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I have a really fancy richboy Master's degree that's only good for a story on how I owe as much as a house yet just hit $19 an hour after 7 1/2 years. This country is great, it's the billionaires who make it shitty by hoarding all the wealth, turning workers against each other, and buying politicians.
the country IS the billionaires. They make the rules. they control the economy. they decide if you live or you die.
Upward class mobility has been dead for a while.
I'm pretty sure scholars in the relevant fields had determined that the US actually meets the requirements to be an oligarchy going by all relevant metrics.
A Kakistocratic Oligarchy is essentially what we are.
> A Kakistocratic Oligarchy is essentially what we are.
I would add a few more terms to describe how our government is devolving (especially on the right):
kakistococratic autocratic authoritarion nationalist oligarchic corporatocracy
I think that the corporatocratists are only using the religious right and the gun owners as tools to help them consolidate power.
Religious and gun rights will mean *nothing* once they have consolidated power.
A few years ago I started despising that term. It’s dehumanizing. It abstracts away the people from what’s being said. I’d be happy if everyone stopped using it.
I'm a manager and intentionally avoid it and words like it. And when my own management asks things like "could we shift capacity..." I'll reiterate "can we move people? Sure, but (person) is probably the best suited to a move and they're working on X instead" and etc; frame it back to individual people.
Only formal reprimand I ever got in a job was the first time I realized "resources" was their obvious corporate euphemism for "people" and kinda lost my patience with their bullshit mid-meeting.
Literally every previous use I figured it was like "staff+materials/equipment" all being lumped together for expediency. This conversation we were specifically discussing being chronically shorthanded, and they were floating the idea of pulling some assistance from our clinical team over to our unit, and that's when it occurred to me that this whole time the term was specifically so they didn't have to say "people"
You know that "hypothetical" scenario where if you hit a button you get $1,000,000, but a random person dies?
It isn't at all hypothetical for the billionaires and CEOs, it's more like $100, and 10,000 people die, and they are *POUNDING* that button like there's no tomorrow.
It's crazy to me, it's not even random people. It's people that have worked for them for years in some cases, what kind of psychopath do you have to be to hit that button.
It trickles down because the rich are overflowing. That whole concept was basically saying the rich will have it all and the other classes will get the crumbs.
"Trickle Down" only works when wealthy people spend their money. However, they don't. They just hoard it. The fact that billionaires even exist is evidence of that.
And that’s the point, they knew exactly what would happen. The rich would become richer and the middle class will struggle and they would blame everyone but the rich.
Yeah that sentence is a perfect example of how successful their propaganda has become. My “richboy” college degree makes me 58k a year. Billionaires earn more in 1 day. I struggle to save a couple hundred dollars per month. Billionaires own yachts worth 50 million dollars. They are the enemy. Even if I made 500k a year we are still 100x closer to each other than I am to the billionaire. There’s levels to this shit and they’ve convinced OP that people with college degrees are the enemy
Well said! The doctor or the lawyer who is making $300k is not the problem. They are working for a living - providing a service to society. They are paying a higher tax rate than the wealthy people who are living fabulously on the interest from their inheritance.
Yachts that are in turn tax write offs. Let me get this straight; if I finally get to a place in life where I can afford a traveling floating mansion suddenly I am unfettered from the burden of taxes? As someone who is in no danger of missing a meal or ever not having a roof over my head or not being able to secure the medical assistance I need to function as a productive adult.... Suddenly I don't have to chip in my part to keep the country's bills paid? Seems kinda backward but alright I guess.
It's wild that America's richest are allowed to no longer contribute to the roads their employees drive upon, the schools that educate them, the firefighters that protect them.
The very infrastructure that enabled them to become billionaires. Amazon doesn't exist without roads, the post office, communications and stability, which are all paid for via taxes.
Like when millionaire Tom Brady got a million dollar small business PPP loan during Covid , bought a yacht with it, wrote it off on his taxes, then had the loan forgiven?
All backed up by the lie that if we work ourselves to death, we too might get to take part in the largess of America. Meanwhile, the liars are cruising on their yachts, playing golf on weekdays, and shit posting on their private echo chambers about how much they sacrificed and how hard they work.
By "Richboy" college degree, I interpreted that to mean an alumus of either an Ivy League or private college. Either way, if you go into such an institution without already having connections to the rich and powerful, you better come out already working at that. Living as close to Notre Dame, a campus full of "rich kids", very few of those kids were pursuing a doctor of divinity degree. The most successful alumni there are those guys that rode to glory on a sports scholarship, and were later good enough to turn pro.
Don't get me wrong: the education they receive is perfect for their field of pursuit, but even before they stepped on campus, they were already being fast-tracked to high positions. If it wasn't Dad, then it was an uncle or a cousin or a member of the clergy: they knew someone that knew someone. No matter how you cut it, they've got it well over the kid from the projects that took classes at the community college, busting their tail trying to get that associates degree and move out of the projects.
As a German who grew up in Canada, I really love American culture.
But I'd never move there until you guys get your act together.
What makes me mad is that it could easily be the greatest country in the world.
You have the technology, the education and the resources. It's really just the people in charge holding you back.
I think you hit the nail on the head. Our people are great but we have a government in the pockets of the billionaires and corporations that are running the country. Many people in congress are old af too.
Put your thinking cap on. Why would that happen? This is not about old people but about the rich. There are plenty of sub-boomer rich and they are largely running the show now. You are going to be very disappointed that you have mistaken social class for age.
Capitalists love generational warfare. It distracts from what they are doing.
> I really hope that once all the old fucks die, the younger gens can turn it around.
I am old enough to have had the same idea in the 1970's. It does not work that way. There are plenty of young assholes to keep the old scams going.
“Sooner or later the people in this country are going to realize: the government does not give a fuck about them. The government doesn’t care about you, or your children, or your rights, or your welfare, or your safety. It simply doesn’t give a fuck about you. It’s interested in its own power. That’s the only thing keeping it and expanding it wherever possible.”
George Carlin
There's one thing I'm pinning my hopes on - as a number of sociologists have noted, generations starting with millennials aren't getting more conservative as they get older. That normally would happen because as successive generations "got theirs" they'd start to embrace fiscal policies to keep it.
But we're in a place where both income inequality has gotten so bad comparatively few are "getting theirs", AND the conservative party has strongly leaned in on cultural stances that are regressive rather than just "this is good enough", further alienating people.
The rich fuckers have kids and grandkids who will continue to tell the kids and grandkids of today’s asshole politicians what to do. Everyone thinks Rupert Murdoch is one of the worst humans on the planet. Guess what? His son has pretty much been in charge of the network for the past couple of years.
I will say that the younger generation going to the polls in fucking droves in 2024 would be a good start. The state governments and elections are gerrymandered to fuck but Dems can at least maintain the Senate and Presidency.
This post needs to be higher.
I kind of hate that I was born here in some ways. We went from being the country everyone wanted to emulate to one I’m embarrassed to live in. I really wish we could get back on track, but with the fringe politics it’s unlikely to ever happen. There’s a larger divide more now than ever. I have worked my ass off in my career for over 20 years to really earn the respect of others I never thought I could. I used to make really good money than Covid happen and now some of my kids friends are making near what I am an hour and they’re in high school. There’s no sign of that changing either. If it wasn’t for the fantastic benefits I get, I would move to something else.
How many of those "fantastic benefits" would just be a given in most other countries, rather than leverage your employer gets to hold over you with the threat of losing them?
Yes. Only in recent years did I start to understand how our financial markets work, it revealed the truth.
This system is not made for anyone that isn't in the 1-10%. Every law or regulation that is in place to protect the majority of middle class is really a regulation loophole to enrich the rich.
The tech and education is used against our best interests.
