The Sad Part

It's a vicious circle of hypocrisy: Americans dependent on the safety net are urged to "get a job" by the same free-market system that pays them too little to avoid being dependent on the safety net.

Theft, Part 1: The Average U.S. Household Pays About $400 for Safety Net Programs for Low-Wage Workers 

According to the Economic Policy Institute, $45 billion per year in federal, state, and other safety net support is paid to workers in the bottom 20 percent of wage earners. Thus the average U.S. household is paying almost $400 to employees in low-wage industries such as food service, retail, and personal care. 

Because you can't say it too often, and because the conditions have always been there, and because I'm goddamn sickened by it.

As I look back on my own unremarkable working life in the "service industry" I'm not disinclined to blame myself for the events that led me to where I am today, but by the same token I think I was very aware of my circumstances.  Hell, maybe I lacked a sense of humor.

I rebelled early and often and I paid for it.  I couldn't have lived with myself had I not occasionally jerked myself out of certain bad circumstances or forced the hand of my various and uneven owners, largely by voicing my opinions about reality.

Pride is a powerful thing.  So I gamed the greasy spoons until I was 50, which is when I cracked up. Boy, did I hate kitchen work after that. I'd stayed in it far too long, essentially because it was easy and I couldn't think of anything else to do.

My experience in other jobs was sketchy at best and just as uninspiring.

But the bottom line is exploiters are exploiters, and damn do they like to deny it.  The sad part is they can, which is why things need to change now.

I know I would have been a better employee and person if I'd been paid more than a subsistence wage.  Like a hedge fund manager watching the ticker, I'd have greedily flipped those eggs and laughed all the way to the bank.


TS