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Antiwork

I feel bad for Americans

I live in Europe, in a country where the minimum wage is the minimum wage no asterisks. Our family never really struggled but disposable income was pretty much nonexistent so I couldn't ask for anything like videogame money. When I was about eight my mother landed a bartending job where she kept all the tips which was actually pretty huge as they amounted 1/3 of her monthly earnings most months. The period where our family started being able to “splurge” some was the highlight of my childhood as it didn't just mean more fun for me but I could see gradual improvements around the house like new appliances or furniture. This came a lot later but my father is pretty much the real life case of boomer delusion with company loyalty. He started out minimum wage a decade ago, unskilled factory worker. 2-3 years ago he was basically promoted to…


I live in Europe, in a country where the minimum wage is the minimum wage no asterisks. Our family never really struggled but disposable income was pretty much nonexistent so I couldn't ask for anything like videogame money. When I was about eight my mother landed a bartending job where she kept all the tips which was actually pretty huge as they amounted 1/3 of her monthly earnings most months. The period where our family started being able to “splurge” some was the highlight of my childhood as it didn't just mean more fun for me but I could see gradual improvements around the house like new appliances or furniture.

This came a lot later but my father is pretty much the real life case of boomer delusion with company loyalty. He started out minimum wage a decade ago, unskilled factory worker. 2-3 years ago he was basically promoted to team/section leader as the older guys who knew how things worked retired and he had to train new employees and now makes double minimum wage.

This to me feels like more of an American dream realization than anything I see coming out of America and I think my parents' examples were only possible because on both a legislative and work culture level this country isn't as far gone as the USA. Keep fighting out there and demanding rights, there are places in the world where things are better so what you're struggling for isn't impossible!

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