Perspective
I've avoided making comments on the occupy movement, because I don't want this to turn into a political blog. In general, I'm not concerned about the divide between the rich and the poor, but I am concerned about business ethics, the plight of the poorest, and the education of everyone.
Americans in particular often need to stop and get perspective. I read a Dear Abby style article earlier this week (sorry, lost the link, I'm paraphrasing from memory) that said the average salary of a flight attendant was about $20/hour. The Questioner (young single woman) asked if she should take the flight attendant job with only 79 guaranteed hours per month and how would she survive. The Writer (who had been a flight attendant herself) responded that it was a certainly a job to pursue because you like the lifestyle, not the kind of job to take in pursuit of high pay, and then gave her some practical advise on getting through this initial "on call" period, pointing out that 79 hours at $20/hr was $18,960 (my math) for the year, not including any additional "call in" hours she would receive . All good. In the responses, however, one person said, "I don't see how anyone could survive on $20/hr."
For perspective, according to The 2011 HHS Poverty Guidelines, the poverty line in America for 2011 is $10,890 (higher in Alaska & Hawaii) for a single adult. Federal minimum wage is $7.25/hr, a 40/hr per week minimum wage earner (assuming they work 50 weeks out of 52 in a year) should make $14,500.
For further perspective, I was watching a marine life show this morning that talked about how the local fishermen in one African country (I apologize for not knowing which one) were hunting sharks for their fins. They could get $50-$60 per fin, which was a big deal since most of their neighbors lived on $1/per day.
According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, the current U.S. unemployment rate is 9% (there's some debate on what that number actually means, but for now...). The Unemployment rate in Haiti is estimated between 40% and 60%.
Costs of living varies by location and even someone making $80,000 per year can easily have money troubles if they have lots of kids, unexpected damages, and/or massive medical bills. So I'm not belittling anyone's financial woes simply because someone else's might be worse. Or saying we shouldn't strive on legal, personal, or social levels to make things better.
But I do know it's easy to get caught up in what you don't have instead of enjoying what you have. And that's something I do want this blog to focus on. Enjoying what you have.
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Unrelated, I thought this was a worth reading article on holiday scams to look out for 5 Scams You Shouldn't Fall For This Holiday Season
Americans in particular often need to stop and get perspective. I read a Dear Abby style article earlier this week (sorry, lost the link, I'm paraphrasing from memory) that said the average salary of a flight attendant was about $20/hour. The Questioner (young single woman) asked if she should take the flight attendant job with only 79 guaranteed hours per month and how would she survive. The Writer (who had been a flight attendant herself) responded that it was a certainly a job to pursue because you like the lifestyle, not the kind of job to take in pursuit of high pay, and then gave her some practical advise on getting through this initial "on call" period, pointing out that 79 hours at $20/hr was $18,960 (my math) for the year, not including any additional "call in" hours she would receive . All good. In the responses, however, one person said, "I don't see how anyone could survive on $20/hr."
For perspective, according to The 2011 HHS Poverty Guidelines, the poverty line in America for 2011 is $10,890 (higher in Alaska & Hawaii) for a single adult. Federal minimum wage is $7.25/hr, a 40/hr per week minimum wage earner (assuming they work 50 weeks out of 52 in a year) should make $14,500.
For further perspective, I was watching a marine life show this morning that talked about how the local fishermen in one African country (I apologize for not knowing which one) were hunting sharks for their fins. They could get $50-$60 per fin, which was a big deal since most of their neighbors lived on $1/per day.
According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, the current U.S. unemployment rate is 9% (there's some debate on what that number actually means, but for now...). The Unemployment rate in Haiti is estimated between 40% and 60%.
Costs of living varies by location and even someone making $80,000 per year can easily have money troubles if they have lots of kids, unexpected damages, and/or massive medical bills. So I'm not belittling anyone's financial woes simply because someone else's might be worse. Or saying we shouldn't strive on legal, personal, or social levels to make things better.
But I do know it's easy to get caught up in what you don't have instead of enjoying what you have. And that's something I do want this blog to focus on. Enjoying what you have.
----------------
Unrelated, I thought this was a worth reading article on holiday scams to look out for 5 Scams You Shouldn't Fall For This Holiday Season