NH Sponsor Of Minimum Wage Restriction Law: Young People Are ‘Not Worth The Minimum’: pThis year, newly-elected Republicans in the New Hampshire legislature pushed a bill to restrict the state’s minimum wage law to the lowest federally mandated amount. The bill, backed by GOP leadership, was vetoed by Gov. John Lynch (D-NH), but still passed by an override vote in both chambers. New Hampshire will continue to have the [...]/p
It was only a matter of time before they turned on the minimum wage... to remove it, while they are removing all other workers' protections. What kind of people are these? 5 dollars an hour??? Why not 2 dollars an hour??? Why not work for nothing???
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
INSURANCE - Institutionalized Extortion - "The WHAT IF Principle"
SERVICE CONTRACTS...
When you buy an appliance, auto, or other object, you are no longer buying an object. They immediately try to sell you a waranty/insurance poilicy with it, because they are selling you a "service" not an object. In fact, they even call the whole ball of wax their "product", that is, the object plus the service contract. When I am offered a service contract, my reply is, "If you are telling me that this object won't even last a year, maybe I don't need to buy it."
There is no pride in the work we are asked to do. Sales people are required to try to sell the service contract more aggressively than the object.
In fact, there are companies which are selling service contracts on cars they didn't even manufacture. These service contracts are supposed to bring you peace of mind over the questionable performance of an object but in fact are causing more stress because they are siphoning money on a regular basis from an already tight amd shrinking budget.
The contracts are presented as if you can prevent a much bigger cost down the road when you may not have a bundle of cash or credit to cover that expense. We only need to look at how health insurance works to know that they probably WILL NOT cover it when the time comes. Just read the fine print.
AUTO INSURANCE...
Required in all states, is hardly a safety concern... it is not saving lives... it only protects property... "shared responsibility" they call it. In other words, you don't have a right to hurt other people or their cars or other property with your car without paying for it.
Recently more extreme penalties have been enacted for not carrying it and people are having to make the choice between paying the auto insurance and food or utilities.
In Corpus Christi, where half the population is on some sort of public assistance even though they are working, if you are stopped for any reason and they find you don't have auto insurance, you are given a ticket with a penalty of a few hundred dollars and your auto is impounded immediately.
It costs 150 dollars or more to bail it out, AFTER you have reinstated your insurance. What logic punishes people who may not make enough money to keep their auto insurance in force continuously by taking away the means to keep a job?.. In fact most jobs in the area, which has limited public transportation qualify employment with "reliable transportation required".
Being impounded once, bailing it out, reinstating the insurance and paying the ticket could easily cost a month's wages.
HEALTH INSURANCE...
I supported Obama in 2008 and have been encouraged by a lot he has done since then which rarely gets publicized... like the Lily Ledbetter Equal Pay for Equal Work Legislation.
When the Health Care Reform Bill was passed, I started getting the sense that the Presidency may just be a figurehead position and that other forces are really steering the government's ship.
The requirement that all people PURCHASE health insurance stunned me. I didn't really expect for single payer/universal health care to pass, the first time around anyway, but to foist this obligation on everyone [sure, those who can't afford it will be subsidized supposedly] seemed outrageous, but I shouldn't be surprised.
It's the same trap that auto insurance places people in. It re-prioritizes one's budget and life choices for you... more powerlessness... And even with having health insurance, one may still not be able to afford to see a doctor because of copays and deductibles.
MORTGAGE INSURANCE...
I've never had a mortgage, so I'm not too clear about this, but I do know that part of the mortgage cost is for insurance.
Now why hasn't this insurance kicked in when all those people went in to foreclosure? Why weren't their homes saved by this insurance they've been paying, sometimes for decades, when they lost their jobs?
Isn't that what the insurance for... the unforseen change in circumstances in ability to pay?
When you buy an appliance, auto, or other object, you are no longer buying an object. They immediately try to sell you a waranty/insurance poilicy with it, because they are selling you a "service" not an object. In fact, they even call the whole ball of wax their "product", that is, the object plus the service contract. When I am offered a service contract, my reply is, "If you are telling me that this object won't even last a year, maybe I don't need to buy it."
There is no pride in the work we are asked to do. Sales people are required to try to sell the service contract more aggressively than the object.
In fact, there are companies which are selling service contracts on cars they didn't even manufacture. These service contracts are supposed to bring you peace of mind over the questionable performance of an object but in fact are causing more stress because they are siphoning money on a regular basis from an already tight amd shrinking budget.
The contracts are presented as if you can prevent a much bigger cost down the road when you may not have a bundle of cash or credit to cover that expense. We only need to look at how health insurance works to know that they probably WILL NOT cover it when the time comes. Just read the fine print.
AUTO INSURANCE...
Required in all states, is hardly a safety concern... it is not saving lives... it only protects property... "shared responsibility" they call it. In other words, you don't have a right to hurt other people or their cars or other property with your car without paying for it.
Recently more extreme penalties have been enacted for not carrying it and people are having to make the choice between paying the auto insurance and food or utilities.