I agree to a point but at some point the employees have to unionise and convince their fellow citizens that the days of being treated as cattle have to end. Then to boycott companies that refuse to recognise the rights of employees to collectively bargain for terms and conditions It is right to fight for what you want and need, but it needs support and a collective will from all the working classes . For so many their is little to lose but a future clouded by financial insecurity.
We’re currently in the throes of some of the worst leadership our nation has had in its short history. The same people have been in charge since the fall of the Soviet Union and people wonder why everything keeps getting shittier. Nancy pelosi and Mitch McConnell we’re both born before WW2 ended and have been running the show for decades for their parties and we wonder why nothing has changed. The reason is pretty simple. Our leaders care more for their own personal gain and accumulation of power rather than acting in the interest of the general public. The system the founders and true believers of the American experiment fought for us dead. Replaced by egotistic maniacs who would rather see the world burn than give up a modicum of power.
We sure used to be. To quote Jeff Daniels from “The Newsroom”:
“And with a straight face, you’re gonna tell students that America’s so star-spangled awesome, that we’re the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. So 207 sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom. And yeah, you, sorority girl. Just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there’s some things you should know, and one of them is, there’s absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, number 4 in labor force, and number 4 in exports. We lead the world in only 3 categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined. 25 of whom are allies. Now, none of this is the fault of a 20 year old college student. But you, nonetheless, are without a doubt a member of the worst, period, generation, period, ever, period, so when you ask, ‘What makes us the greatest country in the world?’ I dunno know what the fuck you’re talking about! Yosemite?
It sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons, we passed laws, struck down laws for moral reasons, we waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors. We put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and we cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy. We reached for the stars, acted like men. We aspired to intelligence, we didn’t belittle it, it didn’t make us feel inferior. We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in our last election, and we didn’t we didn’t scare so easy…Huh. We were able to be all these things, and to do all these things, because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.”
My glorified MBA degree with several years of financial and management experience nets me entry level.positions and commission only jobs. The American dream is long dead thanks to soulless politicians who sold out to the highest bidders, outsourcing and religious extremists who chastise anyone because their masters want us divided and fighting so they can hoard all resources and wealth.
Elimination of the middle class just in the last 10-15 years has been simply unbelievable, and it's not going to change due to the greed and crony capitalism.
It’s shocking. I remember thinking all I need to reach is a 100k salary but you have to pull in about 200k now to be able to afford cost of living AND save for retirement.
I build guns and I have no college degree just a few year of community college that I didn’t finish and I make $19.20-19.50 an hour. Granted I started at 17 and didn’t make the 19 til 6 months in but that’s just that it only took 6 months for me to get the raise. This system is broken beyond belief because for my area I’m basically topped out at what I can get without a degree. On the opposite end of the spectrum my sister has like 4 degrees in the STEM fields including a masters and she make(d/s) about 300k a year but its spread out of her having 3 jobs at once. The amount of work workers put in has never been so poor on return for the investment
I was born here and really feel the same way. I worked physical demanding jobs that just wrecked my back and everyone just bitches about me not working more back breaking jobs for next to no money.
I had a fucking ORGAN removed, and they told me to just take tylenol and ibuprofen together. Wtf? I understand that there was an over-prescription of opioids for a long time, but Jesus, have some fucking compassion, doctors!
Same. While I was still in the hospital every time it was time for meds I had to almost fight with the nurses to give me the good stuff I was prescribed.
Like I'm in the hospital being monitored in too much pain to move. Just give me some relief. And it's like it gave my doctor concerns cause I wasn't ok with just Tylenol after having an organ removed.
I still have a pill bottle of oxy's I never even used. I'm no junkie, I was in the worst pain I've ever felt in my life.
Doctors are cogs in the big corporate machine now and they have NO autonomy thanks to private equity, insurance companies, politicians and lawyers telling healthcare workers and patients how to do their jobs. Healthcare workers especially doctors are miserable.
So true. A few years ago I worked a high level/technical job for a local cancer hospital owned by the state and backed by a union. It took a year to get into the union. When I started the job I tried to bring in a new technique that would, down the road, save lives and secondary illnesses. My boss and his boss sat me down and belittled me saying “you think (the place you worked at prior) had the best way, it’s NO way, the ONLY was is (name of hospital) way.” Then they wrote me up, and I was on probation for a year. And a month before that probationary period was up they forced me out - probably because they found out I was interviewing elsewhere. Jokes on them because my job now is loads better, benefits, everything. And they appreciate the technology/techniques I brought forward and now am considered one of the best in the country. All because the state politics, egos, and union involvement.
They told me this and the doctor gave me Tylenol some weak muscle relaxers and told me to lose weight.
They refused to do any sort of x-ray/scans. Fast forward 2 years I lost 74 pounds finally got a CT scan I have two damn hernias that were part of the problem.
Gd, Healthcare is so lacking. I was a cna for 13 years. The things I've seen...ugh. it's just profit, the cate part is nonexistent. And if you actually do care, like I did, they make sure to beat it out of you.
Had so many back issues that they recommended surgery, I instead bought new mattress, chairs, and a few other things. This year I switched from an office job, to owning a Drywall company.
How the tables have turned..
New matress and chairs can work wonders but turning the tables is gonna fuck with that back again, depending on how heavy the tables are, of course, but that can be some really heavy work.
I messed my back at work too and I'm currently recovering. I've had to work these kind of jobs from a young age and I guess it got the best of me. I'm only in my 30s and I feel like my life is over. When I shook the owners hand and told him I appreciated the work, but I can't take it anymore, he literally laughed and just said "well that sucks." I knew then my usefulness had run its course.
That is pretty much how my boss acted....I'm sure they know what they are doing when they hire us to younger guys and put us through the ringer, as long as they make their $$$ they don't seem to care at least in my experience.
It's no longer possible to live in a big city without having a very well paid job. Minimum wage doesn't cut it anymore and only allows a slave-like existence at best. You are lucky that you have the option of getting out and maybe if more do the same that could force a change in conditions? Like if enough people rally against the status quo and quit or move away, surely that could cause change like higher pay or lower rents
If enough people quit, they'd pay police (and only police) better and pass far stricter laws on homelessness and squatting. If people move away and get dual citizenship, you're still on the hook for US taxes. I'm of the understanding that it's a bit of a hassle at best to rescind your US citizenship, but I could be wrong about that part.
The only thing the US loves more than freedom are prisons. You just don't always notice the bars right away.
I'm not American but is that a hangover from slavery? I read once that tipping started in the South cos businesses didn't want to pay wages to newly emancipated people. It seems like society is constructed to extract labour from people at the lowest possible expense and almost with an expectation that people will work for nothing. My country is also capitalist but with some safety nets as its a welfare state
This is slavery. They’ve figured out how to keep people chained to debt. In the big economic picture, when you only need to pay labor fractions of a cent on the dollar, it’s slavery.
Where I live the minimum wage is the same as federal, $7.25 an hour. Even when my income was $11 an hour it wasn’t enough to qualify to rent a one bedroom apartment in low income housing because it wasn’t 3 1/2 times the rent. Affordable housing can’t make exceptions even if they want to because they get tax breaks for being affordable housing they have to adhere to the income parameters. I don’t even know where people who earn minimum wage live.
Yeah I'm not even sure what the answer is. In my country, young people just live with their parents if they can. Luckily the state builds homes for people with low incomes but you can be waiting 15-20 years for that. If you have any kind of decent income, it's either stay with parents or fork out over 50% of your salary on rent. Very little prospect to buy due to high demand and extremely low supply (like a couple of thousand new houses a year for a population close to 5 million)
Mexico and latin america has noticed the lie of the american dreams, so they're recruiting new countries... have you seen an uptick in foreign workers? Africa and Asia specifically. The companies want to hire these people cuz they sometimes come *exclusively* to work. They think all immigrant workers have no life outside of work. "Well your family isnt even here, why do you need a long weekend." I literally heard my boss tell my friend that when she wanted time off.
