Most Americans do not have "good jobs".....

According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, most Americans do not have good jobs, a good job being defined as one where you make at least $16 an hour and have some benefits to speak of. Now the thing is, I do believe that. But there are TONS pf people out there who make less than that (there has to be according to that study) yet I'd say way more than 25% of Americans are driving fancier cars, living in more expensive houses and doing all kinds of other things that require a lifestyle where they'd have to make more than that. I used to make fifteen an hour and I felt that was about where I'd merely BEGIN to get along gainfully, and that's me at age 37, with no car, house, kids or savings. Just how the hell would anyone with those things on their back ever make it at $16 an hour? And don't tel me they do it on credit, because at that rate they'd be so far behind on bills that they'd be cut off from their credit. And while we're at it, do you make more or less than $16 an hour?

I should state that we're probably not a representative sample here since being on the net entails you at least make enough to pay for a computer and a connection.

Dude - get a degree and get off your lazy ass and make something of yourself. The jobs are out there making $30 plus. I am a director of I.T. and I make $43 an hr, BUT I WORK MY ASS OFF.
Thats the problem with jackoffs like you...you expect things handed to you..weee weee weee " I only make 15 a hrs"
I was HANDED NOTHING!
You have to work for those "good jobs"

yeah man i hear you. i'm still pretty young and i had a job making 16/hour and it was awesome for me. (keep in mind i have next to no expenses since i'm a young student). now i make 13/hour for the summer which is decent for someone my age. i dont know how anybody can live on 10/hour even, let alone minimum wage (which in ontario is 8/hour i think).

i was listening to the radio the other day and they were saying how at 10 am (two hours after the business day has started)on any given day, the richest CEO in canada had already made more then the average person would in an entire year.

pretty fucked if you think about it...

Then become that CEO....HMMMM maybe you guys should take a good long look at yourself instead of being mad at "the man".... just a thought...

Actually, American's work more hours and take less vacation time than many other countries including many in eastern Europe.

Don't tell me I haven't worked, and hard. Believe me I have. But if you think hard work makes you rich, go ask some fuck who washes dishes for ten hours a day what he thinks about that. Having had to look for a new job for the first time in years just as of late, I came to the very hard realization that nowadays you either have a degree, spend years working your way up to a living wage working at the salt mine in some company that has money coming out of it's ass anyhow (if you're lucky) or you're good at sales. As for me, I'm going to hatch a plan to go back to school using the "jaw money" when I get it. My point is that jobs that used to pay a living wage don't, and it's not the fault of working Americans. Production is at an all time high, corporate profits and pay of the average CEO are high enough to make you just fucking GAG, yet workers are getting less pay, benefits and vacation time than ever before. Just what's wrong with this picture? Used to be we had these things called "unions" that prevented that from happening.

again, take out a mirror look in it and ask yourself...what can I change that will get me that high paying job...its as simple as that.
As for the union....your fucking crazy if you think that they are a good thing. its crime what they try and do to people.
FUCK UNIONS

But then again, I think The Man maybe deserves to be looked at too for once.

Let's keep in mind also that a degree is not within everyone's financial, intellectual or logistical reach, nor should it have to be for someone to be able to keep their head above water.

Every poll that has tracked how satisfied Americans are with their lives shows that we were most happy and satisfied in 1953. That's when we peaked. 1953. It's also when wages were high and we had leisure time to burn.

Sorry, but if your washing dishes for a living your a LOSER..

I work hard and I get paid accordingly. I have medical, 401k, pension, and a bunch of other perks. I'm certainly not complaining about my job because I like what I do.

Thank you Demigod...point made.

how about all you people dragging facts out of thin, air produce some references or proof of your assumptions?? otherwise without them youre doing just that....assuming. Which is not worth me keeping this thread open for

d0od i say i prolly have the hardest job in here and i only make 13 an hour for like 3 more months and then my pay jumps to 22 an hour with benefits 2 weeks paid vacation time a year

Here's something for you to chew on then. I didn't include this originally because I didn't think links were allowed. http://www.barbaraehrenreich.com/decent_wages.htm

I've also read this woman's book, Nickel and Dimed: On not Getting by in America, wherein she puts her money where her mouth is and, though she has a masters degree and a successful career as a writer, undertakes the task of taking common jobs as a waitress, house cleaner, etc. and tries to live only on what those jobs pay her to prove that you cannot live on the shitty pay and demeaning working conditions such jobs provide anymore.She is a sort of Ralph Waldo Emerson whose Walden Pond was the modern American workplace.

Being a bus driver in Austin, for instance, pays a quite respectable $19 an hour with benefits, That is, if you can first survive the first three years at something like $12 an hour. These bastards know most people are going to wash out if not for the low pay, so really that's a lot fewer people they will ever have to pay so much. They're not stupid. Yet a bus driver has to be someone sober minded and safe enough to be responsible for the lives of his or her hundreds of passengers every day.

Quote:

Originally posted by wow10inches

As for the union....your fucking crazy if you think that they are a good thing. its crime what they try and do to people.
FUCK UNIONS

I am in a labor union, what is exactly the 'crime' that try to do to people?

Crane opperator. Around $28 an hour. I sit on my ass 12 hours a day. 12 weeks off a year. And paid vacation. And a very sweet 401k plan. And if you think that is easy. It's not. It's very stressfull and mental. Wrong move, and things will go wrong real fast!

You have 2800+ posts and you didn't think links were allowed? DUmmest thread evar.

None of anyones facts, thoughts or self appointed needs matters. The U.S. is supposed to be a free country. People should be paid what the market can bare. Unions are a form of socialism and should not be allowed by law. Telling someone how much they have to pay is outright against the principles our country was founded on. Freedom first. If you don't make enough to live in a house then live in an apartment. If you don't make enough to live in an apartment then live in a box. It's no ones business or problem what anyone else makes.

Quote:

Originally posted by wow10inches

Dude - get a degree and get off your lazy ass and make something of yourself. The jobs are out there making $30 plus. I am a director of I.T. and I make $43 an hr, BUT I WORK MY ASS OFF.
Thats the problem with jackoffs like you...you expect things handed to you..weee weee weee " I only make 15 a hrs"
I was HANDED NOTHING!
You have to work for those "good jobs"

YA you are where you put yourself.

Quote:

Originally posted by wow10inches

Sorry, but if your washing dishes for a living your a LOSER..

not cool, dude!