Capitalism Vs Socialized Care
Why are some countries so poor while others are so rich? Capitalism. Yes, on the surface it sounds so heartless and in ways it can be.
Capitalism allows those with a little imagination, a lot of ambition, hard work and a good plan could make a lot of money and be a financial success. In turn, these successful people spend money which stimulate the economy by hiring people who otherwise would not have jobs and purchase goods from others who have a business that would create yet more job and more income opportunities for the many.
The idea of Capitalism is great...if money is all you live for. Money is great. It buys the basic needs of life. It gets you fed, clothed, and keeps a roof over your head. It gets you medical treatment when you need it. It allows you to pursue experiences that only money can buy. It gives you access to higher education. It lets you travel beyond your familiar home territory so perhaps you can learn in person about what others around the world are really like. It allows a person to retire while they are still young and active enough to enjoy life and spend more time with family and friends before dying...Money is great!
However, money is not the only thing. This is where those who get blinded by the power of Capitalism forget to look at the bigger picture. The ones who get caught up in their own wealth tend to forget that not everyone has the same access to the breaks they caught. Without such breaks, they will remain barely scraping by in life and sometimes having to go without the basic needs of life.
Big business has had a field day with the corporate-friendly Administration of the Bush team. When else could the Enron-type scandals be discovered, swept under the rug for a few years then to basically give the bad guys a slap on the wrist while those who played by the rules were completely screwed by these big business tycoons? At least Martha Stewart, who was merely a minor player in comparison to the big boys, pushed forward and served her time to get it out of the way. The Enron jerks tried everything in their power to put off punishment as long as possible.
And what of the siding of court rulings favouring big business versus the pensioners? They paid into the system on the trust that money would be waiting for them at the end. They did their part. Is it their fault the business went into bankruptcy? Now the company does not have to pay their former employees their obligations and the former employees are screwed. What happens when these "little people" can no longer pay their bills? Thanks to the same judicial system it has made it harder for the little people to file bankruptcy unlike the big business counterparts. So if these people who no longer are allowed to get a pension cannot pay their bills, what happens with their lives when they cannot file bankruptcy?
Then there is the minimum wage joke. A person must be paid at the very least $5.15 per hour [or under 3 pounds for you UK readers]. Also keep in mind, many employers like to get around the full time status to avoid paying benefits so the average minimum wage worker is working 39 hours a week without benefits. That would be $200.85 per week or $803.40 per month before taking 15% out in taxes and Social Security benefits the worker will never see for a total take home pay of about $630 per month - if they keep the one job. [330 pounds per month.]
Imagine this John Doe barely graduated high school and is living in an economically challenged area. He is lucky to have this job and does not have the skills nor the opportunity nor the money to further his educational options to get ahead. He made the mistake of getting married right out of high school and had two children. John has to raise a family of four on $630 per month.
Government assisted housing allows his family to stay in a roach and rat infested tenament for $350 per month, but at least his family has a roof over their head. Government food subsidy programmes allow his family $500 in food stamps to purchase the basics at the store each month so they can get rude treatment for being poor.
Local charities, if they have the funds, might be able to pay something for their electric bill. If not then John must pay an extra $95 a month if they are careful with turning lights on and off, keep off the heat or air, and not run a television. At least they have Medicare which will let the kids go to the free clinic and wait in a long line for help when they need it. And there are local charities who may be able to give them clothes.
In order to get to and from work, John needs a car and by law it must be insured. In order to keep the car gassed up and insured and mechanically sound, it will cost more money than they have in their budget after all the other expenses.
John faces a crisis. Even with all the help from the government and charities, he can still barely get by on one minimum wage job. He does not have the funds to seek further education. If he is lucky enough to get another barely full time minimum wage job, he will lose many of the government benefits his family receives which cannot be replaced by working another full time job at minimum wage. If he works another job, at least it would be seen by society he is a go-getter who is trying to get ahead without sponging off the system. At least he can keep his pride at the expense of never seeing his family.