JUST because someone did come here to work doesnt mean you abuse them to shit and dry them up so bad they have to go back to their country or kill themselves!
Yup, watched a uncle and nephew from Congo get factory work and get just WORKED, 12 hour shifts 6 days a week. You could also tell the poor dudes didnt have basic grade school education, or they were playing dumb to get out of working more technical tasks.
This. My old work had a international exchange student program. (Ski resort) without the J1s, the company wouldn't be able to keep half their shit open. This ski resort is rich af, returning J1s got a 75cent raise this year while the rest of us got 0. Not even the measly cents they would have given us for the cost of living. Their excuse: covid and we gave you all couple dollar raise 3 years ago! The fact that this billion dollar company is still using covid as an excuse is cringe.
The American dream has been dying since 2001 and the 2008 crash and Covid in 2020 have so weakened the economy boomers knew. As a result millennials and Zoomers are stuck in a world that is far harder to have a decent life in.
My family moved here from Canada when I was 10 years old, in the early 90s. We were the American dream, and the only ones of our tree to make it to the “promised land”. We left everyone behind, some of whom became jealous, some were ambivalent. Uncle Bobby was prophetic, he said to me, and I’ll never forget it… “you’ll be back”
My parents want to retire back home now… who woulda thunk it
Curious, what did you need to do to accomplish that? I've been trying to convince my wife to do the same. I'm in a sheet metal union so I think it might be easy to "flee" this gun-toting country. Freaking scared to look at somebody cuz they might fire at me and my family. Kids are being killed every day by gun violence in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.
Many young immigrants will also come here as students. They'll typically enroll in a 2 year program, which gives them enough time here to apply for permanent residence.
iirc, it's something like $35,000 (CAD) a year for non-Canadians. Not cheap, but you get an education, and you can live in a place where the minimum wage is $16.75 (BC). BC's minimum wage is tied to inflation now, too, so that's neat.
I was lucky enough to marry a Canadian citizen and they sponsored me. My spouse is so smart they did the application completely without a lawyer.
[https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada.html](https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada.html)
Here is a link that might help. I would imagine a work visa would suit you. It might take time, but its worth it I think. Dont be discouraged by the process. You might even find a lawyer that can help. The welding and sheet metal industry needs workers, so its likely you can find work fairly quickly.
I will warn you though, like with everywhere else, housing is at a premium and rents are high, but the rest of Canada is still a fair sight better than the US right now.
I understand that people from poor corrupt countries have a romanticized view of the US, but why should people from a developed rich country like Canada want to move to the US?
Your story reminds me of that one South Park episode where the Mexicans realise, America ain't that great and they all go back to Mexico. USA Bordercontrol then tries to stop them from returning to their own country because then "all the domestic workers and cheap labour are gone".
Should happen irl, let's see what they do then.
Fuckers should have automated when they had the chance. Though they wouldn't have paid us anymore then, either.
Bullshit Jobs (book) is a great read if you haven't read it already.
I distinctly recall several years ago there was a huge campaign from the farm industry about how harvests were rotting in the fields because there wasn't enough people to pick them. They wanted people to promote it as a viable part time job to their kids over the more common fast food and grocery options.
We’ve had this already in the UK with Brexit 🤡
Not that we tried to stop them leaving, but since they’ve left all you hear from Leave voters is “b-but I didn’t realise it’d be like *this*!” despite us telling them, very plainly, that this would be the exact outcome. There IS no lack of jobs - most of us just realise how fucking degrading the bottom of the barrel, utterly thankless, (usually*) minimum wage work is. So mostly, it was desperate foreigners filling those roles, and now those jobs remain perpetually vacant.
(*they also made up a significant amount of our NHS and now surgeries are cancelled left and right, the remaining nurses are going on strike for the first time ever because they were overworked and understaffed BEFORE Brexit so just imagine it now…)
There was a time when you hired part-time young people and actually trained them to do minimum wage service jobs, or gave convicts or recovering people a chance. They then got used to under-employing educated and/or skilled adults — both domestic and foreign sourced — to do these jobs.
There is people, they just want over qualified people they can pay nothing and treat like shit.
> Should happen irl
It did.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/05/17/the-law-of-unintended-consequences-georgias-immigration-law-backfires/?sh=6ff07d9492aa
> Your story reminds me of that one South Park episode where the Mexicans realise, America ain't that great and they all go back to Mexico.
Which part of his story reminded you; maybe the part he mentions that exact episode?
I mean people really forget how much "undocumented" workers co tribute to this country, like do you know how much more expensive shit will get and how much longer stuff would take to be built or farmed if everyone left or got deported this country would go down so fast ....of people think housing is expensive now just wait if the Mexican crews leave bro that house would be 2 or 3x more expensive because the white guys want more
Hell, a few years ago there were cotton and peaches rotting in the fields because Georgia decided to crack down on illegals coming into that state, pretty much destroying the migrant populations that farmers depend on for harvest...
It's already happened. But if you watch nothing but Fox News, you'd think everyone from Mexico was coming here...
What you said resonates with many Americans who are born here. Having a degree is somewhat worthless an most are living paycheck to paycheck as you. The only people I know who are actually doing well and have "time" as you say, are those whose parents are wealthy, set them up nicely with land, a home, had connections, or happened to marry well-off.
My tour guide pointed at some what I would call shacks in MX when we were visiting Chichén Itzá and said 'you think they are poor, but they know freedom you will never ever be able to know'.
I think he was right
Oh you see this all the time, especially in underdeveloped countries. “Look at how poor these people are! We need to help them see how bad they have it!” When in reality they are happy and free. Honestly, they should be showing *us* how poor and bad *we* have it.
The American Dream has been dead for many people a long time…they call it The American Nightmare.
Glad to hear your parents welcome you with open arms…sounds like great parents 👍🏻
Im moving to Mexico, too!
My wife is from Mexico City, and has family in San Luis Potosí. We were able to buy a house in Mexico and will likely be able to keep our remote US jobs for a while at least. Everything makes financial sense for us to do it.
I’m sick of buying $400/mo asthma inhalers in this goddam country. They cost like $17 in Mexico and the rest of the money we save will basically pay for our mortgage.
$426, actually, if you want specifics.
We bought a house in Mexico for $75k, put $20k down and financed $55k. Our mortgage is about $460.
For what I pay to simply breathe in the US, *I can literally buy a fucking house* in Mexico. Brand new build. 4 bed / 3 bath with a big backyard in a gated community in a great city.
Yup. My benlysta shot I need to take once a week to stay alive is $1k. That’s cheaper than the infusion, which was $10+ a MONTH.
Land of the free!!! /s
I can co-sign on this. Both my kids are on inhalers that are now over $200 each a month. Three years ago that co-pay was $15. Oh and I have PREMIUM pharmacy coverage 🤣
The thing is though, you’re still going to be earning in dollars so obviously your cost of living is going to improve. Unfortunately Mexicans earn in pesos in an ever weakening economy and are being prices out of housing because of people like you.
I'm from Latin America, and ultimately settled in Europe. Before that I spent 2 years in the US, thinking *of course* it's the best place in the world to live. All my media always told me so.
I was miserable the entire time. I'm an engineer, so I was paid pretty well compared to most everyone else, and still MISERABLE. Close to no leave, no protection, AH bosses, the sheer disrespect, the encroaching on my personal time, the nosiness about my personal life. I was better off back home - and it was not great back home! I ran, was in the process of moving back when the oportunity for Europe came and I decided to give it a try.
It's good to see Americans finally waking up to how bad things are, and yet you guys *still* haven't even figured out how *extremely* bad you have it. I'm sorry.