In Corpus Christi, where half the population is on some sort of public assistance even though they are working, if you are stopped for any reason and they find you don't have auto insurance, you are given a ticket with a penalty of a few hundred dollars and your auto is impounded immediately.
It costs 150 dollars or more to bail it out, AFTER you have reinstated your insurance. What logic punishes people who may not make enough money to keep their auto insurance in force continuously by taking away the means to keep a job?.. In fact most jobs in the area, which has limited public transportation qualify employment with "reliable transportation required".
Being impounded once, bailing it out, reinstating the insurance and paying the ticket could easily cost a month's wages.
HEALTH INSURANCE...
I supported Obama in 2008 and have been encouraged by a lot he has done since then which rarely gets publicized... like the Lily Ledbetter Equal Pay for Equal Work Legislation.
When the Health Care Reform Bill was passed, I started getting the sense that the Presidency may just be a figurehead position and that other forces are really steering the government's ship.
The requirement that all people PURCHASE health insurance stunned me. I didn't really expect for single payer/universal health care to pass, the first time around anyway, but to foist this obligation on everyone [sure, those who can't afford it will be subsidized supposedly] seemed outrageous, but I shouldn't be surprised.
It's the same trap that auto insurance places people in. It re-prioritizes one's budget and life choices for you... more powerlessness... And even with having health insurance, one may still not be able to afford to see a doctor because of copays and deductibles.
MORTGAGE INSURANCE...
I've never had a mortgage, so I'm not too clear about this, but I do know that part of the mortgage cost is for insurance.
Now why hasn't this insurance kicked in when all those people went in to foreclosure? Why weren't their homes saved by this insurance they've been paying, sometimes for decades, when they lost their jobs?
Isn't that what the insurance for... the unforseen change in circumstances in ability to pay?
Malaise of the Carter Era and Today
Perhaps the malaise of the Carter era indicates what is happening in the US today. People, for the most part, felt helpless in a sinking economy, as now, and very aggressive conservative forces moved into the government to take advantage of inaction on the part of the populace.
There were also the international tensions which facilitated the US becoming more hawkish and warlike pretending they are defending the nation. This also makes people feel helpless because the needs of the "conflict" or "war" supercedes the everyday needs. Normal life is put on hold while these protagonists set themselves up as "heroes".
Today, people feel even more helpless, because, not only do they not have any control over their lives, but opportunistic forces are pushing the government to an even further extreme position to attack the populace telling them it is for their own good when it obviously is not.
It doesn't help that most jobs today require elaborate computer skills, which are basically geared toward getting more people to use the computer for everything and less people to produce anything for themselves or others. The geniuses sought for innovative and inventive/creative positions in IT firms are hired to get more people to click on buttons and links and to monetize these clicks. That is about the extent of the participation today's economy requires of us.
Click on any site you have an interest in and there is a "Buy Now" button or a "Donate" button. There are sites for every belief and activity and product you can imagine and they all want to plug into your credit/debit card, preferably on a regular basis.
At the same time they are reducing wages and trying to shift the expense of benefits to the workers. This is not only a double whammy to the workers' budget... there is a more insidious intention. That is to get the money back from the workers that they paid the worker in the first place.... "I owe my soul to the company store" tactics come to mind.
Best example: Walmart... I worked at The Walmart Deli for a year and a half. Previous to that I was self-employed for 15 years. I was not prepared for their program...I had worked for other companies previous to that. It had been much easier than being self-employed and I felt that working conditions were fair and I was being taken care of.
There is the work to do, which was really 3 jobs rolled into one without adequate hours to complete any of them but was required to fill out checklists that said I DID complete them or else I would get a "coaching" about the forms. It made me a liar if I checked off things I didn't have time to finish or made me a poor performer if I didn't check these things off.
My schedule was erratic... come in a different time every day and come in different days every week... no time to plan a life outside this 20 hour a week job, much less get another 20 hour a week job. It made me sick with migraines and I was eventually fired for being out too much because of the migraines, even though I filled in for other people on an hour's notice at least once a week. Not very satisfying work.
Then there was the "benefits". Even though I only made about 750 a month, I was pressured to purchase health insurance [which I did not]. I also had my wages Direct Deposited on a Walmart Debit card, which was convenient because I no longer had a bank account due to a cascade of overdraft fees which wiped out the last balance I had.
It turns out that Walmart is part owner of the insurance company which offers the benefits. Also, Walmart is excused from carrying legitimate Worker's Comp insurance because they are offering workers' coverage through this same insurance comapany. Most workers have to fight for two years to be compensated for an injury, if they get anything at all. Injuries abound but workers are afraid to report them. Doing multiple jobs increases the speed with which you have to complete them, which causes most injuries.
Walmart is also part owner of the bank [GE Bank] which issues their debit card. They also offer employees auto loans, student loans and mortgages through THEIR bank. And last but not least, they offer a 10 per cent discount to employees on most items in their store, so they will shop there, but most people don't know that it is counted as INCOME, as opposed to straight discounts at other stores where one shops.