If his family really wants to get ahead, perhaps John could work the two minimum wage jobs and his wife could also find two minimum wage jobs. Of course they would have daycare being a new issue. It could cost them an extra $600 per month to put them in a proper daycare facility, but this is not an option because they have limited hours and need someone who can keep the kids for longer hours and for less money. If they are lucky, they may have neighbors who will do it for $400 per month if they don't mind the kids will probably be neglected in a crowd of other kids who will hardly ever see their own parents. At least the family income will be $2520 per month after taxes and they are considered above the poverty level, although technically the working poor because they still have no benefits or a chance to get out of this situation because they must continue working at this pace if they want their kids to have a better chance at life. At this income level, they no longer qualify for government assistance and no longer have rental assistance, food stamps or health care. Thus all the money they are making would go for a higher cost of living.
This is a very real example of what happens when big businesses use the minimum wage crutch. If there is any loophole to save money to the company, they have no problem with doing it at the expense of the employees. If they could get away with paying less, they would. They can treat workers like cattle because they can get away with it. Big businesses strongly discourage any form of unionization of the workers because it means they would have to address their real problems.
A happy worker who is well paid and respected makes a better and more productive worker which serves the company bottom line better. Fewer good employees treated and paid well does more for a company than a lot of workers for the least wages to make outrageouse quotas for the sole purpose of only making the company richer will always backfire.
Doing away with minimum wage will not solve the problem, but only make a new and large pool of poor. It would create an atmosphere of desperation where a worker will eventually give up and work for whatever pitance is offered knowing someone else could come along and agree to work for less. Idealists think if the minimum wage were to be eliminated people would be paid more because the competition for jobs would hike the pay, but the opposite is more likely the truth. Big companies have a track record of getting by paying less to their workers because they can. They will cut corners now. If minimum wage laws were revoked, they would pay less.
Corporate greed has contributed to the callous way they treat the enviornment and other countries as well. They will steamroll over anyone getting in the way of them turning a new dollar in the profit column -- to hell with everyone else!
Of course, not all corporate giants are bullies. Some of the better companies will provide their employees a decent living wage, allow incentives for high acheivers, give proper benefits and let the people who work for them have time for other aspects of life such as family, friends and a sense of community. Unfortunately, this is a rare breed.
The trend is going where the rich will hold on dearly to what they have and strive to have more at the expense of those trying to rise above poverty. Those who are middle class who cannot fight harder for the few dollars the rich have not horded away will find themselves amongst the ranks of the poor. The poor who just cannot get the break because they have no access to higher education, loans, or opportunities to get ahead will stay behind.
If socialized help is encouraged, it could prove a benefit for society at large. A national health care system will help those who otherwise would fall through the cracks. Preventative health care should take higher importance to avoid the costly illnesses that can be prevented such as clinics to help people overcome drug, smoking, and alcohol abuse, immunizations, weight counselling, and exercise programmes.
Free higher education to qualified students would allow many who have done well in school the chance to get a better job if they are allowed a college education they could otherwise not afford. It is a shame that those who have no interest in further education are only there because their rich parents can afford such a benefit while another smart kids from a poor home cannot attend and must work a minimum wage job to support his family instead of learning to become a doctor where he or she could really help a lot of people.
An expansion of volunteer programmes such as Habitat For Humanity could be created on a government level to assure that even the non-religious will get help in having a home.
Without much of a safety net for the poor and with the businesses set out to take away what the poor have left, many will lose hope of ever getting ahead. This could backfire on the big businesses when the essential customer base can no longer afford to do business with them. If they want further wealth they will have to compete with other wealthy people for what's left.
And this is just the plight of what Capitalism will do to the people within one of the richest countries of the world. The poor here have it good compared to the poor of the rest of the world who have no safety net whatsoever. Ironically, Capitalism is the only hope for those poor countries to allow the people the opportunities to grow their own businesses without restraint to accumulate wealth and spread the opportunities to the others in their country.
http://www.callendamornen.co.uk
Capitalism allows those with a little imagination, a lot of ambition, hard work and a good plan could make a lot of money and be a financial success. In turn, these successful people spend money which stimulate the economy by hiring people who otherwise would not have jobs and purchase goods from others who have a business that would create yet more job and more income opportunities for the many.