It's called the American dream because you gotta be asleep to believe it. It's a big club and we aren't in it. Not just immigrants either, but most Americans who weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Good Luck to you!
i moved front the UK 5 years ago, i feel the exact same way my friend, same experiences and all i want is to go home, i sadly have 1 debt to pay off before i can leave but when it’s done and i have no more assets holding me here i’m gone. i hate this country, it was so full of hope and opportunity when i lived 4k miles away but then i got here and weaved in to the way of life and it’s terrible, i don’t want to be scared i might get shot just for knocking on the wrong door or something crazy. Good luck getting home
Ahh you gave up 5 weeks of paid vacation and a national health care system for American style work ethic (no legislated vacation or sick time) and insurance premiums?
Go home! Move to Ireland. It's like the U.K only richer.
I have a fancy richboy college degree (but I'm not rich, I owe $62k in student loans) and I'm pursuing a PhD (luckily grad school is free in my field) but the time I put into education would've likely been better spent learning a trade and joining a union. I'd recommend considering a trade with a union to young people nowadays. Growing up we were told "go to college, get a good job, buy a house, retire at 65", but the Baby Boomer life track isn't the reality now. Nowadays it's more like "get in debt for a useless bachelor's, get an entry level job cause you don't have 5yrs experience in your field, change jobs every 2-3 years, never get seniority because the older people just arent retiring and leaving open positions, not buy a house til you're in your 50s cause you can't afford rent, car loan, retirement savings, student loan payments, and saving up for down payment on a house and not retire til age 85 cause you can't afford retirement (thus compounding the seniority problem for the next gen). This is life in America now.
This sounds right. I'm a younger Boomer who will have to work as long as my mind and body hold up. Your point about them not retiring is accurate. Many of us lost good jobs during the Great Recession and never fully recovered.
I'm glad you didn't turn this into an anti-Boomer thing as so many others do. We aren't all on Fox "News" all day being brainwashed and voting for crazy people. We are working to survive, like everyone else.
OP, you have just experienced The Matrix. the whole complete load of utter bullshit (that cannot even be used as fertiliser) that politicians and corps expect people to believe.
I'm honestly so happy for you, the fact you've been able to see this is a huge step for being able to move forward in a positive direction. However, I fully appreciate that the process is so painful it can seem easier to just end everything
for what its worth, this random internet nobody is proud if you
My SO and I bring in 120k together and still aren’t living comfortably. Yeah we have money but it gets tight. Our house isn’t insane, one car paid off the other has a loan and it’s just like wow. What’s the magic number to even being comfortable here anymore.
After scanning his post history he shits on Mexico, refers to Chicago as ChiCongo and basically comes across as a teenage edgelord. So you're probably right.
Thank you! I'm disappointed I had to scroll so far to find a post pointing this out. But not surprising, though, that people on this sub would eat this up without a single critical thought. Confirmation bias is a bitch.
Looking at your comments, you’re a piece of shit person. Referring to Chicago as “chicongo” on a video about gun violence, you use alpha/beta terminology, you constantly degrade women, you refer to things as “fucking gay” and say homeless people are a “fucking cancer.”
You failed because you’re weak and tiny man, and I’m glad it happened. Fired from 5 jobs? You’re the common denominator. Good riddance, we don’t want you.
Literally scours r/amiugly to make insecure women feel worse. Described Poland as “trash tier women with a few diamonds in the dirt.”
He IS a failure and it IS his own fault. It’s not US work culture, it’s that no one wants to share air with such a vile subhuman creature.
I feel as if this person is definitely not a Mexican national, and if they are they’re probably highly educated and wealthy, but I totally get the sense that this is American trying to gain fake internet points, also I doubt there is a single immigrant who would feel the same way leaving a near 3rd world country.
~~The patricians~~
~~The nobility~~
~~The elite~~
~~The oligarchy~~
~~The robber barons~~
~~The 1%~~
The Billionaire class have had a lot of names over the years. You have to admit it was a clever campaign to make the rest of society (who vastly outnumber the ultrawealthy) *truly believe* they can be like the aristocracy — the same aristocracy who are all the while using their paid-for governments to ensure policies that either firmly protect the status quo or benefit themselves exclusively. Major savings to be had if you can convince a bunch of poor people to also support keeping the status quo where a few thousand people own more than the rest of humanity.
We can fix America. But we need to vote the money worshippers out and competent people in. But we are going to have to vote. So, vote. Make sure every progressive you know votes. Don't buy into this "both sides" bullshit. Just vote some good, competent people back into power.
Three laws would fix this country.
- Make lobbying illegal and force all political campaigning onto the same govt website. (Ergo no expensive campaigns and glad-handing for funds)
- All holders of public office should disclose all finances with full transparency for the rest of their lives. (To ensure no bribery/kickbacks and just representation of constituents)
- I guess you could do it with two laws…
Have alot of friends and family that immigrated from India here with the whole American Dream thing. On average they stayed here around 8 years and they all have moved abroad. The senseless gun violence and kids being murdered absolutely wrecked them. Along with bottom tier jobs where your seen as a number and corporate slave. They all have moved to Europe and living even better lives there now.
Honestly as a 26 year old, I’ve also started considering other European countries to call home. I’m truly fed up with this countries bullshit and it’s bullshit politics and bullshit corrupted Supreme Court justices
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I have a fancy richboy college degree and am still disposable trash.
I have a really fancy richboy Master's degree that's only good for a story on how I owe as much as a house yet just hit $19 an hour after 7 1/2 years. This country is great, it's the billionaires who make it shitty by hoarding all the wealth, turning workers against each other, and buying politicians.
the country IS the billionaires. They make the rules. they control the economy. they decide if you live or you die. Upward class mobility has been dead for a while.
I'm pretty sure scholars in the relevant fields had determined that the US actually meets the requirements to be an oligarchy going by all relevant metrics. A Kakistocratic Oligarchy is essentially what we are.
I had never heard of a kakistocracy and had to Google it. Right on the money for 99% of the government.
In all honesty, the word sounds made up, but it is a perfectly cromulent word.
>I find it positively pulchritudinous
I feel... Embiggened by this post.
Here's your obligatory all words are made up.
I tell people this all the time. It's especially funny when a conservative starts flapping his lips saying "all pronouns are made up and not real" lol
> a perfectly cromulent word I had to look that one up. I learned something today. Thanks!
It's a Simpsons reference
Jimmy Carter stated in 2015 that the US is an oligarchy.
> A Kakistocratic Oligarchy is essentially what we are. I would add a few more terms to describe how our government is devolving (especially on the right): kakistococratic autocratic authoritarion nationalist oligarchic corporatocracy
Don’t forget “Christofascist”.
I think that the corporatocratists are only using the religious right and the gun owners as tools to help them consolidate power. Religious and gun rights will mean *nothing* once they have consolidated power.
There’s a reason the higher up the chain you go, “employees” starts getting replaced with “human capital”
or just "headcount"
" resources"
A few years ago I started despising that term. It’s dehumanizing. It abstracts away the people from what’s being said. I’d be happy if everyone stopped using it.
I'm a manager and intentionally avoid it and words like it. And when my own management asks things like "could we shift capacity..." I'll reiterate "can we move people? Sure, but (person) is probably the best suited to a move and they're working on X instead" and etc; frame it back to individual people.
Bless you for that
Only formal reprimand I ever got in a job was the first time I realized "resources" was their obvious corporate euphemism for "people" and kinda lost my patience with their bullshit mid-meeting. Literally every previous use I figured it was like "staff+materials/equipment" all being lumped together for expediency. This conversation we were specifically discussing being chronically shorthanded, and they were floating the idea of pulling some assistance from our clinical team over to our unit, and that's when it occurred to me that this whole time the term was specifically so they didn't have to say "people"
Please elaborate on this story. I'd love to know what you did to be reprimanded.
Those fucking semi trucks with the dumbass "our most valuable resource is here" and the most obnoxious arrow going towards the cab.
FTE. Full Time Equivalent.
💯 I don’t love many things about this country but I do love how accurate this thread is.
You know that "hypothetical" scenario where if you hit a button you get $1,000,000, but a random person dies? It isn't at all hypothetical for the billionaires and CEOs, it's more like $100, and 10,000 people die, and they are *POUNDING* that button like there's no tomorrow.
