I have been on the “we need a living wage” bandwagon for quite a while now. A friend of mine recently pointed out the correct way to address many of the social-economic problems we face is more a living condition fight.
In some ways, they are just about the same fight, yet by saying living condition you encompass a much broader way to define what we need as the working and middle class. He did not have to say more than two words to get me to understand the term living condition can be a better rallying cry all around than the term living wage.
I can use some personal examples to help this distinction. First, though I remind the reader that I am an angry old man. It took years for me to claw my way back to a respectable wage since the recession. And this probably still matters to many. So using that knowledge this example might make a bit of sense.
Healthcare is always a great example to use since just about everyone struggles with paying medical bills nowadays. So a couple of years ago I had day surgery that I had been needing for years. I had avoided it because of the cost. Then one day I ended up in the hospital and used up my deductible, so I thought I could afford the surgery. Well, not so fast, but to make a long story short, even after using my deductible and paying a few hundred dollars down I still had a bill that is taking me two years to pay off. Essentially come next April we will be getting a small raise in our take-home pay. Now I just recently got my last raise so I had a second job for two years, not just to pay this hospital bill. We do spend a bit more than we need to live in a place we really desire to live. It is all about location location location... joyfully I am able to walk to work. Anyway the better half works, I had two jobs and still, our budget was tight. Having a higher wage has helped, but it still leaves it difficult to continue to pay all past debts and save money. If the recession hadn’t hit us so hard then our lives would be much less stressful right now.
I hope I am explaining this well, but this is the living condition we should have and that is other people’s bad financial decisions shouldn’t impact hosts of other people to the point where they cannot manage a reasonable lifestyle. Nor should people, in any circumstances be put in a position that cost of living or healthcare or paying the utilities puts a strain on a budget. We should be able to earn enough, and the amount of the “enough” is not as important as what we can obtain with the wages we earn to live a reasonably stressless life in a boring day to day fashion.
We cannot predict what will happen so the amount we earn should allow us to save, to prepare for what may come when life isn’t the boring day to day routine. Also our lives and when I say our lives I am speaking to the broader world. We are blessed in this country and what we have should be the generator of much of our foreign policy, or another words we should work hard to make our economic policies be something other countries want to import to help their own people. Anyway our lives and what we “earn” should allow us to generate savings to be able to invest, or build a business or invest in our children’s future. Yes, we may have to make some sacrifices if we want to step out completely and take a chance on something completely new, yet we should be able to participate in the broader success of day to day living.
Nothing will be perfect, but with the wealth concentration of modern economics, we are doing damage to the human condition. People’s lives shouldn’t be held hostage so a few people can accumulate more and more wealth. There has to be a balance. A person obtaining wealth in and of itself is not bad, but when the only people allowed to be successful are the same people over and over again you eventually destroy the fabric of society.
This society needs strong eduction, strong middle class, strong culture, strong values to thrive, yet when this is taken away as what is happening in our country now sooner or later the piper will be called and someone will have to pay in ways we, nor the uber-wealthy really want.
A living condition is a better term than living wage because if we argue about what the minimum wage should be or what income is middle class we lose sight of what is more important and that is the overall condition of each individual. One hospital bill or one accident or one death in a family shouldn’t put a strain on a family’s budget. We should all be able to deal with a normal amount of life with a regular income.
It is when people are working two jobs to pay the rent, light bill and eat food that the living condition is suffering. If you are having to do that you have no time to help your children succeed, plan for retirement, save for a rainy day or to handle unexpected events or pay hospital bills even when you have used up your deductible. To me, a second job is for saving for luxuries or savings or something special so having one should be a bonus not a necessity. And then the opportunity of having a second job, especially if temporary, benefits yourself and creates more economically for all.
I said I would stay away from political posts as much as possible till 2020 since that is the election year, however, pocketbook issues and balancing the wealth gap are priorities we should address with the people running for office.
If you have read this blog regularly you know I have put forth many ideas to address these issues. And I will continue in this endeavor in my blog all next year. In 2012 I wrote a very verbose platform for a fictitious third party that addressed these issues. In 2016 I posted ideas throughout the year. In 2020 I hope to get back to a full platform, yet be much more succinct.
We still need new parties.
Cheers
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