• BertramDitore@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    What the fuck is this? “How employers might help change that” Answer: they wont, they just might be forced to let employees give themselves a fee-free loan from their own retirement account, oh and here’s a slightly different new emergency savings account. It’s still all just your money…What the actual fuck?

    What about the half of US workers that don’t have a retirement account? I guess fuck them?

    Isn’t the answer simple? HIGHER WAGES.

    Man, this made me incredibly angry.

    • SCB@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Paying higher wages doesn’t get people to start bank accounts, much less retirement accounts.

      Many people on the poorer end of the spectrum literally hide money in their walls/mattresses rather than get bank accounts - I know many of these people firsthand.

      • mayo@lemmy.today
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        1 year ago

        And if you’re in a HCOL city the municipality is probably thriving off the property taxes.

        • SCB@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Property taxes actually need to be raised in most cities, especially for single-family homes.

          Everyone in the suburbs should pay a property tax premium for that benefit, for instance, to address the externalities of having suburbs.

    • inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      A simple blown tire that renders you only reliable way to work that doesn’t pay enough to cover your basic living expenses is a catastrophic emergency that could cost around 500 bucks.

    • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      A part of a tree falling on your windshield.

      Seriously, that’s what it ended up costing me, and I did part of the body work needed to be able to fit a new windshield in right. If I hadn’t kept the tools around, that would have been another 500.

      Mind you, the 500 I did pay out included some other body work I just couldn’t physically do. The glass and installation of the glass was “only” 150 ish (can’t remember what the tax was).

      The one before that, that was barely under 500 was the AC unit for the house freezing up and fucking the compressor.

      And 500 is a single emergency. You get hit by multiple, and you’re fucked .

    • ohlaph@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Exactly. A cheap car repair is that with labor. Add kore than one thing in a few months and most people start to really bleed.

    • jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      They are. And it would be funny if it weren’t such utter bullshit. As if the sizeable chunk of the population that lives paycheck to paycheck could actually afford to hold on to a couple thousand dollars in stimulus funds. When shit is waaayyyy more expensive than it was 3 years ago and wages haven’t really climbed that much.

    • Morcyphr@lemmy.one
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      1 year ago

      My employer got $600,000 in ERC. Meanwhile, I haven’t had a pay increase in over 2 years. Been with the company for over 10 years.

    • greendakota99@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The “pandemic money” is the $2,000 I was given 3 years ago? No, I still have that squared away in case of a rainy day.

  • Clown_Tempura@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Nobody has any fucking money. You can’t afford medical, you can’t afford a house, you can barely afford a car. You can barely afford rent. Everything is more expensive. Food, gas, everything. Wages can’t keep up with inflation and employers could give a shit.

  • quams69@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I work full time for CVS and I have 26 cents in my bank account, nevermind 500. I literally cannot save, every cent is expenses. When an emergency happens I am straight up fucked every time.

    An emergency happened for me in june and I was homeless by July, working fucking full time. Thank fuck I have a family I can stay with.I fucking hate this country. Literally standing in line to donate plasma for gas money. Christ.

  • okamiueru@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    America is kinda fucked up. Seeing it from the outside, nothing is surprising, the solutions are fairly obvious. If nothing else, the direction in which to go. Yet, it’s just dumb and dumber.

    You had a real shot at change with Bernie Sanders. At least one of the three pieces. At this point, you’ll have a revolution within the next 5-10 years that changes the two party system, or it’s lights out.

    • SCB@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Neither of these options is going to happen. The country will not fail, and there will be no revolution.

      • BrandonMatrick@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yanggang is still around, but it’s not looking likely we’re getting any kind of party nomination. I think it’s microwaved Bidem for dinner this round.

  • yessikg@lemmy.film
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    1 year ago

    Employers could pay their employees’ student loans, stop forcing them to commute, and pay them well

            • SCB@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              The song is not about “rich men” in general but about politicians in Washington DC. Those are, specifically, the “rich men north of Richmond” he is discussing.

              His claim is not that business owners pay too little, but that the government is taking too much, and giving it to welfare queens.

              You may want to consider reading the actual lyrics.

                • SCB@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  He mentions politicians every time the chorus comes around. That is what “rich men north of Richmond” means. That’s why he isn’t calling out wealthy people south of Richmond. DC is north of Richmond.

                  I can’t tell you why the song is popular, but I can definitely parse the meaning of the lyrics, which you seem to be struggling with.

                  These rich men north of Richmond

                  Lord knows they all just wanna have total control

                  Wanna know what you think, wanna know what you do

                  And they don’t think you know, but I know that you do

                  'Cause your dollar ain’t shit and it’s taxed to no end

                  Cause of rich men north of Richmond

                  This is explicitly about politicians. The entire song is.

                  The only other lyrics with any content are

                  Well, God, if you’re 5-foot-3 and you’re 300 pounds Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds Young men are puttin’ themselves six feet in the ground ‘Cause all this damn country does is keep on kickin’ them down

                  Lambasting “welfare queens” and taxes.

                  Needless to say, this song isn’t popular with me, because I am capable of understanding both the lyrics and how taxes and welfare work within the context of the economy.

                  At no point does he decry wealthy business owners or anything of the sort, which sort of takes away from your “any political leanings” argument. This is very explicitly one political leaning, and from a person who isn’t very knowledgeable.