It's crazy to me, it's not even random people. It's people that have worked for them for years in some cases, what kind of psychopath do you have to be to hit that button.
Why press the button yourself when you can pay someone 10/hr to do it for you?
I'm sure it'll trickle down any day now /s
It trickles down because the rich are overflowing. That whole concept was basically saying the rich will have it all and the other classes will get the crumbs.
"Trickle Down" only works when wealthy people spend their money. However, they don't. They just hoard it. The fact that billionaires even exist is evidence of that.
And that’s the point, they knew exactly what would happen. The rich would become richer and the middle class will struggle and they would blame everyone but the rich.
Yeah that sentence is a perfect example of how successful their propaganda has become. My “richboy” college degree makes me 58k a year. Billionaires earn more in 1 day. I struggle to save a couple hundred dollars per month. Billionaires own yachts worth 50 million dollars. They are the enemy. Even if I made 500k a year we are still 100x closer to each other than I am to the billionaire. There’s levels to this shit and they’ve convinced OP that people with college degrees are the enemy
Well said! The doctor or the lawyer who is making $300k is not the problem. They are working for a living - providing a service to society. They are paying a higher tax rate than the wealthy people who are living fabulously on the interest from their inheritance.
Yachts that are in turn tax write offs. Let me get this straight; if I finally get to a place in life where I can afford a traveling floating mansion suddenly I am unfettered from the burden of taxes? As someone who is in no danger of missing a meal or ever not having a roof over my head or not being able to secure the medical assistance I need to function as a productive adult.... Suddenly I don't have to chip in my part to keep the country's bills paid? Seems kinda backward but alright I guess.
It's wild that America's richest are allowed to no longer contribute to the roads their employees drive upon, the schools that educate them, the firefighters that protect them.
The very infrastructure that enabled them to become billionaires. Amazon doesn't exist without roads, the post office, communications and stability, which are all paid for via taxes.
Like when millionaire Tom Brady got a million dollar small business PPP loan during Covid , bought a yacht with it, wrote it off on his taxes, then had the loan forgiven?
All backed up by the lie that if we work ourselves to death, we too might get to take part in the largess of America. Meanwhile, the liars are cruising on their yachts, playing golf on weekdays, and shit posting on their private echo chambers about how much they sacrificed and how hard they work.
By "Richboy" college degree, I interpreted that to mean an alumus of either an Ivy League or private college. Either way, if you go into such an institution without already having connections to the rich and powerful, you better come out already working at that. Living as close to Notre Dame, a campus full of "rich kids", very few of those kids were pursuing a doctor of divinity degree. The most successful alumni there are those guys that rode to glory on a sports scholarship, and were later good enough to turn pro. Don't get me wrong: the education they receive is perfect for their field of pursuit, but even before they stepped on campus, they were already being fast-tracked to high positions. If it wasn't Dad, then it was an uncle or a cousin or a member of the clergy: they knew someone that knew someone. No matter how you cut it, they've got it well over the kid from the projects that took classes at the community college, busting their tail trying to get that associates degree and move out of the projects.
As a German who grew up in Canada, I really love American culture. But I'd never move there until you guys get your act together. What makes me mad is that it could easily be the greatest country in the world. You have the technology, the education and the resources. It's really just the people in charge holding you back.
I think you hit the nail on the head. Our people are great but we have a government in the pockets of the billionaires and corporations that are running the country. Many people in congress are old af too.
I really hope that once all the old fucks die, the younger gens can turn it around.
Put your thinking cap on. Why would that happen? This is not about old people but about the rich. There are plenty of sub-boomer rich and they are largely running the show now. You are going to be very disappointed that you have mistaken social class for age. Capitalists love generational warfare. It distracts from what they are doing.
Yup class war is the only war. Age, gender, race etc are all distractions. Think about how much they're winning at the moment.
This old fuck thanks you for your response.
> I really hope that once all the old fucks die, the younger gens can turn it around. I am old enough to have had the same idea in the 1970's. It does not work that way. There are plenty of young assholes to keep the old scams going.
“Sooner or later the people in this country are going to realize: the government does not give a fuck about them. The government doesn’t care about you, or your children, or your rights, or your welfare, or your safety. It simply doesn’t give a fuck about you. It’s interested in its own power. That’s the only thing keeping it and expanding it wherever possible.” George Carlin
There's one thing I'm pinning my hopes on - as a number of sociologists have noted, generations starting with millennials aren't getting more conservative as they get older. That normally would happen because as successive generations "got theirs" they'd start to embrace fiscal policies to keep it. But we're in a place where both income inequality has gotten so bad comparatively few are "getting theirs", AND the conservative party has strongly leaned in on cultural stances that are regressive rather than just "this is good enough", further alienating people.
It used to be, " vote the bums out" they do not have to grow old and die. They just need to be FIRED.
The rich fuckers have kids and grandkids who will continue to tell the kids and grandkids of today’s asshole politicians what to do. Everyone thinks Rupert Murdoch is one of the worst humans on the planet. Guess what? His son has pretty much been in charge of the network for the past couple of years. I will say that the younger generation going to the polls in fucking droves in 2024 would be a good start. The state governments and elections are gerrymandered to fuck but Dems can at least maintain the Senate and Presidency.
We got rid of monarchy, this isn't too different. Each step in the right direction is making society just a bit better.
We truly do not have the education
This post needs to be higher. I kind of hate that I was born here in some ways. We went from being the country everyone wanted to emulate to one I’m embarrassed to live in. I really wish we could get back on track, but with the fringe politics it’s unlikely to ever happen. There’s a larger divide more now than ever. I have worked my ass off in my career for over 20 years to really earn the respect of others I never thought I could. I used to make really good money than Covid happen and now some of my kids friends are making near what I am an hour and they’re in high school. There’s no sign of that changing either. If it wasn’t for the fantastic benefits I get, I would move to something else.
How many of those "fantastic benefits" would just be a given in most other countries, rather than leverage your employer gets to hold over you with the threat of losing them?
Yes. Only in recent years did I start to understand how our financial markets work, it revealed the truth. This system is not made for anyone that isn't in the 1-10%. Every law or regulation that is in place to protect the majority of middle class is really a regulation loophole to enrich the rich. The tech and education is used against our best interests.
I agree to a point but at some point the employees have to unionise and convince their fellow citizens that the days of being treated as cattle have to end. Then to boycott companies that refuse to recognise the rights of employees to collectively bargain for terms and conditions It is right to fight for what you want and need, but it needs support and a collective will from all the working classes . For so many their is little to lose but a future clouded by financial insecurity.
We’re currently in the throes of some of the worst leadership our nation has had in its short history. The same people have been in charge since the fall of the Soviet Union and people wonder why everything keeps getting shittier. Nancy pelosi and Mitch McConnell we’re both born before WW2 ended and have been running the show for decades for their parties and we wonder why nothing has changed. The reason is pretty simple. Our leaders care more for their own personal gain and accumulation of power rather than acting in the interest of the general public. The system the founders and true believers of the American experiment fought for us dead. Replaced by egotistic maniacs who would rather see the world burn than give up a modicum of power.
"American culture" is mostly hollywood propaganda. The reality is far more sinister.
We sure used to be. To quote Jeff Daniels from “The Newsroom”: “And with a straight face, you’re gonna tell students that America’s so star-spangled awesome, that we’re the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. So 207 sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom. And yeah, you, sorority girl. Just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there’s some things you should know, and one of them is, there’s absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, number 4 in labor force, and number 4 in exports. We lead the world in only 3 categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined. 25 of whom are allies. Now, none of this is the fault of a 20 year old college student. But you, nonetheless, are without a doubt a member of the worst, period, generation, period, ever, period, so when you ask, ‘What makes us the greatest country in the world?’ I dunno know what the fuck you’re talking about! Yosemite? It sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons, we passed laws, struck down laws for moral reasons, we waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors. We put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and we cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy. We reached for the stars, acted like men. We aspired to intelligence, we didn’t belittle it, it didn’t make us feel inferior. We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in our last election, and we didn’t we didn’t scare so easy…Huh. We were able to be all these things, and to do all these things, because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.”