The idea of Capitalism is great...if money is all you live for. Money is great. It buys the basic needs of life. It gets you fed, clothed, and keeps a roof over your head. It gets you medical treatment when you need it. It allows you to pursue experiences that only money can buy. It gives you access to higher education. It lets you travel beyond your familiar home territory so perhaps you can learn in person about what others around the world are really like. It allows a person to retire while they are still young and active enough to enjoy life and spend more time with family and friends before dying...Money is great!
However, money is not the only thing. This is where those who get blinded by the power of Capitalism forget to look at the bigger picture. The ones who get caught up in their own wealth tend to forget that not everyone has the same access to the breaks they caught. Without such breaks, they will remain barely scraping by in life and sometimes having to go without the basic needs of life.
Big business has had a field day with the corporate-friendly Administration of the Bush team. When else could the Enron-type scandals be discovered, swept under the rug for a few years then to basically give the bad guys a slap on the wrist while those who played by the rules were completely screwed by these big business tycoons? At least Martha Stewart, who was merely a minor player in comparison to the big boys, pushed forward and served her time to get it out of the way. The Enron jerks tried everything in their power to put off punishment as long as possible.
And what of the siding of court rulings favouring big business versus the pensioners? They paid into the system on the trust that money would be waiting for them at the end. They did their part. Is it their fault the business went into bankruptcy? Now the company does not have to pay their former employees their obligations and the former employees are screwed. What happens when these "little people" can no longer pay their bills? Thanks to the same judicial system it has made it harder for the little people to file bankruptcy unlike the big business counterparts. So if these people who no longer are allowed to get a pension cannot pay their bills, what happens with their lives when they cannot file bankruptcy?
Then there is the minimum wage joke. A person must be paid at the very least $5.15 per hour [or under 3 pounds for you UK readers]. Also keep in mind, many employers like to get around the full time status to avoid paying benefits so the average minimum wage worker is working 39 hours a week without benefits. That would be $200.85 per week or $803.40 per month before taking 15% out in taxes and Social Security benefits the worker will never see for a total take home pay of about $630 per month - if they keep the one job. [330 pounds per month.]
Imagine this John Doe barely graduated high school and is living in an economically challenged area. He is lucky to have this job and does not have the skills nor the opportunity nor the money to further his educational options to get ahead. He made the mistake of getting married right out of high school and had two children. John has to raise a family of four on $630 per month.
Government assisted housing allows his family to stay in a roach and rat infested tenament for $350 per month, but at least his family has a roof over their head. Government food subsidy programmes allow his family $500 in food stamps to purchase the basics at the store each month so they can get rude treatment for being poor.
Local charities, if they have the funds, might be able to pay something for their electric bill. If not then John must pay an extra $95 a month if they are careful with turning lights on and off, keep off the heat or air, and not run a television. At least they have Medicare which will let the kids go to the free clinic and wait in a long line for help when they need it. And there are local charities who may be able to give them clothes.
In order to get to and from work, John needs a car and by law it must be insured. In order to keep the car gassed up and insured and mechanically sound, it will cost more money than they have in their budget after all the other expenses.
John faces a crisis. Even with all the help from the government and charities, he can still barely get by on one minimum wage job. He does not have the funds to seek further education. If he is lucky enough to get another barely full time minimum wage job, he will lose many of the government benefits his family receives which cannot be replaced by working another full time job at minimum wage. If he works another job, at least it would be seen by society he is a go-getter who is trying to get ahead without sponging off the system. At least he can keep his pride at the expense of never seeing his family.
