If people work full time on a minimum wage salary and don't make enough money to eat (without government assistance) what do you suggest they eat? How do they feed their families? Where should they live? Great question. Here's my extended answer:Believe it or not people were self sufficient LONG before government was created by the people and for the people (as opposed to for the government in order to support the government). Whoever said that minimum wage jobs were created to sustain a person's permanent livelihood anyway?
When you think of minimum wage jobs, you think fast food restaurants. They are great opportunities to enter the job market as a young person or earn extra money as an adult. Unfortunately the reality is that fast food is only worth so much. People are NOT going to pay much more for it than they currently are. If a higher minimum wage is enforced, restaurants will go out of business and these wages will no longer exist anyway.
With each passing day our taxes and health care are through the roof while our wages and jobs are being severely cut. So what do brilliant legislators do in response? Raise our taxes even further. That's the way to destroy an economy. Way to go! Funny how almost everyone is broke and living paycheck to paycheck but miraculously folks are still able to afford cells phones, cable TV and internet. How is this possible?
How about a tax holiday? If the government wants to insist that healthcare is a moral issue, then so is over taxation and irresponsible spending. Both affect a persons quality of life. Government needs fiscal responsibility desperately. You can't tax and spend your way into debt for years and years and then wake up and expect everyone to still be employed and/ or be out of debt. I guess I would ask the democrats and republicans the same question: Why are we in debt? Why is the tax code so complex? Why is healthcare so exponentially expensive?
These are rhetorical questions which nobody seems willing to address seriously.
Let's move on to solutions. How does one obtain a job in a jobless market? Try Craigslist for starters. That's exactly where my current employer found me after I sent our resume after resume the traditional way. Be creative in your job search. Do what everyone else isn't doing. Set yourself apart. I've been to the unemployment office within the past two years and I can assure you that many people are not trying as hard as they could or even willing to improve basic skills. It is true that a SMALL percentage truly cannot find work or are simply to unhealthy to work, but many people out there are scamming the system by taking government assistance away from those who truly need it even though they are able to work.
Sadly, many families have to work several jobs just to make ends meat. This begs the question, in what ways can our government help us rather than just give us back someone else's money. I don't know, could they perhaps introspectively examine the waste and fraud within their own ranks and their own regulations? Just a crazy thought.
What can Americans do to induce change? Frankly they should vote for candidates who make fiscal responsibility a priority. In the meantime, it took us many years to get here, it's gonna take a few more to get us out. That's the price we have to pay. Ask folks who went through the depression what they did. They made it through, so can we.
Invariably upon losing a job a person goes through stages. As the money gets tighter you have to cut back, maybe sell some personal items, perhaps even your house or nice car. Maybe you have to eat rice and beans for months. It's kinda gross but it sure is cheap. There are no guarantees of life short of those made by Jesus Christ. I can't state more emphatically that being a good financial steward over the course of ones life will almost guarantee a size able nest egg which one will have available to them in seasons of unemployment. That is a biblical principle. Unfortunately we can no longer teach good old biblical principles in public school. Not teaching these principles has created massive debt in our modern 'enlightened' society.
Let us also remember that all people should be respected equally regardless of position, race, religion, ect. Even Jesus reminded us that the first will be last and the last will be first. There is no partiality in heaven and Gods economy is perfect.
I have another business idea. Start a blog with Adsense. It can generate passive, steady income. A person could also buy and sell on Ebay if they were good at finding deals. There are alternate ways to make money if one REALLY tries. Semi truck drivers are in also high demand these days and make decent money especially in a year or two. It's not for everyone but then again no job is.
So how do the unemployed feed their families? Where should they live? If we're taking about aliens suddenly deposited here, deemed outcasts by their superior brethren and left to fend for themselves, I would agree that they need special attention. But for the rest of us mortal earthlings, responsible people should ask themselves 'how did I get here?'. Poor choices would most likely top the list. One could also ask, why is it that we hear about countless successful businesses started by immigrants from around the world? A superior work ethic perhaps? Desperation maybe? Maybe those lost in the void of unemployment should 'condescend' to talk to them and ask how they did it. Until I see ZERO legit job openings on Craigslist, on the internet and within ones sphere of influence, I have little sympathy for those who aren't willing to 'work' at getting work. And yes, I said this to myself every day during my recent season of unemployment. Network and crowdsource.
In my opinion raising the minimum wage, the core discussion issue here, will not automatically solve everything. In fact, as I noted above, this will drive many businesses out of business. The recent infusion of illegal immigrants have saturated the job market. One reason for this is because this current administration been lax when it comes to enforcing our border laws? Why are taxes through the roof, causing businesses to raise their prices and then subsequently lay people off? It's not because they are mean and greedy, I can assure you. At least not in most cases. If you think about it, there is a cause and effect to everything.
Our present circumstances require us to come together united as a nation like in the three weeks following 9-11, when we were united together in a single cause to bring terror to justice. That became the primary focus of our leaders at that time and guess what, things got accomplished! There are no easy solutions because this problem, or crisis, has developed over many years. But if our government works together to represent ALL of us (not just the special interest groups) as they promised when they were sworn in, things will be accomplished. Those of us with an eternal perspective understand that evil is desperate to take down as many souls as it can. There is an unseen reality that many choose to ignore. For me and my house, we choose to serve The Lord. We understand that certain events will be unavoidable.
Someone once said that if you took the collective weath of the top 1%, the 'evil rich' folk who start businesses and create those jobs you could fund the government for a couple weeks. Big whoop. Then what? America is broke and needs to be repaired from the inside out. Godly financial principles need to be instituted. He will honor that.
Though Americans will never agree on everything we can all learn a little bit from each other. Understanding each other's point a view helps us establish and agree on a reasonable compromise. Democracy in action, if you will. I pray our leaders will follow suit in this respect. Our pastor reminded us this morning that prayer is the single most important thing we should be doing right now in addition to the others we discussed. Since God created all things from nothing by His Word, He can certainly also provide solutions and move mountains in 2014. But we have to turn to Him, humbly pray and seek His face. Then America will be healed and the 'how' will be realized by a miracle from His hands.
James
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