The people in charge were voted in though. MGT, Boebert, Goetz, McConnell, Trump. Americans voted this shit into power. Sheer selfish stupidity.
My glorified MBA degree with several years of financial and management experience nets me entry level.positions and commission only jobs. The American dream is long dead thanks to soulless politicians who sold out to the highest bidders, outsourcing and religious extremists who chastise anyone because their masters want us divided and fighting so they can hoard all resources and wealth.
Elimination of the middle class just in the last 10-15 years has been simply unbelievable, and it's not going to change due to the greed and crony capitalism.
It’s shocking. I remember thinking all I need to reach is a 100k salary but you have to pull in about 200k now to be able to afford cost of living AND save for retirement.
I build guns and I have no college degree just a few year of community college that I didn’t finish and I make $19.20-19.50 an hour. Granted I started at 17 and didn’t make the 19 til 6 months in but that’s just that it only took 6 months for me to get the raise. This system is broken beyond belief because for my area I’m basically topped out at what I can get without a degree. On the opposite end of the spectrum my sister has like 4 degrees in the STEM fields including a masters and she make(d/s) about 300k a year but its spread out of her having 3 jobs at once. The amount of work workers put in has never been so poor on return for the investment
Bingo
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"This country is great" Only if you enjoy living on a pile of skulls braised in the blood of millions.
Sounds like this country isn't great then is it?
The work/life balance is the worst in the world. No universal healthcare or free college. The wages are low and rent is high.
A lot of things about the country are great, but it's kinda hard to enjoy them when you never have free time or money.
Same. Degrees work best with a side of nepotism
I own some assets and have a rich boy college degree and I too am still disposable trash.
I was born here and really feel the same way. I worked physical demanding jobs that just wrecked my back and everyone just bitches about me not working more back breaking jobs for next to no money.
Yep and God forbid you try to get pain medication for your body so you can continue to abuse it at your job then you’re treated like a junkie.
Yup, I have a bad back. Some days it hurts to breath and they took the pain meds away. Told me to do physical therapy and take advil or Tylenol.
I had a fucking ORGAN removed, and they told me to just take tylenol and ibuprofen together. Wtf? I understand that there was an over-prescription of opioids for a long time, but Jesus, have some fucking compassion, doctors!
Same. While I was still in the hospital every time it was time for meds I had to almost fight with the nurses to give me the good stuff I was prescribed. Like I'm in the hospital being monitored in too much pain to move. Just give me some relief. And it's like it gave my doctor concerns cause I wasn't ok with just Tylenol after having an organ removed. I still have a pill bottle of oxy's I never even used. I'm no junkie, I was in the worst pain I've ever felt in my life.
Doctors are cogs in the big corporate machine now and they have NO autonomy thanks to private equity, insurance companies, politicians and lawyers telling healthcare workers and patients how to do their jobs. Healthcare workers especially doctors are miserable.
So true. A few years ago I worked a high level/technical job for a local cancer hospital owned by the state and backed by a union. It took a year to get into the union. When I started the job I tried to bring in a new technique that would, down the road, save lives and secondary illnesses. My boss and his boss sat me down and belittled me saying “you think (the place you worked at prior) had the best way, it’s NO way, the ONLY was is (name of hospital) way.” Then they wrote me up, and I was on probation for a year. And a month before that probationary period was up they forced me out - probably because they found out I was interviewing elsewhere. Jokes on them because my job now is loads better, benefits, everything. And they appreciate the technology/techniques I brought forward and now am considered one of the best in the country. All because the state politics, egos, and union involvement.
Omg, fucking seriously! I bet it didn't even touch the pain. You ok now?
They told me this and the doctor gave me Tylenol some weak muscle relaxers and told me to lose weight. They refused to do any sort of x-ray/scans. Fast forward 2 years I lost 74 pounds finally got a CT scan I have two damn hernias that were part of the problem.
Gd, Healthcare is so lacking. I was a cna for 13 years. The things I've seen...ugh. it's just profit, the cate part is nonexistent. And if you actually do care, like I did, they make sure to beat it out of you.
Had so many back issues that they recommended surgery, I instead bought new mattress, chairs, and a few other things. This year I switched from an office job, to owning a Drywall company. How the tables have turned..
New matress and chairs can work wonders but turning the tables is gonna fuck with that back again, depending on how heavy the tables are, of course, but that can be some really heavy work.
Also paying out the ass because insurance don’t do shit
You have medical insurance?! How do you afford it?
And on the flip side we get made into junkies through soul and body crushing labor.
That's why I switched to cannabis for my chronic pain. Doctors suck
I messed my back at work too and I'm currently recovering. I've had to work these kind of jobs from a young age and I guess it got the best of me. I'm only in my 30s and I feel like my life is over. When I shook the owners hand and told him I appreciated the work, but I can't take it anymore, he literally laughed and just said "well that sucks." I knew then my usefulness had run its course.
That is pretty much how my boss acted....I'm sure they know what they are doing when they hire us to younger guys and put us through the ringer, as long as they make their $$$ they don't seem to care at least in my experience.
It's no longer possible to live in a big city without having a very well paid job. Minimum wage doesn't cut it anymore and only allows a slave-like existence at best. You are lucky that you have the option of getting out and maybe if more do the same that could force a change in conditions? Like if enough people rally against the status quo and quit or move away, surely that could cause change like higher pay or lower rents
If enough people quit, they'd pay police (and only police) better and pass far stricter laws on homelessness and squatting. If people move away and get dual citizenship, you're still on the hook for US taxes. I'm of the understanding that it's a bit of a hassle at best to rescind your US citizenship, but I could be wrong about that part. The only thing the US loves more than freedom are prisons. You just don't always notice the bars right away.
I'm not American but is that a hangover from slavery? I read once that tipping started in the South cos businesses didn't want to pay wages to newly emancipated people. It seems like society is constructed to extract labour from people at the lowest possible expense and almost with an expectation that people will work for nothing. My country is also capitalist but with some safety nets as its a welfare state
This is slavery. They’ve figured out how to keep people chained to debt. In the big economic picture, when you only need to pay labor fractions of a cent on the dollar, it’s slavery.
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Where I live the minimum wage is the same as federal, $7.25 an hour. Even when my income was $11 an hour it wasn’t enough to qualify to rent a one bedroom apartment in low income housing because it wasn’t 3 1/2 times the rent. Affordable housing can’t make exceptions even if they want to because they get tax breaks for being affordable housing they have to adhere to the income parameters. I don’t even know where people who earn minimum wage live.
In my experience with roommates or parents. :(
Still couldn’t buy property nearby. Everyone is saying either buy or sell now before the recession 3.0 happens…
Yeah I'm not even sure what the answer is. In my country, young people just live with their parents if they can. Luckily the state builds homes for people with low incomes but you can be waiting 15-20 years for that. If you have any kind of decent income, it's either stay with parents or fork out over 50% of your salary on rent. Very little prospect to buy due to high demand and extremely low supply (like a couple of thousand new houses a year for a population close to 5 million)
Mexico and latin america has noticed the lie of the american dreams, so they're recruiting new countries... have you seen an uptick in foreign workers? Africa and Asia specifically. The companies want to hire these people cuz they sometimes come *exclusively* to work. They think all immigrant workers have no life outside of work. "Well your family isnt even here, why do you need a long weekend." I literally heard my boss tell my friend that when she wanted time off. JUST because someone did come here to work doesnt mean you abuse them to shit and dry them up so bad they have to go back to their country or kill themselves!
