Nice rant, but you have taken what I wrote completely wrong. Your negative opinion and obvious contempt for those more successful than you is blatantly apparent. ok. You seem to be very sweet and want to care for the world - got that. IMO, your solution seems to escape the boundaries of reality.

They do. They pay a living wage not a living plus want-to-have items. Cell phones, tv's, ipods, dinners out are not must haves they are luxuries. It sucks if you want them and can't have them but that is life, deal with it. minimum wage will get you a crap apartment and food and not much more, but it is a living wage.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA

You think people at the bottom are paid a living wage? What are you smoking, because I want some.

What you are talking about is slave wages.

I don't have contempt for people who make more than me or even for people who make tons of money, if they make it fairly and not on the backs of others by abusing the system. I have contempt for greedy people, and for the system. There is a difference.

You have obviously smoked plenty.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. :D

I was sober since 1989 up until a few years ago. I quit smoking weed long before that, like back in 1980 or something. I kind of quit being sober back around 1999 when I did some mushrooms. Now I drink a few beers or a glass or two of wine occasionally, but I rarely drink enough to get high, and by rarely, I might have gotten high from alcohol 2 or 3 times in the past 5 years, since I've been drinking again. It takes me about an hour to drink a beer, so it's kind of hard to get high like that, ya know? I have taken a toke off a joint a couple of times just to see what it would be like now, but I really can't stand the high. Mushrooms now, that is another story. But I've only done them twice since 1989, once when I broke my sobriety and once a couple of years ago. I would definitely do them again too, under the right circumstances and with the right person. I don't really think of mushrooms in the same category though. I don't really think I was breaking my sobriety by doing them. The other stuff, yea.

Hey sugar, I just found these mushrooms in my freezer and... :D

Really? I'll be right over... *swoosh*

40 hours (if you're lucky) @ $6.55 an hour = $262... maybe $170 take home.
That's why so many minimum wage earners are homeless. You can't get any kind of roof around these parts for that money, unless you can find a timeshare on a phone booth.

You're saying a minimum wage earner pays out roughly 45% in taxes? I find that a bit hard to believe.

anyway, $170 take home x 2 = $340 x4 weeks = $1,360. That'll get you a crap apartment and food. of course at that level the food stamps probably help a little too. It sucks no doubt about it, but it is a living wage.

Not at all. Those would be slave wages if that is what they earned with no possibility for improvement. Last I checked anyone who isn't happy with their current situation is free to change it.

bwahahahahahahahahaaa. You are funny lookout.

Why? Is my math wrong? Or is it simply you don't believe people have the freedom and ability to change the situations they find themselves in?

What I believe is that the people at the top are making it increasingly more difficult for the middle class and the people on the lower end of the spectrum to change their circumstances.

And being able to afford a crap apartment and food only is NOT a LIVING WAGE. There is more to life than just eating and having a really crappy place to live. And ftr, in Savannah, it's extremely difficult to find an apartment for less than $800 a month. Add to that utilities, and that isn't near enough to survive.

Fair enough. I guess they'll have to get a second job. I know that is what I had to do when my income didn't cover my needs.

A living wage is just that - a living wage. anything beyond that must qualify as a want. Admittedly i like my wants but that is why i busted my ass moving from opportunity to opportunity until I reached the spot I'm in. I own my own semi-profitable company now and guess what? I still explore options as they come up and would make yet another move if I thought it would provide me with more of what I want. That is freedom. NO one is a slave to their employer in this country. They may be a slave to their own fear of breaking out and trying for more, but they are not a slave to their employer.

No, 35%. Working people lose about a third of their check. Been a while has it?
Times 2? No no no, times one, $680 if you can get 40 hrs every week. But maybe you can grow some veggies seeing how you're living in the park.