress was to remove myself from the situation. Great idea, right? Sure it is; if you have the money to do so, which I don’t. I asked around and found a real gem. The deal is unbelievable, if I can come up with the rent payment. I am so psyched about this house, I cannot wait to move in! But, here we are back to the ‘need a job’ part of life.
Perspectives 