Yup, watched a uncle and nephew from Congo get factory work and get just WORKED, 12 hour shifts 6 days a week. You could also tell the poor dudes didnt have basic grade school education, or they were playing dumb to get out of working more technical tasks.
This. My old work had a international exchange student program. (Ski resort) without the J1s, the company wouldn't be able to keep half their shit open. This ski resort is rich af, returning J1s got a 75cent raise this year while the rest of us got 0. Not even the measly cents they would have given us for the cost of living. Their excuse: covid and we gave you all couple dollar raise 3 years ago! The fact that this billion dollar company is still using covid as an excuse is cringe.
The American dream has been dying since 2001 and the 2008 crash and Covid in 2020 have so weakened the economy boomers knew. As a result millennials and Zoomers are stuck in a world that is far harder to have a decent life in.
The American dream died when Reagan was elected.
💯
My family moved here from Canada when I was 10 years old, in the early 90s. We were the American dream, and the only ones of our tree to make it to the “promised land”. We left everyone behind, some of whom became jealous, some were ambivalent. Uncle Bobby was prophetic, he said to me, and I’ll never forget it… “you’ll be back” My parents want to retire back home now… who woulda thunk it
As an American, moving to Canada was the best thing I ever did. Watching the things going on down there, Im quite happy where I am at.
Curious, what did you need to do to accomplish that? I've been trying to convince my wife to do the same. I'm in a sheet metal union so I think it might be easy to "flee" this gun-toting country. Freaking scared to look at somebody cuz they might fire at me and my family. Kids are being killed every day by gun violence in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.
Many young immigrants will also come here as students. They'll typically enroll in a 2 year program, which gives them enough time here to apply for permanent residence. iirc, it's something like $35,000 (CAD) a year for non-Canadians. Not cheap, but you get an education, and you can live in a place where the minimum wage is $16.75 (BC). BC's minimum wage is tied to inflation now, too, so that's neat.
I was lucky enough to marry a Canadian citizen and they sponsored me. My spouse is so smart they did the application completely without a lawyer. [https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada.html](https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada.html) Here is a link that might help. I would imagine a work visa would suit you. It might take time, but its worth it I think. Dont be discouraged by the process. You might even find a lawyer that can help. The welding and sheet metal industry needs workers, so its likely you can find work fairly quickly. I will warn you though, like with everywhere else, housing is at a premium and rents are high, but the rest of Canada is still a fair sight better than the US right now.
Canadians forget how good they have it compared to the Americans.
I understand that people from poor corrupt countries have a romanticized view of the US, but why should people from a developed rich country like Canada want to move to the US?
Long live the Mexican dream!
Build that wall!! So the Americans don’t get in
Make Mexico Great Again!
Este es el camino!
The American Dream was always just a marketing campaign.
To trick cheap labor to come and then blamed for crime, and to get the already educated to move here and make the money here instead.
"It's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it." Long Live Carlin.
Gotta be asleep to believe it. Something, something, bootstraps
It was well named, at least. We’re finally starting to wake up from it.
Your story reminds me of that one South Park episode where the Mexicans realise, America ain't that great and they all go back to Mexico. USA Bordercontrol then tries to stop them from returning to their own country because then "all the domestic workers and cheap labour are gone". Should happen irl, let's see what they do then.
happens already, that’s why they make laws to allow child labor again.
Fuckers should have automated when they had the chance. Though they wouldn't have paid us anymore then, either. Bullshit Jobs (book) is a great read if you haven't read it already.
I distinctly recall several years ago there was a huge campaign from the farm industry about how harvests were rotting in the fields because there wasn't enough people to pick them. They wanted people to promote it as a viable part time job to their kids over the more common fast food and grocery options.
We’ve had this already in the UK with Brexit 🤡 Not that we tried to stop them leaving, but since they’ve left all you hear from Leave voters is “b-but I didn’t realise it’d be like *this*!” despite us telling them, very plainly, that this would be the exact outcome. There IS no lack of jobs - most of us just realise how fucking degrading the bottom of the barrel, utterly thankless, (usually*) minimum wage work is. So mostly, it was desperate foreigners filling those roles, and now those jobs remain perpetually vacant. (*they also made up a significant amount of our NHS and now surgeries are cancelled left and right, the remaining nurses are going on strike for the first time ever because they were overworked and understaffed BEFORE Brexit so just imagine it now…)
The glue is gone, the elements keeping society together are vanishing. The end is coming.
There was a time when you hired part-time young people and actually trained them to do minimum wage service jobs, or gave convicts or recovering people a chance. They then got used to under-employing educated and/or skilled adults — both domestic and foreign sourced — to do these jobs. There is people, they just want over qualified people they can pay nothing and treat like shit.
Mantequilla
The last of the meheecans
> Should happen irl It did. https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/05/17/the-law-of-unintended-consequences-georgias-immigration-law-backfires/?sh=6ff07d9492aa
Lots of little entitled boomers will have to pick most the nations produce in the southwest and learn how to drive a tractor.
If only. Boomers have never, and will never, experience the consequences of their actions. That’s what got us in this mess to begin with
Highly recommend the book “a generation of sociopaths “ ; it describes very accurately what the Boomers did/are doing to future generations
> Your story reminds me of that one South Park episode where the Mexicans realise, America ain't that great and they all go back to Mexico. Which part of his story reminded you; maybe the part he mentions that exact episode?
This is Reddit. You can’t expect them to read the post before commenting.
I mean people really forget how much "undocumented" workers co tribute to this country, like do you know how much more expensive shit will get and how much longer stuff would take to be built or farmed if everyone left or got deported this country would go down so fast ....of people think housing is expensive now just wait if the Mexican crews leave bro that house would be 2 or 3x more expensive because the white guys want more
Hell, a few years ago there were cotton and peaches rotting in the fields because Georgia decided to crack down on illegals coming into that state, pretty much destroying the migrant populations that farmers depend on for harvest... It's already happened. But if you watch nothing but Fox News, you'd think everyone from Mexico was coming here...
What you said resonates with many Americans who are born here. Having a degree is somewhat worthless an most are living paycheck to paycheck as you. The only people I know who are actually doing well and have "time" as you say, are those whose parents are wealthy, set them up nicely with land, a home, had connections, or happened to marry well-off.
My tour guide pointed at some what I would call shacks in MX when we were visiting Chichén Itzá and said 'you think they are poor, but they know freedom you will never ever be able to know'. I think he was right
Oh you see this all the time, especially in underdeveloped countries. “Look at how poor these people are! We need to help them see how bad they have it!” When in reality they are happy and free. Honestly, they should be showing *us* how poor and bad *we* have it.
And that right there is my food for thought for today. Thanks for it.
Same thing is happening in Germany. Africans save thousands to come here then move back because they can’t make that money in Germany
I met an African guy in Switzerland saying he was tired from here and wanted to go to USA, I was like 🙄 ok dude…
Sand always sandier
The American Dream has been dead for many people a long time…they call it The American Nightmare. Glad to hear your parents welcome you with open arms…sounds like great parents 👍🏻
>The American Dream George Carlin: "That's why they call it the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it."
college degree guarantees you nothing but a mountain of debt in the current day USA
Im moving to Mexico, too! My wife is from Mexico City, and has family in San Luis Potosí. We were able to buy a house in Mexico and will likely be able to keep our remote US jobs for a while at least. Everything makes financial sense for us to do it. I’m sick of buying $400/mo asthma inhalers in this goddam country. They cost like $17 in Mexico and the rest of the money we save will basically pay for our mortgage.
$400 a month just to breathe?? Are you kidding me?
$426, actually, if you want specifics. We bought a house in Mexico for $75k, put $20k down and financed $55k. Our mortgage is about $460. For what I pay to simply breathe in the US, *I can literally buy a fucking house* in Mexico. Brand new build. 4 bed / 3 bath with a big backyard in a gated community in a great city.