I've have never seen such a bunch of helpless despairing people, myself included, as working under these conditions. And this is where America is headed if unions are not brought back. It took me 6 months to recover mentally, emotionally and physically from working there. I considered it PTSD from being in an exploitive and abusive environment.
There were also the international tensions which facilitated the US becoming more hawkish and warlike pretending they are defending the nation. This also makes people feel helpless because the needs of the "conflict" or "war" supercedes the everyday needs. Normal life is put on hold while these protagonists set themselves up as "heroes".
Today, people feel even more helpless, because, not only do they not have any control over their lives, but opportunistic forces are pushing the government to an even further extreme position to attack the populace telling them it is for their own good when it obviously is not.
It doesn't help that most jobs today require elaborate computer skills, which are basically geared toward getting more people to use the computer for everything and less people to produce anything for themselves or others. The geniuses sought for innovative and inventive/creative positions in IT firms are hired to get more people to click on buttons and links and to monetize these clicks. That is about the extent of the participation today's economy requires of us.
Click on any site you have an interest in and there is a "Buy Now" button or a "Donate" button. There are sites for every belief and activity and product you can imagine and they all want to plug into your credit/debit card, preferably on a regular basis.
At the same time they are reducing wages and trying to shift the expense of benefits to the workers. This is not only a double whammy to the workers' budget... there is a more insidious intention. That is to get the money back from the workers that they paid the worker in the first place.... "I owe my soul to the company store" tactics come to mind.
Best example: Walmart... I worked at The Walmart Deli for a year and a half. Previous to that I was self-employed for 15 years. I was not prepared for their program...I had worked for other companies previous to that. It had been much easier than being self-employed and I felt that working conditions were fair and I was being taken care of.
There is the work to do, which was really 3 jobs rolled into one without adequate hours to complete any of them but was required to fill out checklists that said I DID complete them or else I would get a "coaching" about the forms. It made me a liar if I checked off things I didn't have time to finish or made me a poor performer if I didn't check these things off.
My schedule was erratic... come in a different time every day and come in different days every week... no time to plan a life outside this 20 hour a week job, much less get another 20 hour a week job. It made me sick with migraines and I was eventually fired for being out too much because of the migraines, even though I filled in for other people on an hour's notice at least once a week. Not very satisfying work.
Then there was the "benefits". Even though I only made about 750 a month, I was pressured to purchase health insurance [which I did not]. I also had my wages Direct Deposited on a Walmart Debit card, which was convenient because I no longer had a bank account due to a cascade of overdraft fees which wiped out the last balance I had.
It turns out that Walmart is part owner of the insurance company which offers the benefits. Also, Walmart is excused from carrying legitimate Worker's Comp insurance because they are offering workers' coverage through this same insurance comapany. Most workers have to fight for two years to be compensated for an injury, if they get anything at all. Injuries abound but workers are afraid to report them. Doing multiple jobs increases the speed with which you have to complete them, which causes most injuries.
Walmart is also part owner of the bank [GE Bank] which issues their debit card. They also offer employees auto loans, student loans and mortgages through THEIR bank. And last but not least, they offer a 10 per cent discount to employees on most items in their store, so they will shop there, but most people don't know that it is counted as INCOME, as opposed to straight discounts at other stores where one shops.
I've have never seen such a bunch of helpless despairing people, myself included, as working under these conditions. And this is where America is headed if unions are not brought back. It took me 6 months to recover mentally, emotionally and physically from working there. I considered it PTSD from being in an exploitive and abusive environment.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
The Lost Love for Labor
The title refers to America's, if not the entire Western world's, disdain for labor of any kind...that is, those activities which produce something, starting with raw material and produce an asthetic or utilitarian object or service.
There is the mental labor as well as the physical labor which fulfill a need in most humans to contribute to and to change their world... and yet all activities which produce income seem to exist sitting at a computer keyboard, utilizing the labor of the elctronic master.
Once the software is written, there is no diversion from the program. There is no contribution from the operator. Even in the most artistic of professions, the artist is limited by the imagination of the software programmer.
Those who extract the raw materials, mostly in non-Western countries are on an even lower plane of existence than those who produce. They generally risk their lives and health to be eternally indebted to owners of the raw material source.
There is still hope found in many countries which still have cottage industries producing textiles and utilitarian objects from natural materials on a human scale. Maybe we can get inspiration from these people who still know what their hands and minds can do and where our purpose is something more than to answer telephones or operate computers.
There is the mental labor as well as the physical labor which fulfill a need in most humans to contribute to and to change their world... and yet all activities which produce income seem to exist sitting at a computer keyboard, utilizing the labor of the elctronic master.
Once the software is written, there is no diversion from the program. There is no contribution from the operator. Even in the most artistic of professions, the artist is limited by the imagination of the software programmer.
Those who extract the raw materials, mostly in non-Western countries are on an even lower plane of existence than those who produce. They generally risk their lives and health to be eternally indebted to owners of the raw material source.
There is still hope found in many countries which still have cottage industries producing textiles and utilitarian objects from natural materials on a human scale. Maybe we can get inspiration from these people who still know what their hands and minds can do and where our purpose is something more than to answer telephones or operate computers.
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