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http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/17/news/economy/us-middle-class-basics-study/index.html
"Nearly 51 million households don't earn enough to afford a monthly budget that includes housing, food, child care, health care, transportation and a cell phone, according to a study released Thursday by the United Way ALICE Project. That's 43% of households in the United States."
The figure includes the 16.1 million households living in poverty, as well as the 34.7 million families that the United Way has dubbed ALICE -- Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. This group makes less than what's needed "to survive in the modern economy."
"Despite seemingly positive economic signs, the ALICE data shows that financial hardship is still a pervasive problem," said Stephanie Hoopes, the project's director.
California, New Mexico and Hawaii have the largest share of struggling families, at 49% each. North Dakota has the lowest at 32%.
Many of these folks are the nation's child care workers, home health aides, office assistants and store clerks, who work low-paying jobs and have little savings, the study noted. Some 66% of jobs in the US pay less than $20 an hour.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday May 21 2018, @04:35PM (10 children)
He's not really about freedom. Not in the larger sense, and not in the final analysis. He's about *his* freedom to do what *he* wants and to Hell with the rest of society. I'm somewhere between puzzled and maddened that so few people can see this. The guy's so completely self-centered he's become a human Mobius strip.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 21 2018, @05:12PM (2 children)
I think plenty of people see TMBs scummy self-centered nature, but on the flip side he has a LOT of compadres. These are people angry that the American Dream has failed them, and you can even see it with TMB who pretends he is a super successful self-made man yet he lives with a roommate who also has occasional kids. Unless he's that pathetically lonely then he's just another loud mouthed braggart trying to cover his own insecurities.
Anyway, yeah these people are incredibly selfish and narrow minded with the unfortunate need to be the loudest in the room.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday May 21 2018, @05:18PM (1 child)
I wish more people would get up his beak about it, though. Anyone *that* full of shit ought to squelch when he walks...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by dry on Tuesday May 22 2018, @04:46AM
It quickly becomes frustrating, like banging your head on a wall. The only way he might change is through a life altering event and even then he is so set in his ways and so sure they're right...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by NewNic on Monday May 21 2018, @05:36PM (5 children)
The central theme of his posting history is "I've got mine, screw you".
The hilarious part of it is that he actually thinks he is successful in life, whereas he has almost completely failed. He has nothing to show for his years. When he dies, who will mourn him?
He has described periods of his life when he did not work, I wonder how much he leached off the state during that time.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday May 21 2018, @08:16PM (1 child)
You wish, sweety. I take care of the folks I give a damn about when they need a hand. I won't have you fuckwad progressives telling me I'm morally obligated to work to support people I've never met though. I don't wish those folks ill. You guys though? May you be ass-raped by a cactus with herpes.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by NewNic on Monday May 21 2018, @08:47PM
In denial much? Your statement is the very essence of "I've got mine, screw you".
I don't know if you are Christian, but if you are, you might like to review this page and ponder on whether any of these encouraged people to only help those people one knows:
https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/bible-verses-about-helping-others/ [biblestudytools.com]
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 2, Touché) by ChrisMaple on Tuesday May 22 2018, @01:22AM (2 children)
Conservatives: I want more, so I'll earn it. Liberals: I want more, so I'll have the government steal it for me.
(Score: 3, Touché) by dry on Tuesday May 22 2018, @04:52AM (1 child)
In my experience with conservatives, its more like, I want more so I'll rip some people off. They're the hardest ones to get to pay their bills even though they can usually afford it and they're very good at rationalizing why they don't need to pay their way.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 22 2018, @09:23AM
And in my experience Republicans are by far the CHEAPEST. They don't want to pay for anything they don't have to, unless they are schmoozing their way up the social ladder and don't want people badmouthing them so they plateau at a certain tier.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Monday May 21 2018, @10:19PM
Even if that were true, that's the standard state for humanity. We should instead consider the real question, "Is he harming someone with his selfishness?" I believe the answer would be no.
Well most people are blinded to some degree by ideology and emotion. But it doesn't all blind in the same way. So of course, their blindness doesn't cause them to see what your blindness causes you to see.
I think it's a reasonable request in these threads to forgo the phony, moral signaling and instead explain, plainly as you can and with sufficient backing - evidence or reasoning, why there is harm and what sort of behaviors would make that better. TMB's first post makes a good point. There is no end to what is considered "needed" for a poor family. No one ever came up with a serious rebuttal to that, it just all slid eventually into thread detours like this one speaking of TMB's alleged selfishness.