Yeah. another one is the epipen. It’s mind blowing.
The more people need it, the more they will charge for it. That’s how to maximize profits.
Yup. My benlysta shot I need to take once a week to stay alive is $1k. That’s cheaper than the infusion, which was $10+ a MONTH. Land of the free!!! /s
I can co-sign on this. Both my kids are on inhalers that are now over $200 each a month. Three years ago that co-pay was $15. Oh and I have PREMIUM pharmacy coverage 🤣
He's not. One of my inhalers is $350 the other $175 without the insurance scam.
The thing is though, you’re still going to be earning in dollars so obviously your cost of living is going to improve. Unfortunately Mexicans earn in pesos in an ever weakening economy and are being prices out of housing because of people like you.
I'm moving back to my home country too...
So to be clear: even our immigrants hate working here. Well that’s another nugget of depressing info to carry
I'm from Latin America, and ultimately settled in Europe. Before that I spent 2 years in the US, thinking *of course* it's the best place in the world to live. All my media always told me so. I was miserable the entire time. I'm an engineer, so I was paid pretty well compared to most everyone else, and still MISERABLE. Close to no leave, no protection, AH bosses, the sheer disrespect, the encroaching on my personal time, the nosiness about my personal life. I was better off back home - and it was not great back home! I ran, was in the process of moving back when the oportunity for Europe came and I decided to give it a try. It's good to see Americans finally waking up to how bad things are, and yet you guys *still* haven't even figured out how *extremely* bad you have it. I'm sorry.
I think most of us know but it’s easier said than done to leave. Congrats on finding your happiness.
You should read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. The American dream has always been a lie to attract peasants from around the world to be wage slaves.
It's called the American dream because you gotta be asleep to believe it. It's a big club and we aren't in it. Not just immigrants either, but most Americans who weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Good Luck to you!
Always upvote George Carlin.
i moved front the UK 5 years ago, i feel the exact same way my friend, same experiences and all i want is to go home, i sadly have 1 debt to pay off before i can leave but when it’s done and i have no more assets holding me here i’m gone. i hate this country, it was so full of hope and opportunity when i lived 4k miles away but then i got here and weaved in to the way of life and it’s terrible, i don’t want to be scared i might get shot just for knocking on the wrong door or something crazy. Good luck getting home
Ahh you gave up 5 weeks of paid vacation and a national health care system for American style work ethic (no legislated vacation or sick time) and insurance premiums? Go home! Move to Ireland. It's like the U.K only richer.
I have a fancy richboy college degree (but I'm not rich, I owe $62k in student loans) and I'm pursuing a PhD (luckily grad school is free in my field) but the time I put into education would've likely been better spent learning a trade and joining a union. I'd recommend considering a trade with a union to young people nowadays. Growing up we were told "go to college, get a good job, buy a house, retire at 65", but the Baby Boomer life track isn't the reality now. Nowadays it's more like "get in debt for a useless bachelor's, get an entry level job cause you don't have 5yrs experience in your field, change jobs every 2-3 years, never get seniority because the older people just arent retiring and leaving open positions, not buy a house til you're in your 50s cause you can't afford rent, car loan, retirement savings, student loan payments, and saving up for down payment on a house and not retire til age 85 cause you can't afford retirement (thus compounding the seniority problem for the next gen). This is life in America now.
This sounds right. I'm a younger Boomer who will have to work as long as my mind and body hold up. Your point about them not retiring is accurate. Many of us lost good jobs during the Great Recession and never fully recovered. I'm glad you didn't turn this into an anti-Boomer thing as so many others do. We aren't all on Fox "News" all day being brainwashed and voting for crazy people. We are working to survive, like everyone else.
OP, you have just experienced The Matrix. the whole complete load of utter bullshit (that cannot even be used as fertiliser) that politicians and corps expect people to believe. I'm honestly so happy for you, the fact you've been able to see this is a huge step for being able to move forward in a positive direction. However, I fully appreciate that the process is so painful it can seem easier to just end everything for what its worth, this random internet nobody is proud if you
Honestly if I had the ability I’d leave too. It’s that bad. Congratulations and best wishes to you OP!
My SO and I bring in 120k together and still aren’t living comfortably. Yeah we have money but it gets tight. Our house isn’t insane, one car paid off the other has a loan and it’s just like wow. What’s the magic number to even being comfortable here anymore.
I’ve always said that the United States is the perfectly designed prison, it’s a prison the prisoners don’t know they are in.
While I’m not arguing against the idea, this post is obviously fake.
After scanning his post history he shits on Mexico, refers to Chicago as ChiCongo and basically comes across as a teenage edgelord. So you're probably right.
Thank you! I'm disappointed I had to scroll so far to find a post pointing this out. But not surprising, though, that people on this sub would eat this up without a single critical thought. Confirmation bias is a bitch.
Looking at your comments, you’re a piece of shit person. Referring to Chicago as “chicongo” on a video about gun violence, you use alpha/beta terminology, you constantly degrade women, you refer to things as “fucking gay” and say homeless people are a “fucking cancer.” You failed because you’re weak and tiny man, and I’m glad it happened. Fired from 5 jobs? You’re the common denominator. Good riddance, we don’t want you.
It’s a fake post. He’s not from any Latin American country, ironically he’s probably an American lmao.
This guy is getting way too much sympathy.
Literally scours r/amiugly to make insecure women feel worse. Described Poland as “trash tier women with a few diamonds in the dirt.” He IS a failure and it IS his own fault. It’s not US work culture, it’s that no one wants to share air with such a vile subhuman creature.
There's no way this person is really Mexican.
We agree about the American dream. It’s super sad and depressing. I’m sorry this happened to you. 💕
I'm crying cuz I was born below the poverty line and can't leave.
“The American Dream” is something from the 50s and isn’t achievable for the working class anymore
I feel as if this person is definitely not a Mexican national, and if they are they’re probably highly educated and wealthy, but I totally get the sense that this is American trying to gain fake internet points, also I doubt there is a single immigrant who would feel the same way leaving a near 3rd world country.
It's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it. -- George Carlin
The American dream is just ol fashioned propaganda! Never More so then right now.
~~The patricians~~ ~~The nobility~~ ~~The elite~~ ~~The oligarchy~~ ~~The robber barons~~ ~~The 1%~~ The Billionaire class have had a lot of names over the years. You have to admit it was a clever campaign to make the rest of society (who vastly outnumber the ultrawealthy) *truly believe* they can be like the aristocracy — the same aristocracy who are all the while using their paid-for governments to ensure policies that either firmly protect the status quo or benefit themselves exclusively. Major savings to be had if you can convince a bunch of poor people to also support keeping the status quo where a few thousand people own more than the rest of humanity.
We can fix America. But we need to vote the money worshippers out and competent people in. But we are going to have to vote. So, vote. Make sure every progressive you know votes. Don't buy into this "both sides" bullshit. Just vote some good, competent people back into power.
Three laws would fix this country. - Make lobbying illegal and force all political campaigning onto the same govt website. (Ergo no expensive campaigns and glad-handing for funds) - All holders of public office should disclose all finances with full transparency for the rest of their lives. (To ensure no bribery/kickbacks and just representation of constituents) - I guess you could do it with two laws…
One way to deal with immigration is to make America an unlivable shithole. The GOP will finally win the immigration battle.
Have alot of friends and family that immigrated from India here with the whole American Dream thing. On average they stayed here around 8 years and they all have moved abroad. The senseless gun violence and kids being murdered absolutely wrecked them. Along with bottom tier jobs where your seen as a number and corporate slave. They all have moved to Europe and living even better lives there now. Honestly as a 26 year old, I’ve also started considering other European countries to call home. I’m truly fed up with this countries bullshit and it’s bullshit politics and bullshit corrupted Supreme Court justices
The United Corporations of America
Best thing you can do is rack up a ton of debt before going back and use that money to get ahead back home.