If his family really wants to get ahead, perhaps John could work the two minimum wage jobs and his wife could also find two minimum wage jobs. Of course they would have daycare being a new issue. It could cost them an extra $600 per month to put them in a proper daycare facility, but this is not an option because they have limited hours and need someone who can keep the kids for longer hours and for less money. If they are lucky, they may have neighbors who will do it for $400 per month if they don't mind the kids will probably be neglected in a crowd of other kids who will hardly ever see their own parents. At least the family income will be $2520 per month after taxes and they are considered above the poverty level, although technically the working poor because they still have no benefits or a chance to get out of this situation because they must continue working at this pace if they want their kids to have a better chance at life. At this income level, they no longer qualify for government assistance and no longer have rental assistance, food stamps or health care. Thus all the money they are making would go for a higher cost of living.
This is a very real example of what happens when big businesses use the minimum wage crutch. If there is any loophole to save money to the company, they have no problem with doing it at the expense of the employees. If they could get away with paying less, they would. They can treat workers like cattle because they can get away with it. Big businesses strongly discourage any form of unionization of the workers because it means they would have to address their real problems.
A happy worker who is well paid and respected makes a better and more productive worker which serves the company bottom line better. Fewer good employees treated and paid well does more for a company than a lot of workers for the least wages to make outrageouse quotas for the sole purpose of only making the company richer will always backfire.
Doing away with minimum wage will not solve the problem, but only make a new and large pool of poor. It would create an atmosphere of desperation where a worker will eventually give up and work for whatever pitance is offered knowing someone else could come along and agree to work for less. Idealists think if the minimum wage were to be eliminated people would be paid more because the competition for jobs would hike the pay, but the opposite is more likely the truth. Big companies have a track record of getting by paying less to their workers because they can. They will cut corners now. If minimum wage laws were revoked, they would pay less.
Corporate greed has contributed to the callous way they treat the enviornment and other countries as well. They will steamroll over anyone getting in the way of them turning a new dollar in the profit column -- to hell with everyone else!
Of course, not all corporate giants are bullies. Some of the better companies will provide their employees a decent living wage, allow incentives for high acheivers, give proper benefits and let the people who work for them have time for other aspects of life such as family, friends and a sense of community. Unfortunately, this is a rare breed.
The trend is going where the rich will hold on dearly to what they have and strive to have more at the expense of those trying to rise above poverty. Those who are middle class who cannot fight harder for the few dollars the rich have not horded away will find themselves amongst the ranks of the poor. The poor who just cannot get the break because they have no access to higher education, loans, or opportunities to get ahead will stay behind.
If socialized help is encouraged, it could prove a benefit for society at large. A national health care system will help those who otherwise would fall through the cracks. Preventative health care should take higher importance to avoid the costly illnesses that can be prevented such as clinics to help people overcome drug, smoking, and alcohol abuse, immunizations, weight counselling, and exercise programmes.
Free higher education to qualified students would allow many who have done well in school the chance to get a better job if they are allowed a college education they could otherwise not afford. It is a shame that those who have no interest in further education are only there because their rich parents can afford such a benefit while another smart kids from a poor home cannot attend and must work a minimum wage job to support his family instead of learning to become a doctor where he or she could really help a lot of people.
An expansion of volunteer programmes such as Habitat For Humanity could be created on a government level to assure that even the non-religious will get help in having a home.
Without much of a safety net for the poor and with the businesses set out to take away what the poor have left, many will lose hope of ever getting ahead. This could backfire on the big businesses when the essential customer base can no longer afford to do business with them. If they want further wealth they will have to compete with other wealthy people for what's left.
And this is just the plight of what Capitalism will do to the people within one of the richest countries of the world. The poor here have it good compared to the poor of the rest of the world who have no safety net whatsoever. Ironically, Capitalism is the only hope for those poor countries to allow the people the opportunities to grow their own businesses without restraint to accumulate wealth and spread the opportunities to the others in their country.
http://www.callendamornen.co.uk
posted by Callen Damornen at 4:03:00 pm
1 Comments:
Great blog I hope we can work to build a better health care system. Health insurance is a major aspect to many.
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