The Working Poor

It is almost like we have forgotten what it is like to ask for basic rights. When I say this, I think of the push back I am receiving for standing up to my employer about some definitively dodgy and perhaps even borderline illegal behaviors. The push back comes in many forms. Other co-workers worried about their paychecks. Various people who insist it is better to just "find another job" and not stand up for what is right.

This concerns me. It feels like this is the rotten core at the middle of how we have people working two or three jobs to make ends meet. We are so busy trying not to rock the boat that we forget that there is power in numbers. We have also forgotten to bind together for the sake of everyone.

I am a professional in my field. I have to have a license, continuing education in my field every two years, and a license renewal. I work in a heavily regulated industry. I make 11 dollars an hour. Yes, I make less than some people at Walmart. No stone was left without examination in my life in the gaining of the license. The FBI did a thorough background check. My fingerprints are on file. Even a speeding ticket can negatively impact my license status. Let me stress, I make 11 dollars an hour.

Now, these are the terms I accepted initially as the bonus structure made it almost worth my time. Then you have the work from home aspect. But the decision was deliberately made to make it virtually impossible to make a bonus without so much as more than 24 hours notice. I could gradually pick apart all the aspects that have reduced morale, caused untold amounts of stress, and financial woes upon those of us employed with said company. However, that is not the reason I am writing this.

My concern is for a society that feels it is perfectly acceptable to not want better of the people who employ us. The people we work for that literally hold our lives in their hands. Have we deteriorated so much in moral fiber that it is acceptable for people to work themselves to death to simply live?

Is this the world of I got mine so I don't care about yours? I judge no one by where they work. In this day and age, you cannot. That assistant store manager at Petco, they might have a degree in history and finished top of their class. Now, they work making sure fish don't die. Is that on them? They followed a passion for learning, which we were all assured would lead to a better life, and there they are, restocking dog food.

Do we blame them or do we blame ourselves for letting this happen? In two generations, we went from being paid large sums of money for putting in screws while a vehicle is being assembled, to single parent households where the parent is either reliant upon some form of welfare to make ends meet or working so much that they barely recognize their own children.

So here we come to the crux of the matter. When we are afforded the rights to unionize and stand up for what is right, why do we not do so? And why, when we do so is it so controversial and suddenly you find people who believe that nothing can change so what is the point in trying? Is it more productive to work yourself into an early grave and never speak up for fear of being knocked back?

The truth is that we are so busy seeing the things that divide us that we have forgotten our common enemy... working poor. Divide and conquer. When all things are considered, it makes little difference your race, origins, or religion if we are all drowning in this same servitude. To fix the other things, we must also fix the issue that faces the greatest multitude of people and that is simply being able to afford to live.

I am by no means denigrating any other social issues but the overwhelming multitudes have one common denominator: wealth disparity. I don't want to be rich but I do want to be able to afford to eat. I want to be able to pay my meager bills on time without worry. I don't live beyond my means as there are no means to live beyond.

So when someone takes it upon themselves to stand up and say they will fight for what is right, don't tell them it is useless. Don't tell them to just take it and move on. It takes one person... then two people. It grows. Those people who are fighting are doing it for all of us. Try not to talk us down from the fight.